# Cast Iron Claw Foot Tubs - Pros and Cons?



## ParisApril (Apr 2, 2006)

We are going to be finishing our basement this winter and are looking for a tub for the bathroom. I really like the look of an old claw foot tub and we are thinking of buying a used one.

I was wondering what others who have one think of them.

Pros and Cons?

TIA.

April


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## limette (Feb 25, 2008)

Heavy and expensive.

I want a claw foot tub too but I'm just going to go with an acrylic one from Home Depot.


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## elsie (Apr 5, 2005)

They are not always easy tp clean under


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## redvlagrl (Dec 2, 2009)

We have two in our house (original to the house). If you buy second hand make sure that it has been professionally refinished. Ours was done by the previous owners/flippers and all the finish came off over the first year. I believe if it is professionally re enameled it is not a problem.

Will you have a shower in it? Be aware that you then have to buy an oval shaped shower curtain rod that is suspended fromt eh ceinling and they are kind of spendy. Also spendy are the rather ugly fittings that you use for said shower.


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## kindchen (Dec 8, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *redvlagrl* 
We have two in our house (original to the house). If you buy second hand make sure that it has been professionally refinished. Ours was done by the previous owners/flippers and all the finish came off over the first year. I believe if it is professionally re enameled it is not a problem.

Will you have a shower in it? Be aware that you then have to buy an oval shaped shower curtain rod that is suspended fromt eh ceinling and they are kind of spendy. Also spendy are the rather ugly fittings that you use for said shower.

I second all of this. The finish came off ours too. I didn't know that could be a problem, or I would have been more careful to drain the water immediately after a bath and not use super hot water to clean.

We will eventually need a shower for ours (when the kids are older and want to shower in there) and I am not looking forward to figuring that out. On the other hand, I love the way the tub looks, and I like taking a bath in it because it's so deep.


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## MissMommyNiceNice (May 1, 2007)

A lot of people around here just use a shower hose for their shower.

Sometimes you can get one cheap off of craigslist if someone wants you to drag it out of their third floor!


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## ParisApril (Apr 2, 2006)

Thanks for the replies so far. Very helpful.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *redvlagrl* 
We have two in our house (original to the house). If you buy second hand make sure that it has been professionally refinished. Ours was done by the previous owners/flippers and all the finish came off over the first year. I believe if it is professionally re enameled it is not a problem.

Will you have a shower in it? Be aware that you then have to buy an oval shaped shower curtain rod that is suspended fromt eh ceinling and they are kind of spendy. Also spendy are the rather ugly fittings that you use for said shower.

We will be using the tub for bathing as we already have a double shower with no tub in the upstairs bathroom. I have seen what you are referring to and I don't think we will need one of those.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

We love ours quite frankly. Ideally we wouldn't use it to shower in though - if I had the choice I'd have a separate stand up shower 'cause the shower curtain thing is kind of annoying & I don't like how it looks.

As for baths - the tub can be quite cold. Not a big deal - you just get in the habit of running the tub hotter than usual 'cause you'll lose heat warming up the tub itself.


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## AZgirl2207 (Jun 25, 2006)

I love our clawfoot tub. It's a refinished antique that I bought from a salvage co in Florida (it was $100 shipping from FL to AZ!) It's deep, stays hot forever, looks awesome. The drawbacks--it is hard to clean because it's so big, the faucet was super expensive.

I labored in the tub and may have my next baby in it--we'll see how it goes. If we ever move, I will be very very sad to see it go.


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lifeguard* 
As for baths - the tub can be quite cold. Not a big deal - you just get in the habit of running the tub hotter than usual 'cause you'll lose heat warming up the tub itself.

I second this. There is no insulation in one of these lovely old tubs so the iron draws heat from the bath to warm itself. If your water heater is set low it means you can't really have a warm bath. They are also not very frugal with water as their depth lends itself to using lots and lots of water.

BUT! If you can get past this these bathtubs are so amazing for a relaxing deep bath.


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *redvlagrl* 
Will you have a shower in it? Be aware that you then have to buy an oval shaped shower curtain rod that is suspended fromt eh ceinling and they are kind of spendy.

