Ask a designer which bathtub to buy and you will hear about the room. Ask a plumber the same question and you will hear about the floor, the drain, and what happens in year twelve. Both are answering honestly. They are just answering different questions, and most buying guides quietly pick one side without telling you which.
That gap is not a small one. In the NKBA 2026 Bath Trends Report, published 11 November 2025 from 688 respondents, 61 percent of them designers, 55 percent said a larger shower matters more than having a bathtub at all. The people who specify bathrooms for a living are, by a slim majority, telling you the tub is optional. That is a strange way to open a list of the best bathtubs, and it is also the most useful fact on this page, because it reframes the real question. You are not choosing between eight tubs. You are deciding what job the tub does, and then choosing the shape and material that do that job without creating a problem you have to live with.
What follows is the eight types worth considering, each with the thing a design guide tends to leave out: what it weighs, what it costs, what it does to the plumbing, and who should walk away from it. Throughout you will find what working plumbers and people who actually live with these tubs say in trade and homeowner forums, quoted as they wrote it. Badeloft makes freestanding stone resin tubs, so you will find a freestanding bias in the industry generally and a financial interest here specifically. We have written the freestanding section accordingly, including the cases where it is the wrong purchase. A recommendation that never says no is not a recommendation.
The disagreement that runs through every bathtub list
Search for what plumbers recommend and you will find the professional consensus is remarkably consistent, and remarkably unglamorous. It is not the sculptural tub in the magazine. It is a rectangular alcove tub, in enamelled cast iron if the floor can carry it and an engineered composite if it cannot, set properly into the framing and left alone for thirty years.
Notice what is missing from that answer. Freestanding tubs, the category that dominates every bathroom mood board, barely register in professional recommendations. Not because plumbers dislike them, but because a plumber is being asked a different question: what will still be sound and serviceable after two decades of daily use. Freestanding tubs are a design answer. The Houzz 2025 U.S. Bathroom Trends Study, fielded 23 September 2025 across 1,737 renovating homeowners, found soaking tubs or spa baths in 18 percent of renovated bathrooms, which is real demand, and none of it is driven by serviceability.
Homeowner regret, where it shows up, follows the plumbing logic rather than the aesthetic one. The complaints are about cleaning, access and water, not about looks. One homeowner weighing the choice in a renovation forum put the practical case bluntly:
"Inset is SO much easier to clean, better for kids, more functional and longer term."
r/AusRenovation, choosing between a freestanding and a built-in bath
So hold both ideas at once. The designer is right that a freestanding tub can transform a room. The plumber is right that it asks more of the installation than any other shape. Whether that trade is worth making depends entirely on the six or seven facts about your specific bathroom that a generic list cannot know.
Quick comparison of the 8 bathtub types
| Type | Best for | Material to ask for | Tub budget | The install issue nobody mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestanding | A separate, dedicated soak in a room with floor space to spare | Stone resin, or acrylic at lower budgets | $1,500 to $6,000+ | Drain rough-in must be located before the floor goes down, and the tolerance is tight |
| Alcove | A tub that is also the shower, which is most bathrooms | Cast iron on a slab, engineered composite upstairs | $400 to $1,500 | Drain hand, left or right, must match the existing rough-in |
| Drop-in | Built-in look inside a tiled deck | Acrylic or cast iron | $600 to $3,000 | Build in an access panel or the trap is behind tile forever |
| Corner | Awkward rooms with a dead corner and generous width | Acrylic | $800 to $3,000 | Consumes more floor area than the rectangle it replaced, not less |
| Walk-in | Mobility limits, where the step-over is the hazard | Acrylic or gelcoat | Quoted per install | You sit in it while it fills and while it drains, and the door seal is a wear part |
| Soaking and Japanese | Full immersion in the smallest possible footprint | Stone resin | $1,800 to $6,000+ | Depth is limited by the water heater, not by the tub |
| Whirlpool and jetted | Hydrotherapy, recovery, chronic pain | Acrylic | $1,200 to $5,000 | The pipework behind the jets never fully drains |
| Clawfoot | Period houses and rooms that can carry the weight | Cast iron, or acrylic to save weight | $900 to $4,000 | Supply and drain lines are on display, so they become a finish decision |
Budgets are for the tub alone, in 2026 US pricing. Installation, surround and any drain relocation sit on top, and for freestanding tubs the install frequently costs more than the tub. Our breakdown of what bathtubs actually cost once installation is included goes through those numbers properly.
