My husband and I will be remodeling our master bedroom and bathroom this winter. Currently we have a jacuzzi tub in there (along with a separate shower stall). I have always loved clawfoot tubs, so we had about decided to pull out the jacuzzi and replace it with an acrylic clawfoot.
Now, I had figured that this would be a pretty much universally approved plan – surely everyone likes a clawfoot tub – until I spoke with a lady today. We were talking in Lowes, while I was checking colors of granite for the countertop. I mentioned the clawfoot plan and she kind of wrinkled her nose a bit and said, “I’m sure that’ll be nice if it suits your style. I wouldn’t like one for myself.”
Well, it does suit my style, but we try to keep most of our big, permanent projects kind of neutral in the interests of reselling someday. The tubs I’m looking at start at around $2000, so this isn’t a small purchase. Which would you prefer to see in a home you were thinking of buying? A clawfoot tub or a nice garden tub?
I think I’d prefer a nice round one. Clawfoot ones are quirky and awesome, but I’d be a bit squicked out. Like, what if it decides to walk away on its own.
I think they are interesting museum pieces but would never want one. If I bought a place with one I’d replace it as soon as convenient but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker or anything like that. If you like the look then you should go for it.
I love claw foot tubs - the big, long deep cast iron ones with a good slope to the far end.
The cast iron holds the heat of a hot bath beautifully, and the older ones (I don’t know much about modern ones) are soooo comfortable. You can fill them really full and soak for a long time.
I have used a number of them over the years including one at my inlaws farmhouse last month. For deep, soaking baths they are great. For quick rinses, not so much and there is a definite safety risk with the tall and deep design combined with tall and hard sides. My entire house is very antique so I wouldn’t rule one out automatically but an even bigger Jacuzzi bath with more modern conveniences and safety features might be a better choice for practical living that doesn’t include long soaks every day. They also require a tremendous amount of water use and the design of the back is not especially comfortable or ergonomic.
I very much like clawfoot tubs, but their appeal to me is in their role as antiques. If I was looking at a buying a house with a new tub, I would probably plan to replace anything acrylic, but could potentially get more excited about a new cast iron clawfoot, especially if it was a slipper.
One thing that did surprise me after we bought a house with its original clawfoot is that it takes a lot of effort to keep the floor clean under it. I swear, I clean thoroughly, and still, every time I do something like bend over to grab something out from under the sink, I catch a glimpse of the underside of the tub and am amazed by a big streak of dust that I missed. But I love my tub, so the extra cleaning effort is worth it to me. I also realized the tub wouldn’t be as great if we didn’t also have a shower stall, because I think a hanging curtain spoils the great line of a good clawfoot.
I think you should go with whatever suites your taste, especially if you do not have specific plans to sell your house within the next few years. You’re the one who will be bathing in it for the foreseeable future.
If you are going to be the ones moving it I would say hell no! Those things are fucking heavy. Claw foot tubs are all right in my book if they are already in place. For a maintenance thing they kinda suck stuff collects under them. I feel they look out of place in most modern bathrooms. If your going to make the whole room look antique they have a certain appeal.
Years ago, I had an authentic cast iron one in an apartment I rented. That particular tub wasn’t very comfortable, and I always wished I had a shower too. Given a choice, I’d keep the Jacuzzi. Another point: as you get older, you’ll find it more and more difficult to get in and out of that type of tub.
I should add - if the clawfoot tub were going to be my only bathing place, then I would prefer an inset tub/shower combo, or a shower alone. I really dislike clawfoots with showers attached and the shower curtain that goes all the way around and gets stuck to you. Ick!
However, as an additional bathing locale, I’ll take a clawfoot over any other kind of tub.
I just moved from an apartment with an acrylic tub to a clawfoot. I love it. I grew up in a house with a clawfoot, and I’ve missed it. They’re good for soaking, they’re not that weird almost-square nonhuman shape, and they’re really deep.
I’ve never gotten to take a bath in one. I haven’t fit properly in a regular bathtub since I was about a foot shorter. I want to be able to get wet all over at one time. I want to drown if I fall asleep. (Well, not really, but still…)
Thinking about resale is a good thing when remodeling - but with a clawfoot, can’t you just take it with you (and replace it, of course!) if you ever move?
Personally, I used to love my ex-boyfriend’s clawfoot tub. I used to spend hours in it. It kind of sucked that there was no showerhead but of course you can add that too. If I had room and money, I would definitely consider one.
We used to have a clawfoot in our first house… I still miss it… When we finally get around to remodelling the bathroom in our present house, we will definitely get a clawfoot…
Then again, this is an 1890’s place with 1970’s bathrooms (foil wallpaper anyone?) - so antique really appeals to me.
I wouldn’t want one. I’m the one who cleans the bathroom around here, and don’t want to have to mop under a bathtub. Too much work.
Now, if someone else was doing the bathroom cleaning, I might consider it…but I’m not a tub person, really. Hot showers for me. (I don’t even like jacuzzis!)
The clawfoot tubs I’ve been in are fantastic! Great-grandmother had one that seemed deeper and had a better slope on which to rest your back than any other tub I’ve been in. The one in that old hotel wasn’t as big, but there was a definite coolness factor.
I’d much rather woo a lady if I a deep clawfoot available.
I have a big, old fashioned iron clawfoot tub. I live upstairs in my house, and that’s where it is. The downstairs bathroom has a more modern built in tub. This clawfoot is huge, I could sink into it a nearly full length.
The house is an old one, it’s possible it’s been up here a long time. But in 1966 the house got remodeling, after being damage by a tornado, so possibly the tub went in then.
I haven’t the foggiest idea how it could ever be removed. The stairway is much too narrow. To get it out the window or a wall would have to be partially dismanteled.
I shower mostly, so there’s a flexible show hose hooked up to a shower curtain ring over the tub. The curtain simply hangs into the tub.