We got our hardware at Sears. It wasn't nearly as expensive as the stuff at the bath stores.

I love clawfoot tubs. I think the only disadvantages are the logistics associated with their cost and the difficulty in moving them around because of their weight.


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Chamomile Girl* 
There is no insulation in one of these lovely old tubs so the iron draws heat from the bath to warm itself. If your water heater is set low it means you can't really have a warm bath. They are also not very frugal with water as their depth lends itself to using lots and lots of water.

I leave the water in the tub and shut the bathroom door until it cools. The iron tub holds the heat and heats the bathroom. It acts like a big radiator. We've lived in old houses where the bathroom didn't have it's own heat source.


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## Vaske (Jan 29, 2009)

Many of the older tubs were painted with lead paint, so you might have to put another coat of paint on the outside.

The one we had in our rental was cold, as others have said, and the overflow outlet was set rather low, so it didn't really even have decent depth.

I prefer to take my soaks in a Japanese-style soaking tub that I built from plywood--more depth and more heat using less water. But there's no way to set up it where we're living now.


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## talia rose (Sep 9, 2004)

Virtually all clawfoot tubs test bad for lead. You can refinish them using a company that handles this by sealing in the lead with the new finish....it adds a few hundred dollars to the cost...


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## I Fly (Jul 8, 2002)

We've put an antique bathtub (not original to the house) into two different bathroom projects. Both times, the beautiful tub was the feature in the room that brought everything together and made it really neat! The first time, we found an old tub through a salvage company. The second time, it was off craigslist. Look for a tub that has the original enamel finish on the inside in decent condition, so that you don't need to refinish it. The original finish is more durable and way cheaper than refinishing.

With ours, we sanded the exterior outside, primed, and painted. First time black, which looked great. For the house we're in now, we did a deep red. The first time I bought a shower ring, we went cheap and regretted it every day. When we finally redid the bathroom right, we bought a very nice spigot with shower head and ring in one package that was WAY sturdier and better looking. So, don't skimp there. I've never been too crazy about the shower ring, though, so this time we put a stand-up shower and the clawfoot tub in with just a spigot. We use it for bathing our kids and the occasional adult bath.

I never thought it was really difficult to clean under - just ran my vacuum under there every once in a while. Good luck!


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## wombatclay (Sep 4, 2005)

I love clawfoot tubs... I grew up with one, and we put one in our last house. Which is the only "problem" I have with cast iron tubs. Our old house had one, small, bathroom and it was on the second floor. Getting that tub up the stairs nearly killed DH and I. Those things are crazy heavy.









I didn't find it hard to keep clean under the tub (and it's where I stored the extra toilet paper and bath goods, those under bed bins fit just right and kept out any splashes) and both tubs had their original enamel. But I'd agree that you'd probably want to spend the money and not skimp on either "cheap" re-finishing or "make do" plumbing fixtures.


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *talia rose* 
Virtually all clawfoot tubs test bad for lead. You can refinish them using a company that handles this by sealing in the lead with the new finish....it adds a few hundred dollars to the cost...

Yeah. I think ours was $300 to have it refinished. It turned out great. We had the original cast iron sink in our basement done too.

I hadn't heard that all tubs test positive for lead though. I've heard something in the neighbourhood of 60%.


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## geordief (Oct 29, 2010)

I hopr this discussion is still active.Perhaps someone has an idea as to whether it is is possible to fit a (hand held) shower attachment to the oversized faucet I have on my antique bath.
I did research this a year or so back and it seems impossible to do so in the UK.
What about over your side of the Atlantic?


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## talia rose (Sep 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChetMC* 
I hadn't heard that all tubs test positive for lead though. I've heard something in the neighbourhood of 60%.

yes i should have been clearer, this would be for vintage tubs. we have tested about 20 and they all came up bad for lead. our local refinisher had 77% come up bad. it is a high amount and should be considered.

http://www.original-refinishing.com/main3.html


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## ParisApril (Apr 2, 2006)

It look like I will have to find a professional re finisher.


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