Why the heaviest tub is not the best tub
There is a piece of folk wisdom in every tub discussion: cast iron is bulletproof and everything else is a compromise. The first half is true. The second half falls apart the moment you put two spec sheets side by side.
Here is a standard 60 inch alcove tub, the most commonly installed size in American bathrooms, in the two materials professionals actually recommend.
| Enamelled cast iron | Engineered composite | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An iron casting with a fired enamel surface | A steel core bonded to porcelain enamel |
| Size | 60 by 30 by 14 inches | 60 by 30 by 14 inches |
| Weight, empty | about 316 lb | about 128 lb |
| Water capacity | about 33 gallons | about 42 gallons |
| Water depth | under 9 inches at maximum capacity | Rarely published |
| Warranty | Lifetime residential | Lifetime residential |
Read that twice, because it inverts the received wisdom. The cast iron tub is roughly 190 pounds heavier and holds about 9 fewer gallons than the composite one beside it. Both carry a lifetime residential warranty. The composite is not the consolation prize that "second best" implies. On the two numbers a bather actually experiences, how much water you get and whether the thing could be carried up a staircase, it wins.
Then there is the number nobody puts on a product page. A standard cast iron alcove tub holds water to under 9 inches. That is the most recommended tub in American plumbing, and it covers about as much of an adult as a deep puddle. It is an excellent tub for washing a child, rinsing after a shower, and lasting thirty years. It is not a soaking tub, and no amount of professional endorsement makes it one.
This is the whole argument in one spec line. If what you want is a tub that works hard and outlives you, the professionals are right and the answer is cheap. If what you want is to be covered in hot water up to your collarbone, you are shopping in a different category entirely, and you should stop reading plumber recommendations, because they are answering a question you did not ask.
Interactive
The Plumber's Pick Matcher
Six questions that installers ask before they will quote a tub. Answer them and you get the shape, the material, a benchmark model to price against, and the one thing to raise before anyone opens a wall.
Your match
Material to ask for
Spec to hold out for
Realistic tub budget
Raise these before the walls close up
A matcher narrows the field, it does not survey your house. Anything involving floor structure, electrical or drain relocation needs eyes on the actual space.
1. Freestanding bathtubs
A freestanding tub needs no walls, which is the source of both its appeal and every complication that follows. It can sit under a window, float in the middle of the room, or anchor a corner without touching it. Nothing else in a bathroom changes the feel of the space that much.
The material question matters more here than anywhere else on this list, because the tub is the object, not a fixture set into a surround. Stone resin holds heat noticeably better than acrylic and has a solid wall section rather than a thin shell, which is what you are paying for above roughly $1,500. Below that, acrylic is the honest answer, and a cheap tub marketed as stone or solid surface is usually a thin shell with filler. If you are weighing the two, our comparison of bathtub materials lays out how each one behaves over time.
What the installation actually requires
The drain rough-in has to be positioned to match the tub before the floor goes down. Not approximately. This single item causes more freestanding tub grief than every other factor combined, because the fix after tiling means opening a finished floor. The advice plumbers give homeowners on this is always the same, and always more specific than people expect:
"Look up the rough in dimensions for the exact model tub you are installing. You want to know the center, distance from the valve wall, side..."
r/Plumbing, advising on a tub install over a concrete slab
Get the manufacturer spec sheet into your plumber's hands at framing stage, not at delivery. Our freestanding tub installation walkthrough covers the sequence, and the drain sizing guide covers what connects to what.
Two smaller things come up constantly and cost nothing to plan for. Leave a hand's width between the tub and any wall, because whatever gap you leave is the gap you will be cleaning around for a decade. Owners who got this right report it is a non-issue: "It's easy enough to clean behind if you have a cloth mop, plenty of room to move it around in that gap." Owners who left too little space do not say that. And decide at install how the tub is being secured, since a freestanding tub on polished tile will move.
Who should not buy one
If this tub also has to be your shower, buy an alcove tub. Freestanding tub and shower combinations exist and almost all of them are a compromise on both counts. If the bathroom is under about 60 square feet, the tub will dominate the room in a way that photographs well and lives badly. And if the floor is wood joists on an upper storey and you are looking at a heavy solid surface model, check the load before you order rather than after. The calculator further down this page will tell you whether that is a real concern or a theoretical one.
