What is the best procedure for removing cast iron tub to replace? Can it be cut? Sledgehammered?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Fine Homebuilding's editorial director has some fun news to share.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
hammer...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Sledge hammer it is. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks to all for the feedback.
Cover it with a dropcloth and use a sledge. The dropcloth will stop the shrapnel.
Headstrong, I'll take on anyone!
Sledge and drop cloth as previously noted. Be prepared, its loud so wear ear protection. And cover those eyes, the glazing still scatters, even when covered. Just did 2 and recovered $16.00 at the scrap yard...yeehaw!
I use a splitting wedge. Takes about 30-45 minutes. Cover everything you don't want damaged, and the tub. Wear sfaety glasses and a good pair of work boots. Cast iron shards can be sharp. Enjoy the experiance.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Just pick it up and launch it out the window!
View Image
thanks for the reminder of what I will soon have to do
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWPD
sledge hammer.
along with what the others have said I'll reiterate the need for
Goggles... Not glasses... Goggles.
Heavy Leather Gloves
A long sleeve shirt, full pants
Cover the tub with the heaviest moving blanket you can find. The blanket should keep most of the shrapnel in place but you never know.
I've found it's best if you can get it cracked right in the middle of the tub, try to come down and hit it right at the corner of the tub/apron. Then follow your blows around to try to crack it in "two"... It will be a lot more pieces then that, but once you get it going it's not that bad.
I had my ears ringing the last one I did. I suggest ear protection as well.
Lead Shot. Fill the tub gradually until it falls through the floor. That sucker will remove itself.
forget that, I'll loan him my best friends ex-wife, she's gotten plenty heavier then lead shot, and probably a little cheaper...
he'd probably pay you if she went away with the rest of the garbage from the job ;)
As several have already mentioned, sledge hammer is the most popular method. I removed one a couple months ago, but since I also took the walls down to the studs, I just went ahead and took the tub out in one piece.
I cut the plumbing connections. Used a bottle jack to jack up the back and laid the tub down on the front side on a furniture dolly. From there I just rolled it right to the garage door. Dolly #2 at the bottom of the two steps. I just tipped the dolly it was sitting on and let the tub slide down the steps onto dolly #2. Keep your toes out of the way.
jt8
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Watch your eyes, use a drop cloth, think about the person that makes you the maddest, and start swingin' !
All of the above. Use every type of body protective gear made, especially hearing protectors and goggles.
clawfoot or tied down?
If clawfoot, just sell it and let the buyer wrangle it out
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
"clawfoot or tied down?If clawfoot, just sell it and let the buyer wrangle it out"Were you referring to the ex-wife or the tub?
I'd also suggest the sledge.
The only new thing I'd add is to take down anything hanging on the walls that might work loose with the vibrations. At least at client's houses they are required to take down anything that might fall or come off the wall. Had a buddy have to replace a $5,000 piece of artwork for just this type of thing.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Make sure it is cast iron and not stamped steel....
I know someone that *thought* it was cast and spent a long time denting some steel before he figured it out...
Wasn't me. Really.
About 35 years or so ago my mother instructed me to break up and get rid of a big clawfoot that was in the master bedroom of an old farmhouse we were moving into (she never was the overtly romantic type). I took a heavy sledge and had at it. It did not break. It nearly wrecked my ears, and I thought I had shattered my wrists.Moral: Figure another way. Dynamite would be good. An overhead crane would be good. A UniMog with a knuckle boom would be good.BTW, if it is a clawfoot or pedastal tum it might be worth $1,000 or more, even if scuffed up.