there's a hole in my bath tub
11-10-2008, 07:45 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 5,425
Sunday morning, after showering upstairs, I noticed a pretty bad leak. Water was leaking from the tub, and coming down behind the bathroom wall below it, and into the carport as well. After inspection, it was leaking right at the drain, I could feel it (there's an access panel from the bedroom).
Today I bought a replacement drain, and while attacking the problem, noticed a dark spot that's always been at the bottom of the tub. I poked it, it was rust. I poked it with the tip of my pliers, and it went right through.
So our tub has a HOLE in it. A HOLE in our BATH TUB. Think about that. Let that sink in. Now, if you've never noticed, when a new house is being built, the bath tub is usually one of the first things to go in, after the wood framing. It must be incredibly difficult to remove a tub from a finished house.
I even contemplated getting a mortgage, and just renovating the entire upstairs bathroom. But currently I'm researching Bathfitter and ReBath, they have sort of a mold of a tub, that covers your existing tub. So we'll see what happens.
Today I bought a replacement drain, and while attacking the problem, noticed a dark spot that's always been at the bottom of the tub. I poked it, it was rust. I poked it with the tip of my pliers, and it went right through.
So our tub has a HOLE in it. A HOLE in our BATH TUB. Think about that. Let that sink in. Now, if you've never noticed, when a new house is being built, the bath tub is usually one of the first things to go in, after the wood framing. It must be incredibly difficult to remove a tub from a finished house.
I even contemplated getting a mortgage, and just renovating the entire upstairs bathroom. But currently I'm researching Bathfitter and ReBath, they have sort of a mold of a tub, that covers your existing tub. So we'll see what happens.
11-10-2008, 07:57 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: MD
Posts: 558
We had some bathrooms in our house remodeled recently, the main issue everyone having to share and/or move where they washup while the bathroom is being renovated. So if you decide to do a full remodel get ready to have everyone share one bathroom,lol
11-10-2008, 08:13 PM
#4
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Savannah, Ga
Posts: 2,763
Tubs arent that bad to get out, but you can pretty much count on replacing the tub and the wall tile in the shower stall. If its cast iron, hit it with a sledgehammer and pick up the pieces. If its sheet steel, take a sawzall and cut in in half, and pull each piece out.
You only really need the bottom row of tile out, as theres a lip on the tub that goes behind that, usually about 1/2" up. But thats assuming you can find a matching tile.
You only really need the bottom row of tile out, as theres a lip on the tub that goes behind that, usually about 1/2" up. But thats assuming you can find a matching tile.
11-11-2008, 09:52 AM
#8
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
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Sharing a bathroom is no problem, we've got 3, and there's only 3 of us that live here (about to be 4).
I really hope I can get a "cover" for the bath, that would just make things so much easier. After reading online, they've got some really great options, but they all seem to be a bath with the walls included. I really love the tile (no way to match it if we bust it up), so I'd hate to cover it or bust it up.
I hate the design of these bathrooms. When the house was built (my mother-in-law had it built), there was some sort of litigation for a hotel being built locally. They auctioned off a lot of pre-fabbed bathrooms, so my m-i-l bought a few and put them in the house.
2 of the bathrooms have a small, thin closet behind them, where you can see the metal framing of the bathroom, about a foot from the wood framing of the house on all sides, even the ceiling. It's weird. However, the one with the bad tub they didn't build in the space around it, thy just screwed the sheetrock of the adjacent bedrooms to the metal framing of the prefab bathroom. So if I renovated, it wouldn't get any bigger.
I'm not sure if the tub is sheet steel or cast iron. The bottom of it doen't look like cast iron, but I dunno. The bathroom is really tight, so I have no idea how we'd get a new tub in, even if we could remove the old one in pieces.
I really hope I can get a "cover" for the bath, that would just make things so much easier. After reading online, they've got some really great options, but they all seem to be a bath with the walls included. I really love the tile (no way to match it if we bust it up), so I'd hate to cover it or bust it up.
I hate the design of these bathrooms. When the house was built (my mother-in-law had it built), there was some sort of litigation for a hotel being built locally. They auctioned off a lot of pre-fabbed bathrooms, so my m-i-l bought a few and put them in the house.
2 of the bathrooms have a small, thin closet behind them, where you can see the metal framing of the bathroom, about a foot from the wood framing of the house on all sides, even the ceiling. It's weird. However, the one with the bad tub they didn't build in the space around it, thy just screwed the sheetrock of the adjacent bedrooms to the metal framing of the prefab bathroom. So if I renovated, it wouldn't get any bigger.
I'm not sure if the tub is sheet steel or cast iron. The bottom of it doen't look like cast iron, but I dunno. The bathroom is really tight, so I have no idea how we'd get a new tub in, even if we could remove the old one in pieces.
11-11-2008, 11:14 AM
#10
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: VA
Posts: 2,532
Why just cover it up, when you could use this as an excuse to get a totally new bathroom and a big pain in the butt? Start with a little dynamite, then carry out all the old crap. Rip it right back to the studs and floor joists. Then go back with new subfloor and walls and a nice new tile job.