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51" Bathtub? Is it possible?

| Posted in General Discussion on November 8, 2000 04:20am

*
I visited a customer last night. She wants to put in a bathtub in place of a leaky shower enclosure. The maximum available width is 51-1/2″. The depth is 31-1/2″. It is impossible to expand on the width as there is a hallway on one side and an outside wall on the other. Are there any bathtubs available that would fit in that pocket? Acrylic or fiberglass. Can anyone really fit into a tub that small? Think I should just try to talk her into a shower enclosure? Would a bathtub that small really help the resale value of the home? This is the only bathroom in the house. I just searched the internet for an hour and couldn’t locate anything that small. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

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Replies

  1. mark_holbrook | Nov 06, 2000 02:17am | #1

    *
    Maybe a mobile home tub?

    1. RichMast_ | Nov 06, 2000 02:25am | #2

      *kohler made, hopefully still makes a 48" tub called a Greek bath. it is more like soaking tub, but could be just the ticket. as a whirlpool, cost about 1500, though. don't know if can get without the jets. Hope this helps. Rich.

      1. mark_holbrook | Nov 06, 2000 02:49am | #3

        *http://www.deabath.com/clawfoot2.htm See the guy in the 4' refinished tub for sale at the bottom of the page?

        1. Ralph_Wicklund | Nov 06, 2000 04:35am | #4

          *Custom made cultured marble or acrylic might be the ticket. Check your local fabricators. They can make something to fit the space you have available.

          1. Luka_ | Nov 06, 2000 06:50am | #5

            *She's just gonna stand in it and take a shower anyway. Just talk her into replacing the shower enclosure.

          2. Ralph_Wicklund | Nov 06, 2000 07:10am | #6

            *That might be true, Luka, but her hubby might like to sit in there and blow little bubbles. And, she might have little ones who are easier to bathe when firmly seated rather than slip sliding around on the shower floor. Just a different view and no supporting info in the original post.

          3. splintergroupie_ | Nov 06, 2000 07:38am | #7

            *I have a 4', pedestal-base (like a claw-foot, but tub sits on an enclosed base-no dust bunnies to sweep) tub from a refinisher that is a dream to read in! I can reach the faucet with my toes, and it fills more deeply than current tubs. Yum! I've since rented the cottage it's in to both men and women (there's no shower) and they all just love it. It cost me $175 unfinished, but i got a "friend" deal. Sometimes you can get better deals on tubs that have lost their feet (not interchangeable from tub to tub) and install them in a deck.Renovators Supply has a slipper tub at 55", but it's cast, too. Their acrylic is 60", but it might be possible to cant the Victorian style tubs at an angle? Their site isn't up yet, but the number is 800-659-3211.

          4. Luka_ | Nov 06, 2000 08:57am | #8

            *True. Hadn't thought about it that hard. I guess that's what you get with trailer-house fashion thinking. LOLb : )

          5. Norm_Kerr | Nov 06, 2000 07:38pm | #9

            *Japanese bath tubs are rather short and very deep (they soak in them). You might try searching for Japanese plumbing suppliers.They think our tubs are awful because they can't get the water right up to their ears in them. We think they are too deep to step into and outof for taking a shower. Different strokes...

          6. splintergroupie_ | Nov 06, 2000 07:54pm | #10

            *The Japanese tub is called a "furo" and is used for soaking after the bather is cleansed via showering. Quite deep and small to conserve water--think mini hot tub--it wouldn't serve well for showering. Too bad this is the only bath in the house.Dave, i've also seen SQUARE cast tubs in a salvage yard--they'd fit in the space width-wise, though take up more of the landing zone. Other than that, it looks like she's stuck with a shower. Maybe you can also build her the deck for the hot tub...

          7. CaseyR_ | Nov 07, 2000 02:46am | #11

            *Perhaps you could build what she wants. I have seen bathroom washbasins made from wood and have read about wooden bathtubs as well as hot tubs. It wouldn't even have to be made of redwood. You could lay it up out of strips of veneer like they use in construcitng some wooden canoes and kayaks and then finish it with epoxy. Could be very attractive with clear epoxy and the woodgrain showing through. Probably take a few hours to construct, however.

  2. Dave_Bussard | Nov 08, 2000 04:20pm | #12

    *
    I visited a customer last night. She wants to put in a bathtub in place of a leaky shower enclosure. The maximum available width is 51-1/2". The depth is 31-1/2". It is impossible to expand on the width as there is a hallway on one side and an outside wall on the other. Are there any bathtubs available that would fit in that pocket? Acrylic or fiberglass. Can anyone really fit into a tub that small? Think I should just try to talk her into a shower enclosure? Would a bathtub that small really help the resale value of the home? This is the only bathroom in the house. I just searched the internet for an hour and couldn't locate anything that small. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

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