Best tub material

[MonteMan92]

This is my first post to the site. I hope this is in the right spot. I am redoing the bathroom in my condo. Since the walls and floors will be torn out I would like to replace the tub. The tub is currently a porcelain over steel that is almost 40 years old. It has been refinished but has issues. It's actually installed way out of level with the low side pointing into the room. So all the water that falls on the edge of the tub ends up on the floor. My question is what is the best type of tub in terms of durability? I have tried to research this but keep finding conflicting answers. My parents have a fiberglass tub that has cracked so I am scared to use one of those. The porcelain over steel tub I have now has held up decent but not great the last 40 years. I want to do this once and do it right and not have to touch this bathroom again for many many years. So what type of tub would be recommended in terms of durability? Thanks so much!

 

[Terry]

Plumbers tend to put hte support on the back wall to incline the tub toward the room. Better than inclining toward the wall we figure.
I like cast iron, but they are pretty heavy.
Acrylic is looking better all the time to me. American Standard makes their Americast tubs, pocelain on steel with a backing. It's looking pretty even to me sometimes. My son Jamie has decided that I'm too old to install cast now.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

From a real durability standpoint, cast iron is really the longest lasting material. The key with any of the plastic or fiberglass tubs is to make sure the bottom is fully supported so that it cannot flex. Some tubs come with a decent support there, but not all by any means. And, those that do come with support need the floor to be level first. The alternative is to put something like deck mud (a mix of sand and cement) underneath, then smush the tub in place until it is level. If you want something other than a normal looking tub, that may limit you to acrylic or fiberglass. If you're one that really likes to soak, if you can arrange the room to accept it, consider a longer tub than the standard 60" one. I have a 72" one, and it's much nicer to soak my sore back! I really wanted one 78", but couldn't make any more room without major issues to load bearing walls.

When you set the tub, you really want to have it perfectly level across the tub lipj both L-R and in-out. That way, you don't get pooling or water running off into the room, it will actually drain into the tub! The key for the wall longevity is to do a decent job of waterproofing those edges. Depending on what you're wanting on the walls, there are various accepted ways to achieve that, but none of them work well if the tub isn't level first!