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Is $1000 extra charge for installing a free-standing tub normal?

5 years ago

We are building a house and I have my heart set on a clawfoot tub (the builder plans had a drop in originally). I understand the filler and tub are more expensive, but they want to charge me $1000 extra (above what they would charge to install a drop in) to plumb in a free standing tub. This seems excessive to me, when there are fewer parts involved and its being done in new construction, so pipes don't have to be relocated. Anyone have any experience with this?

Featured Answer

Sunnysmom

5 years ago

I went with the lower quote in my last house to install a pedestal tub. It had a very slight leak and this guy eventually refunded my money and gave up trying to fix it. He said he thought it was because of slight movement when getting in/out of the tub was the cause. I ended up having it reinstalled by a very large plumbing company and it was 1K, they put some type of concrete like base under it to prevent any movement and they guaranteed the work.

If your builder is going to do the work for 1K and guarantee it I would go with it. Less hassle and no issues if any warranty issues later. At the most you would save a few hundred, however you could be giving up a warranty and it would just not be worth it.

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Comments (10)

PRO
Avanti Tile & Stone / Stonetech
5 years ago
Pretty straightforward. Get another quote.
millworkman
5 years ago
Change order = more $
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mrspete
5 years ago
Clawfoot tubs are lovely, but everything about them is expensive!

What if you do a wall-mounted faucet instead of a freestanding model?
cpartist
5 years ago
That does sound excessive.

Mrspete do you know what brand faucet that is?
mrspete
5 years ago
Sorry, I don't. I just picked it off the internet as an example. It isn't "my" faucet.
Maria Jones
Original Author
5 years ago
I knew the tub and fixtures would be more, and we were going with a wall mount faucet. The plumbers just don't like installing clawfoot tubs. They claim all kinds of things can go wrong and it requires more workers than a drop in tub, so they tack on $1000 dollars MORE than they charge to install a drop in. That is not for the fixtures, that is just to line up the blasted hole in the floor to the drain in the tub (how hard is it to measure?!!). I did get a quote for all the plumbing in our house from a different plumber, but I don't think my builder will want to change. Apparently most of the builders in town use this plumbing service, which specializes in new construction.
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Princeton Home Center LLC
5 years ago
Here is the faucet in that picture, you can pick the handles you want in the dropdown menu:

https://www.discountbathroomvanities.com/Water-Creation-F6-0010-01-7in-Spread-Wall-Mount-Tub-Faucet-lwF6-0010-01.html
albspam
5 years ago
I don't think $1K is that off. We decided to add in a clawfoot as well, but we had to move a couple walls that were already framed so all in, more but my contractor told me the clawfoot does add a lot more expense. He's been good to me so I trust him, mostly :). You want it done right...
_sophiewheeler
5 years ago
Too cheap for all of the extra labor that is involved.

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