Freestanding demand is not a fad, for what it is worth. Our analysis of 20 years of freestanding tub data tracks how steadily the category has grown. But growth is not the same as suitability, and a trend is a terrible reason to fight your own floor plan.
2. Alcove bathtubs
The alcove tub is the one professionals actually recommend, and it is worth being clear about why rather than treating it as the boring default. It drops into a three wall pocket built from standard framing, ties into a standard drain location, and gives the shower something to spray against. Every part of that is cheaper, faster and more serviceable than the alternatives.
The material call depends on what is under the floor. On a ground floor slab, take the cast iron: it holds heat, the enamel survives decades of scrubbing, and weight is somebody else's problem for one afternoon. On an upper storey, an engineered composite or a good thick acrylic gets you most of the way there at a fraction of the weight, which matters for the install crew, the stairs, and the joists. If you want the long version, we have written separately on cast iron tubs and on acrylic tubs, and there is a fuller explanation of how alcove tubs are built and installed.
The one install detail that decides everything
Set it in mortar. This comes up in trade discussion more than any other installation point, and it is the difference between a floor that feels solid underfoot and one that flexes every time somebody steps in. Flexing is what eventually cracks the joint at the drain. The strength of feeling among people who have done the work is consistent: "I would 100% recommend setting the tub in a mortar bed."
There is also a way to check whether it was actually done, which is worth knowing before the installer leaves:
"Knock on the tub floor. If there's a proper mortar bed, it will almost feel like concrete and not sound hollow. You can also press down on the..."
r/HomeImprovement, answering how to tell whether a plumber really set the tub in mortar
Anything lighter than cast iron needs a proper mortar bed under the base, and a crew that skips it is saving an hour at your expense.
The second detail is duller and causes more returns: confirm the drain hand, left or right, against your existing rough-in before you order. Tubs are handed. Getting this wrong is the single most common reorder in the category.
The honest limitation of alcove tubs is depth. Standard models hold water to under 9 inches, as the spec comparison above shows. Deep soak alcove models exist and are worth seeking out if immersion matters to you, but check the published water depth rather than the rim height, because the two are not close to the same number.
3. Drop-in bathtubs
A drop-in is a tub shell set into a deck you build and finish yourself, which means the tub disappears and the surround becomes the design. That is the appeal: you can run the same stone or tile from the floor up over the deck and get an integrated look no standalone tub can match. It also means the tub can be almost any size and shape you can frame around.
Because the shell is supported by the deck rather than standing on its own, acrylic is entirely sensible here and cast iron is an option if the framing is built for it. Cost lives mostly in the surround, not the tub. A modest acrylic shell inside an expensive stone deck is a normal and sane way to spend the budget. There is more on the format in our drop-in bathtub guide.
The thing to insist on is an access panel. The trap and the overflow connection sit inside a sealed box, and if nobody plans for a way in, the way in later is a hole cut through finished tile. Plumbers are direct about this when homeowners ask whether they can skip it:
"It's a lot easier to have an Access Panel then rip Tile out."
r/Plumbing, on covering tub plumbing with a tiled wall
Build the panel at framing. It costs almost nothing then and it is the difference between a forty minute repair and a weekend.
4. Corner bathtubs
Corner tubs get recommended for small bathrooms, and this is mostly backwards. A triangular tub tucked into a corner fills a space that was awkward, which is genuinely useful, but the footprint is typically wider than the 60 by 30 inch rectangle it replaced. It solves an awkward room, not a small one.
The regret, when it comes, is about floor area rather than the tub itself. It is one of the more common opening lines in remodelling threads: "We are getting ready to remodel our bathroom and remove our giant jacuzzi tub that takes up a ton of space." Oversized corner and jetted tubs installed in the 1990s and 2000s are being pulled out in large numbers now, usually to reclaim the floor.
Where they earn their place is a room with a generous width, a dead corner, and a layout that resists a conventional alcove: guest baths in irregular additions, attic conversions with a sloped ceiling on one wall, primary baths where the plumbing wall is already committed. Many models include a moulded seat, which is a real comfort advantage for a long bath, and they hold a lot of water. Our corner bathtub guide goes through the layouts where they work.
Measure the diagonal before you fall for one. Then measure the door, and the turn at the top of the stairs. Corner tubs are wide in exactly the dimension that makes them hard to carry, and our guide to standard bathtub dimensions is worth checking against your floor plan first.
