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I have been working on remodeling my bathroom. As part of the renovations we have decided to replace our old tub with an acrylic claw foot tub. The tub is extremely light weight. I am assuming that it needs to be anchored some how so that there isn't constant strain on the plumbing for the drain. I talked to the plumber who helped me move the plumbing when I first started the remodel, but he did not have any answers for me. My floor is ceramic tile, and there is basement below the bathroom so I can get underneath the floor if needed. What is the best way to anchor this tub?

Here are a couple of pictures of the tub: Claw foot tub

And from underneath: Under side

Under side of feet

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    What are those legs made out of? Are you sure this thing is designed to be functional? I can't believe one small bolt per leg can support a full load of water + a person!
    – Tester101
    Oct 14, 2011 at 20:32
  • There should be holes or notches for screws in the feet - can you post a photo of the bottom of the inside of the leg?
    – ChrisF ♦
    Oct 14, 2011 at 20:56
  • @Tester101 the feet are metal and it feels pretty sturdy once the tub is sitting on them, but I was a bit leery of them as well.
    – heavyd
    Oct 14, 2011 at 22:48
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    That tub looks like it can hold quite a bit of water, so keep in mind water weighs ~8.33 lbs/gallon. I'm guessing that tub holds at least 600 lbs of water, plus the weight of the tub + a person... That is a lot of weight on those legs (and the floor). I'm no engineer (@Doresoom is the resident engineer), but I wouldn't trust that kind of weight on those feet.
    – Tester101
    Oct 15, 2011 at 0:38
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    There is going to be a lot of force pushing down, and I'm thinking those (tiny) bolts are going to act like a hinge and allow the legs to deflect out. Too much weight, and the tub will look like Bambi on the frozen pond.
    – Tester101
    Oct 15, 2011 at 0:41

3 Answers 3

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I believe you just set it on the floor and let the weight of the tub and connected drain pipes keep it from moving.

If you are really worried about it moving you could mount some sort of small block to the floor behind where each leg will sit. It would not be attached to the blocks but with for of them the tub would not be able to move. But that may not work well with your tile floor.

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  • The weight of the tub will definitely not be enough. The 2 pictures above I took by holding the tub up with one hand and holding the camera with another, and it was not a strain to take. As it is the tub would move if you bump into it.
    – heavyd
    Oct 14, 2011 at 23:48
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    I would contact the manufacturer and see what they say.
    – Craig
    Oct 17, 2011 at 16:20
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Several ways: 1) Epoxy ; just glue the feet down. Or embed bolt heads into the floor material with a shallow "blind" hole and epoxy then nuts and washers to bolt the feet down. 2) lag bolts into the floor ; make a fender washer fit to the inside geometery of the feet and lag it to the floor (drill tile if/as necessary 3) Bolts thru the floor ; You can procure "suck-rod" nuts (couplings) to screw onto the existing leg attachment bolts and add stainless all-thread rod (bolt) to whatever length you need to get thru the floor where you can use a locking nut to snuggle the tub legs down to the floor. These "suck-rod" nuts are used in windmill pump shaft connections to join suck rods (the rod that runs the cylinder up and down) Ace stocks them.

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Silicone caulk on the foot to floor interface should do it, and be reversible. Though (nearly) 5 years later, perhaps you should tell us what you did and how it has worked...

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