Decorative plumbing salesperson here. These guys make a great product. Seen them, been in them. Go clawfoot.
We have a clawfoot bathtub, cast iron with white porcelain surface. Probably dates from about 1915. Deep and with just the right slope to lay back and relax. I love that tub, and have resisted replacing it with something more modern.
Our clawfoot is great since the house was built around it in 1921 (I assume that the builders just found it sitting there, on the ground, ready for a house, and decided that the bathroom would go there, damn thing must weigh a ton). I love the thing for baths, but they are a pain for showers. We plan on adding a second bathroom soon. The minute that is up with a shower, the contraption that provides shower water to the clawfoot will be history.
I love the look of clawfoot tubs. I just bought a house with a clawfoot temporarily rigged in the basement. The previous owners intended to put it upstairs when they renovated and never got that far. I’m not a bath person, but my husband loves a good tub soak when his back is acting up and said it’s very comfortable. He was worried it would be difficult to wash small children in (we’ve got a 3yr old and a 1yr old) but that hasn’t been a problem.
I definitely want to put it in the new upstairs bathroom we’re planning (which will be a sort of 1920’s style) and have been mulling over putting in an additional shower stall. On the one hand, I hate shower stalls. I always bump the door open while shaving my legs, and they make me feel a little claustrophobic. On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of yards and yards of shower curtain billowing around me if I put a shower head above the clawfoot. Then I saw the solution at Lowes - an extra wide shower stall. Fortunately the new bathroom is plenty large, so I think we’ll have room for both.
If I were house shopping, I would prefer a clawfoot if it fit the style of the house. In typical modern construction, though, I would expect and probably prefer a garden tub. The question is are you buying this tub for yourself or for resale value?
I like clawfoot baths, but I notice the OP mentions an “acrylic clawfoot”. I’d steer clear of that as I think it could look tacky and fake. If you want acrylic, get a modern style; if you want a clawfoot, spring the cash for the genuine article.
I’ve got one. It’s original to the house, as far as I know. Unfortunately, my husband dumped etching solution in it (D’oh! :smack: ) so I need to get it refinished periodically. I love it, but I’d sure like a shower, too.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I feel better about the decision now. Doesn’t matter, really, since we don’t plan on selling for at least 15 years. But it’s nice to know my tastes aren’t completely out of the mainstream.
I would prefer a cast iron one, but it’ll have to be acrylic since we’re hauling it up a narrow-sh flight of stairs, then through two narrow-ish doors. The new vanity is also going to be a pain – probably, I’ll get a modular one that can be brought up in three pieces. And the vanity top is going to be a major bitch, since I’m going with granite, and it’s a double vanity.
Thanks for the link, Don’t fight the hypothetical, and the recommendation. Actually, my current favorite is one of theirs – this one. I don’t want a slipper back becasue I don’t think it would suit the alcove where we’ll put it.
I like ours quite a bit – it’s great for a good, deep soak. However, the one thing that took a good amount of getting used to was getting in and out of the shower. It’s a good 10-12 inches higher than a normal tub, so that first few times getting out nearly spelled disaster.
Did you install it yourself, Hal? My husband is a good amateur plumber; and my father is also very experienced at plumbing and lives nearby. But neither of them has ever installed a clawfoot tub.
That’s my favorite model. Way better for two bathers.
Clawfoots hold the heat well? Then I will reconsider: I was going to post that I wouldn’t want one, because all that external surface meant that they would lose heat even quicker than a built-in bathtub. That was my objection. I’ve never used one.
It would be more of a scuttle, wouldn’t it, like a crab? :eek:
I am replacing my single wide jacuzzi tub with a genuine iron clawfoot tub. Found the tub at an architectual salvage place for $90. Will spend about $350 getting it reglazed and shiny white. Instead of tub mounted fixtures, I’ll get a wall mounted bath/shower combo. I had a clawfoot in my old house and loved it. I live in a typical ranch box and love adding quirky elements to the housed. We replaced a bathroom door with an old factory office door with a glass panel. The glass is etched and retains privacy. The door handles are brass and the door is solid wood. I need to find for it a brass plate that says “private” or “Office” or "poop deck " on it! 
Wow. If I found that good a deal, I’d seriously reconsider cast iron. I’d have to hire some husky dudes to move it, though, and possibly reinforce the upstairs floor… Maybe I’ll research what it would take to go cast iron. Then I’d know how good a deal it’d have to be to be worth it.
Nope, sorry, it came with the place.
If you poke around that folder of pics, you’ll see I took that one while redoing the bathroom. I very much wanted to completely disconnect the tub so I could get better access to the wall behind it, but I couldn’t get the connections undone.
I did, however, manage to create a small leak that I can’t seem to fix now…gotta turn off the hot water access to the tub when it’s not in use for the time being. D’oh.
I have the first one I’ve ever used in my current apartment, and it’s kind of a pain in the ass to me. High step into the tub, hard to clean, impossible to clean under (and we have very poor ventilation in there) and the shower was just kinda tossed on there with a bit of cheap piping (which is apparently common in old buildings, but is new to me and still looks & feels cheap and delicate).
They make really nice planters. Lots of space, drainage…
they also serve well as shrines for mary mother of jesus.
Course, you have to run the water somewhat hotter than otherwise to warm up all that metal.
Regarding weight: they look intimidating, but aren’t all that bad (325 lbs. give or take, depending on the size). Three or four average people can heft it up, and once its up, two people can manage it up long enough to maneuver through doorways. (I haven’t hauled one up a full flight of stairs. If the stairway isn’t wide enough for two people at each end you’ll may have to pass out the steroids.)
Anyone with a bit of plumbing experience should be able to figure out how to plumb a clawfoot. My only problem was an unscheduled trip to the hardware store for adaptors for the supply lines.