5. Walk-in bathtubs
Walk-in tubs remove the step-over, which is the part of a conventional tub that actually causes falls. For anyone with limited mobility, that alone can be decisive, and the built-in seat, grab bars and textured floor are meaningful additions rather than marketing.
Aging in place is no longer a niche concern. In the NKBA 2026 Bath Trends Report, 32 percent of respondents agreed aging in place is now a mainstream trend and a further 48 percent said it is on its way to becoming one, which puts four in five design professionals on the same side of the question.
The two things a brochure will not tell you
You sit in the tub while it fills, and you sit in it while it drains. The door cannot open against standing water, so both waits happen with you inside, wet. This is the single most repeated warning from people who have researched or owned them:
"For a walk in tub, you'll have to get in the tub when it's empty and wait for it to fill, and sit in the tub while it drains."
r/homeowners, advising someone shopping for a walk-in tub
Ask for the actual fill and drain times in minutes for the specific model, and ask whether it has a fast-drain system. This is entirely predictable before purchase, and it is the thing people wish they had weighed properly.
Second, the door seal is a wear part. Ask whether it is user-replaceable, what it costs, and what the warranty covers in year eight rather than year one.
And price the alternative honestly. A curbless shower with a fold-down seat solves the same safety problem, usually costs less to install, and nobody sits in it waiting for water to drain. For a lot of households it is the better answer, and a company that only sells walk-in tubs will not be the one to say so. Our walk-in bathtub guide compares the two properly.
6. Soaking and Japanese bathtubs
If the goal is immersion, this is the category that delivers it. A Japanese style soaker, or ofuro, buys depth vertically rather than horizontally: shorter in length, considerably deeper, designed to be sat in upright with water at the shoulders. In a room where floor area is the constraint, it gets you a genuinely deep bath where a conventional freestanding oval will not fit.
Stone resin is the material that suits this best, for the straightforward reason that deep water in a long bath loses heat and a solid wall section slows that down considerably more than a thin acrylic shell. We have a dedicated Japanese soaking tub guide, and a broader piece on what separates a soaking tub from a standard one.
Your water heater sets the real depth limit
This is the constraint that governs the category and almost nobody mentions it at the point of sale. A deep soaker can want 60 gallons or more. A common residential tank holds 40 to 50 gallons, and you cannot use all of it at bath temperature because the hot is blended with cold on the way to the tub.
There is a workaround worth understanding before you assume you need a bigger tank, and plumbers explain it the same way every time:
"Also raising the temperature on the water heater helps. Because you don't use the same volume of hot water. The ratio of hot to cold changes."
r/homeowners, on not having enough hot water to fill a tub
Store hotter, blend more cold, and a 50 gallon tank fills a bigger tub than its rating suggests. Done properly this needs a thermostatic mixing valve at the heater so that nothing downstream delivers scalding water, which is a plumber's job rather than a dial you turn on your own.
Check the tub's capacity to overflow against your heater's first hour rating before you commit. If the numbers do not work, the fix is a larger tank, a tankless unit, a mixing valve setup, or a smaller tub, and it is far cheaper to discover that now.
7. Whirlpool and jetted bathtubs
Jetted tubs circulate water through jets for hydro-massage, and for muscle soreness, circulation and post-exercise recovery the benefit is real. If that is why you want a bath, nothing else on this list substitutes.
They are also the most mechanical thing in the room, and mechanical things have requirements. The pump needs a dedicated GFCI protected circuit, which is an electrician's job and a permit item in most jurisdictions. The pump also needs to be reachable, so an access panel is not optional.
The maintenance problem is structural, not a cleaning failure
The plumbing loop that makes the jets work is the same loop that holds residual water between uses. That is not a defect in a particular tub, it is how the system is built:
"The hidden tubing, pump volutes, and fittings found on most jetted spa tubs do not fully drain..."
r/Plumbing, explaining why jetted tubs develop buildup
Water that never fully leaves grows biofilm, and biofilm is what eventually comes back out of the jets. The cleaning forums are full of people discovering this the hard way, with thread titles like "Cleaned this jetted tub SIX times and i'ts still nasty" and owners reporting "Our house has one of these and i never use it." Running a cleaning cycle with a proper jetted tub cleaner every few weeks is the maintenance price of admission, not an optional extra. Our whirlpool tub guide covers the routine, and if you are torn between jets and depth, we compare soaking tubs against jetted tubs directly.
