claw foot tub

Try to sell it. Buyer has to move it.

If no luck there, then get some goggles and a heavy sledge.

I'd trying selling it first too, they can go for a nice price. If you do break it up with a sledge, make sure to throw an old blanket over it first so the pieces aren't flying everywhere.

Originally Posted by Scrapette

I have an old iron claw foot tub that needs to be dismantled in the house and moved down a flight of stairs. I would like to break it into at least four pieces. I don't have the money for fancy, expensive tools like plasma cutters and am fairly ignorant of other tools except for the very basic ones. I would appreciate any helpful suggestions. The tub weighs, I'm guestimating, around five hundred pounds. Thanks in advance to any posters.

Bring along some old carpet, once the plumbing is disconnected have a friend help you turn the tub over onto the carpet it would keep fingers safe if you put an old pillow or cushion down for the rim of the tub to set onto. Now you can tow the tub, going down stairs is no problem secure the top with a rope to let it down easy.

If you have to lift the rim of the tub over door sills have a short piece of two x 4 handy and a pry par to do the lifting, have some more short bits of 2x4 to lay under the rim to elevate the tub going over the sill plate.

Tub at most weighs a couple hundred and it is worth a lot more in one piece the legs alone can bring in a good money. Check out fleabay for claw feet and your going to find out that there are many styles to choose from some are very common while others are not and these are the big top items.

There is so much demand for these old tubs that there are companies that cast new ones, the quality is not there. People would rather have an old original refinished.

Someday I'm going to take a pair of these old tubs and cut them then re weld the two ends together so that each end of the tub has a slanted end with the taps coming in from the middle oh what fun that tub would be.

Taps and fixtures another hot item worth more than scrap brass. Free standing sinks whoa, big money honey.

Apparently, old refurbished radiators are also worth a lot more than their scrap value. I'm in the flooring business. Last summer I had a job in a turn of the century home tearing out the old flooring and subfloor and putting in new. Told the owner I could do a better job for him if the rads were removed and re-installed once the new flooring was in. For budget reasons he didn't want to bother. I checked further with a plumber friend of mine about what would be involved. He said it would be best to work around the rads because if you break one taking it out, it could be $2,000.00 + to get a refurbished replacement. Not what I wanted to hear, but quite an eye opener.

Originally Posted by GeorgeB

Few months back, I was getting these things left and right. Some of them were heavy, and people's mouths dropped as I picked up them, and them placed them onto my dolly lol.

One of my HVAC guys told me, that he had a bunch at one time, and they had some type of carving on them. He did some research and found a buyer, and made over $15,000 on the ones he sold to the buyer. Whether that is myth or fact, I don't know, but if it was fact, one hell of a score!!

That was probably true...my family has been into antiques for a long time and these tubs bring in the big bucks!! Do some research in the big cities. Look for house restoration companies...they are always looking for these for restoration projects. Whatever you do...don't scrap it. Because as soon as you do...someone is going to ask if you still have it for sale...DOH!

SS

Originally Posted by Scrapette

Thanks a lot for this post. This sounds like the kind of low-tech removal that I could manage with some help. The fixtures are new cr#@! and one of the faucet handles is missing. As I posted below, it's missing at least one foot - I can't see behind it to tell if it's missing two as it is up against a wall. The first one is propped up on books. The tub you plan to make does sound like fun.

Your welcome Scrapette, horse folks like these tubs for water troughs, then we have the trashy garden folks that use old tubs as planters. No legs necessary for either application.

A large sledge hammer breaks cast iron, fact is cast iron is almost as brittle as glass, you have two things to watch out for if you choose the sledge hammer route.

Cast iron is brittle and breaks into large pieces along with small pointed bits of shrapnel. Just as if you had broken up a bunch of glass.

Next is the enamel coating on the cast iron, once you strike it hard with a hammer this stuff breaks into small shards flying through the air with an almost explosive force.

Always wear your protective clothing, eye and face protection , long sleeves and gloves.

If it were me on the handle, I would hit the tub dead center just below the rim and half ways up from the bottom, this is your weakest point. Once you have a crack started the tub is history, remember cast breaks just like a sheet of glass would.

You could also drill a couple of holes then sue a cold chisel to scribe in a line by tapping the chisel, I would use the corner edge of my chisel to indent my fracture line between the holes I previously drilled.