Showering in a clawfoot tub?

[dbarie]

Anyone out there showering in a claw foot tub? I am going to redo the bathroom in a few months and SWMBO really wants a claw foot tub.

A little background: This is the only full bathroom in the house and we have two young kids so we need a tub. The bathroom is 8'6" x 6'3" so it's not like we can do a shower stall and tub. The existing tub shower is on the shorter wall with the sink and toilet on the opposite wall. The door is centered on the longer wall, opposite that is a window (also pretty much centered).

My concern is that getting into an out of the claw foot tub to shower everyday is going to get old, fast.

 

[luvmysuper]

Get a low profile tub.
It is shallower at one end, and easier to get in and out of.
If it is mostly the kids that use it for bath time, you don't need a very deep tub anyway.
.
.

 

[Go West Young Man]

You can get kits like this http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/product_detail.asp?item_no=RMN771BN that retrofit onto existing tubs. The shower curtain hangs from the rods and encircles the whole tub, 360 degrees.

And don't get scared by the prices on that website, I've seen cheapo ones at Home Depot for under $100 if you want to go that way instead.

 

[life2short1971]

Thats what you'll need to.

 

[jlanger]

Overstock.com clawfoot shower

I have something similar to this and works well, it was fairly inexpensive to most of hte other kits you can order from Home Depot etc. It does make a smallish shower and you have to get a couple of shower curtains but you do what you got to do. I'd stay away from the $100 kits available at most hardware stores, those generally won't last very long and/or you won't be very happy with them. Generally they're a little smaller and less user friendly.

 

[jsrdrnr]

Had it at my Grandma's. It was not bad. You really get used to it in my opinion. But to each his own.

 

[Charles Darwin]

Those things are soo cool.

The kids will get a kick out of it and want to take baths.

 

[ImaRobot]

I lived in a house with a claw foot bath tub/shower for four years. I never found getting in and out of the bathtub trouble some or annoying. What I did find frustrating was the amount of water that would make its way past the shower curtains. We never used it for baths because it was short and deep, which wouldn't be comfortable for me at 6'2. Also, the house was in poor shape and it was a legitimate concern over whether or not the floor could support a full tub

 

[elalan]

I showered in one for twenty years and never had an issue with it. I miss the tub a lot, loved to soak in there and read the paper on a sunday. Something about how the cast iron held the heat. I would recommend getting a longer one if you are going to buy one. There are six-footers that are better for lounging. Look at antique salvage stores and you'll get a great deal. Also, I'd vote for getting a step above the cheapest shower kits. It can't be too flimsy or you'll pull it down from its mount.

 

[ImaWestie]

I live in a sprawling fibro shack of a house that was renovated by the previous owners SWMBO.

As such the renovations make NO SENSE AT ALL.

The ensuite consisted (when we moved in) of a toilet... and a bath-tub.
I SHAVE STANDING IN A BATH-TUB.

I would really, really, recommend not having a hand-held shower as your main - and most definately not your only - shower.

If you can pole-mount or wall-mount it, then that's fine. The way the window in my ensuite goes over the bathtub (at the plumbed end) I can't. And it sucks.

 

[ImaWestie]

Phil, that tub. That looks superb. But the shower-head needs somewhere to be.

I'd personally go with a "rainfall" shower-head coming out of the ceiling if I was looking to refit a bathroom right now. Apparently they even have low-flow rainfall shower-heads that use less water than a traditional "fire-hose through a sprinkler-head" shower-heads. My in-laws have a double-shower with rainfall shower-heads and afaik with both running it uses less water than my downstairs shower does, and I don't find my own shower all that wonderful (I'm spoilt by the comparatively endless blasting hot water at work).

 

[The Nid Hog]

I grew up in an old Victorian house. All of the bathrooms had ancient, monstrous clawfoot tubs. My dad installed a hoop-like gadget like the ones that have been suggested and that's what I used with no problem for years. Hope it works out well for you!

 

[dbarie]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like we are a go on the clawfoot tub.

 

[Pkrankow]

Take off your shoes, and climb in and out of one on the sales floor. Irk the salespeople about climbing in the displays, but do it right and make sure you are wearing slacks that do not have rivets or buttons that can scratch. My experiences have been limited, and poor, with clawfoot tubs. I have fallen out of one while getting in. The high bottom is a concern as there is a significant step getting in and out.

Inexpensive clawfoot tubs are thick resin and not metal.

Phil