Air tubs are worth knowing about as the alternative: they blow warm air through the floor of the tub rather than recirculating water, which gives a gentler sensation and a far easier system to keep clean.
8. Clawfoot bathtubs
Clawfoot tubs are the original freestanding tub, and in a period house nothing else looks right. They are deep, they hold heat well in cast iron, and they carry a presence that reproduction styling cannot fake.
Weight is the headline constraint. A cast iron clawfoot commonly runs 300 to 400 pounds empty, and unlike an alcove tub that weight sits on four small feet rather than spread along a base. Owners notice. One renovator documenting a period bathroom rebuild summarised the tub in five words, "this thing is so heavy," alongside a total project cost of $31,335. Modern acrylic clawfoots exist for exactly this reason and are dramatically easier to get into an upstairs bathroom, at the cost of the heat retention that made the original worth having. Our clawfoot bathtub guide goes through the variants.
The detail people underestimate is that the supply and drain lines are visible. There is no apron and no surround to hide behind, so the plumbing becomes a finish decision, and exposed supply lines in a matching finish are not cheap. Budget for them as part of the tub rather than as an afterthought.
Material decides more than shape does
Search behaviour makes this plain. Far more people search for what the best bathtub material is than for what the best bathtub type is, and they are right to. The shape decides where the tub goes. The material decides what living with it is like.
| Material | Weight, 60 inch tub | Heat retention | Holds up to | Where it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enamelled cast iron | 300 to 400 lb | Excellent | Decades of scrubbing; chips if something heavy is dropped | Ground floor alcove, period clawfoot |
| Engineered composites | 120 to 160 lb | Very good | Much of what cast iron does, at roughly a third of the weight | Upper storey alcove, the pro compromise pick |
| Stone resin | 250 to 400 lb | Excellent | Solid wall section, repairable surface | Freestanding and deep soakers |
| Acrylic | 60 to 120 lb | Good | Warm to touch, scratches, needs a mortar bed | Budget builds, drop-ins, jetted tubs |
| Enamelled steel | 70 to 110 lb | Poor | Cheap, loud, chips at the rim | Rentals and tight budgets |
| Fibreglass or gelcoat | 50 to 80 lb | Poor | The shortest service life of anything here | Temporary or lowest cost only |
Two rules cover most situations. If the tub is going upstairs, weight is a real constraint and the composite materials exist precisely for that. If the tub is going to be filled deep and sat in for a long time, heat retention is the feature you are buying and thin shells will disappoint you. Our full bathtub materials comparison goes deeper on each, and if you are wondering how long any of this lasts, we have looked at bathtub life expectancy by material separately.
Interactive
Bathtub Floor Load Calculator
A filled tub with someone in it is the heaviest thing most bathrooms ever hold, concentrated in one corner of the room. This works out what yours actually weighs and tells you whether the number is worth a second opinion.
Manufacturers publish capacity to the rim. Real baths stop at the overflow, which is usually somewhere around three quarters of that. Slide to 100% if you want the worst case.
Total load
0
pounds
Spread over footprint
0
lb per square foot
Code design baseline
40
psf, IRC R301.5
This is arithmetic, not a structural assessment. The 40 psf figure in IRC Table R301.5 is a minimum uniformly distributed design live load for rooms other than sleeping rooms; a bathtub is a concentrated load, and how a floor carries it depends on joist size, spacing, span and direction, none of which a calculator can see. Exceeding 40 psf here does not mean a floor will fail, and staying under it does not mean it will not. Use the number to decide whether to ask a structural engineer, not to answer the question yourself.
What plumbers wish you would ask before you buy
These are the questions that separate an install that goes smoothly from one that generates change orders. None of them are about the tub.
- Where exactly is the drain rough-in, and does it match this tub? For freestanding tubs this has to be resolved before the floor is finished. For alcove tubs it determines whether you need a left hand or right hand drain.
- Is it being set in mortar? For anything lighter than cast iron, the mortar bed is what stops the base flexing. Flexing is what cracks drain joints. Knock on the tub floor afterwards; it should sound solid, not hollow.
- How do we get to the trap in five years? Access panel at framing, or a hole in finished tile later. Pick now.
- What is under this floor, and which way do the joists run? A tub running parallel to the joists loads them differently than one running across. Ask before you order a heavy tub for an upper storey.
