Cast Iron Tub Removal

This past weekend I conquered the final boss level of demolition for the bathroom remodel project: removing the cast iron tub. I had naively thought it was fiberglass, and this thought I’d simply sledgehammer it into pieces. When I tried that, I quickly saw what was underneath the enamel:

Therefore, the solution became obvious: saw it in half so that it could be more easily removed. To do this, I used a combination of a reciprocating saw with carbide blades and an angle grinder with both metal cutoff blades and a carbide toothed blade.

All told, I burned through 4 skillsaw blades, 3 angle grinder cutoff discs, and 1 carbide toothed blade. It was brutal work, since I was covered head to toe in protective clothing and had to crouch in awkward positions to get the at the tub. I made sure to wear adequate eye protection especially.

I took a couple of breaks (including a run to buy more blades) but gradually made progress:

Finally, I was able to saw it all the way in half and get the first half of the tub removed.

I was then able to get that half of the tub out of the house using a dolly.

I still have to disconnect the drain of the second half and remove it, but that will be pretty straightforward.

In the process of sledgehammering the tub, I nicked the side of the toilet, and gave it a hairline fracture. It’s not a big deal because I’m going to replace the toilet, but it was slightly annoying because I was leaving the toilet as was during the early part of the remodel for convenience’s sake, and the hairline fracture gave it a very slight leak. As a temporary solution, I used some flex seal to repair the fracture, which is ugly but works like a charm, and will let the toilet function until I replace it in several weeks.

Finally, the last thing I did this weekend was some minor jigsaw work on the kitchen cabinetry to expand the rough opening for the wall oven, which will accommodate the new one being installed in January.

Slowly but surely, progress is being made on all fronts!

As a last note (unrelated to home improvement), huge congratulations to my beloved Arsenal on getting a huge win in the North London Derby this weekend against our hated rivals, Tottenham. COYG!