Placement of longer tub is a problem

Jennie Gaskin
by Jennie Gaskin
We were planning to replace a 5' tub with a 6' jetted tub, by getting some of the extra space needed from a small closet it butts up against. There's a problem. The house is on a slab, and the spout end of the tub is the end that will have to "move" over 1'; the other end can't be moved because it's against an outside wall. Moving the drain and the pipes would involve breaking into the slab and moving the pipes and drain over 1'. Is there any other way to do this? I thought of putting the tub on a 6" platform (maybe poured?) and angling the drain and pipes off from there. It sounds like more trouble than it is worth, but I'd sure like my husband to be able to stretch out in a tub for a change. We built the house ourselves in 1977, and it's time for updates.
  4 answers
  • Do it correctly and dig up the slab and move the pipes. Raising the tub on a platform may sound like a great idea, but if your drain pipes are moving at funny angles and not properly configured, there will be a time in which they will begin to plug with hair and soap scum. Once that occurs you will not want to see what it will take to fix the slow drain. Moving the pipes are really not all that hard considering all the other work your attempting.
  • Jennie Gaskin Jennie Gaskin on Jul 17, 2013
    Thanks! I guess we knew that but were hoping there was an easier fix. We'd rather get a professional for something like this, but it's so hard to find somebody way out here in the boonies. We've been very fortunate with our plumbing, nothing more than the occasional leak under the kitchen sink in 35 years. Maybe because plumbing the slab was one of the things we left to a professional when the house was built.
  • Mishler Plumbing Mishler Plumbing on Jul 19, 2013
    Woodbridge nailed it. It is always worth doing it the right way up front. "Shortcuts" ALWAYS lead to problems. It really is not that big of a job compared to the rest of the project.
  • Jennie Gaskin Jennie Gaskin on Jul 20, 2013
    I agree. Now let's see if I can get my husband to agree to put it in the master bath. That will only require that we move a bedroom wall back 12" and close up a shallow hall linen closet. Maybe he'll consider that easier!