- Will the water heater fill it at bath temperature? Compare the tub's capacity to overflow against the heater's first hour rating.
- Does it fit through the door, the hall, and the stair turn? Tubs do not come apart. Measure the route, not just the room.
- What does the warranty actually cover? Lifetime on the shell is common. Lifetime on the finish, the jets, or the door seal is not.
If you are working backwards from a budget rather than forwards from a tub, our guide to total bathtub costs including installation is the place to start, and we maintain a comparison of bathtub brands for narrowing the field.
Pick your tub in five minutes
Work down this list and stop at the first line that describes you. It is a blunt instrument and it is right more often than a longer process would be.
- Someone in the house has mobility limits. Walk-in tub, or a curbless shower with a seat. Price both. The shower wins more often than the industry admits.
- This tub is also the only shower. Alcove. Cast iron on a slab, engineered composite upstairs. The decision is made; spend your attention on the surround instead.
- Kids, daily use, no separate shower needed. Alcove or drop-in, in an engineered composite or a thick acrylic. Set in mortar. Flat floor and an easy step-over matter more than the silhouette.
- You want to be genuinely submerged and there is a separate shower. Stone resin soaker. Japanese style if floor area is tight, freestanding if it is not. Check your water heater first.
- Muscle recovery or chronic pain is the reason for the tub. Jetted or air tub, acrylic, with a GFCI circuit and an access panel budgeted in.
- Period house, and the bathroom should look its age. Clawfoot. Cast iron on the ground floor, acrylic upstairs. Budget for visible supply lines.
- The room has a dead corner and generous width. Corner tub, after you have measured the diagonal and the stair turn.
- None of the above, and the room is the point. Freestanding. This is a design decision with service consequences, and it is a perfectly good reason to buy one. You can see the Badeloft freestanding stone resin collection if that is where you have landed.
Frequently asked questions
What bathtub do plumbers actually recommend most?
Enamelled cast iron alcove tubs where the floor supports the weight, and an engineered composite where it does not. Both carry lifetime residential warranties and both are ordinary rectangular alcove tubs. Neither is a soaking tub.
Is a freestanding tub a bad idea?
No, but it is a design decision rather than a practical one, and it should be made with the tradeoffs visible. It asks more of the drain rough-in than any other shape, it needs clearance around it for cleaning, and it does not combine well with a shower. Given a room with the space and a separate shower, it is a good purchase.
What is the most durable bathtub material?
Enamelled cast iron, by service life. Stone resin is close and repairable in ways enamel is not. Engineered composites reach most of cast iron's durability at roughly a third of the weight, which is why professionals recommend them for upstairs bathrooms.
How much does a bathtub weigh when it is full?
More than people expect. A cast iron alcove tub at about 316 pounds empty, filled to around three quarters of its 33 gallon capacity, with one adult in it, comes to roughly 700 pounds concentrated on about 12.6 square feet. The calculator on this page will work it out for your specific tub.
Do I need to reinforce my floor for a bathtub?
Sometimes, and it depends on the joists rather than on the tub alone. IRC Table R301.5 sets a minimum uniformly distributed design live load of 40 psf for rooms other than sleeping rooms, but a bathtub is a concentrated load, and how a floor handles it depends on joist size, span, spacing and direction. If the calculation comes out high and the tub is on an upper storey, that is a question for a structural engineer, not for a showroom.
What is the cheapest bathtub that is still worth buying?
A standard alcove tub in enamelled steel or a thick acrylic, set properly in mortar. The installation matters more than the price tag at this end of the market; a cheap tub set well outlasts an expensive one set badly.
Can you put a freestanding tub in a small bathroom?
Under roughly 60 square feet it usually dominates the room. A Japanese style soaker is the better answer in a tight footprint, because it gets its depth vertically instead of spreading across the floor.
The Plumber's Advice, Applied to a Badeloft Tub
Every plumber in this guide said some version of the same thing: decide the installation before you fall for the tub. If the freestanding route survived that test, start with the numbers they told you to ask for. Badeloft makes stone resin freestanding tubs from compact soakers to 72 inch models built for two, and every product page lists the exact length, width and capacity your plumber and your floor will need. Start with our 60 inch freestanding tubs if the new tub is replacing a standard alcove, or our two-person soaking tubs if it is for two, and pick the one that passes both the drain and the floor.