Depth of a good soaking tub?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Seems a good forum for this question...

If you have a good soaking tub that you love, how deep is it from the tub floor to the overflow valve?

Not looking for jacuzzi/jets/etc, just a nice soaking tub. Too much info online The last hotel I was in had one that was 31" deep, it was overkill. The ones we're looking at are 20 - 22" on the outside, with the max water depth 16 1/4" - that seems a little lower than I'd like but

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I have no idea but this is going to be interesting to find out what others will post and know about it.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Ok, I took a measuring stick to my current tub. Water depth of 16" is actually higher than I realized. Standard tubs are barely 14" tall on the outside. No wonder I never use them.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'll go look--have to find a measuring tape...hold on...

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Okay. First, our tub is much larger than a standard tub; it's six feet long rather than five feet, and it's wider, too. It's jetted, so it's not really a soaking tub. From the bottom of the overflow to the bottom of the tub is 15 inches.

I would like it to be a bit deeper, but our tub is also our shower. If the tub is also your shower, and if the tub is very deep, then the step up and over the side of the tub becomes a big, big drop.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Okay. First, our tub is much larger than a standard tub; it's six feet long rather than five feet, and it's wider, too. It's jetted, so it's not really a soaking tub. From the bottom of the overflow to the bottom of the tub is 15 inches.

I would like it to be a bit deeper, but our tub is also our shower. If the tub is also your shower, and if the tub is very deep, then the step up and over the side of the tub becomes a big, big drop.

Thanks. Not going to be a shower so can be deeper, but for some reason we aren't finding anything deeper than this one in the size we need (trying to fit a soaking tub in a standard-or-smaller 5' alcove type spot), and even this one may be too wide at 32". Hmmph.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

What's the space you have?

And you're sure that the floor is strong enough to support a big tub full of water, right? That's a consideration with the ones that really hold a lot of water. And a person.

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

I have a soaking tub upstairs (and it does have a shower). From drain the overflow is 16 inches. Works fine for us. But, I would say the depth also depend on how large the person is. My DH is a power lifter....so he has some wide shoulders and that part of him doesn't fit well. But, he also has a 5-6 month preggo size belly and all of him does stay under the water.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

You may have already done this, but I've found that a good way to find those very specific items is just to call the big-name manufacturers and ask the phone rep what the company recommends for the purpose. American Standard and Kohler are particularly good at stuff like this. Even if they don't have the exact item you need, they sometimes have suggestions on where you might find it.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

What's the space you have?

And you're sure that the floor is strong enough to support a big tub full of water, right? That's a consideration with the ones that really hold a lot of water. And a person.

I was worried about that, but it's not that much water - 75 gallons. Contractor said it's ok. I don't want to think about the building department, but that's another story.

The current tub is in a space 60" x 30." This one is 60 x 32, plus needs a box built around it. It's a tricky layout bc shower butts up against it - shower and tub share a common wall. The more the tub comes into the room, the narrower the stall shower door has to be. You have to see it.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Believe it or not a few years back, one of our TS members said he installs all kinds of Tubs and if ever any one needed advice to PM/email him. I think he was from Canada. We could do a search in this forum under hot tub to see what comes up.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I have a soaking tub upstairs (and it does have a shower). From drain the overflow is 16 inches. Works fine for us. But, I would say the depth also depend on how large the person is. My DH is a power lifter....so he has some wide shoulders and that part of him doesn't fit well. But, he also has a 5-6 month preggo size belly and all of him does stay under the water.

Thanks. You paint quite a picture!

You may have already done this, but I've found that a good way to find those very specific items is just to call the big-name manufacturers and ask the phone rep what the company recommends for the purpose. American Standard and Kohler are particularly good at stuff like this. Even if they don't have the exact item you need, they sometimes have suggestions on where you might find it.

I haven't done that. Too many cooks on this job. I'm the only one who cares about the tub, I should call tomorrow if it's not too late. Good idea.

Believe it or not a few years back, one of our TS members said he installs all kinds of Tubs and if ever any one needed advice to PM/email him. I think he was from Canada. We could do a search in this forum under hot tub to see what comes up.

Ha! We got a hot tub installer hit in your hot tub, that's funny.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

I was worried about that, but it's not that much water - 75 gallons. Contractor said it's ok. I don't want to think about the building department, but that's another story.

The current tub is in a space 60" x 30." This one is 60 x 32, plus needs a box built around it. It's a tricky layout bc shower butts up against it - shower and tub share a common wall. The more the tub comes into the room, the narrower the stall shower door has to be. You have to see it.

I have the same set up. The shower stall and the tub share a wall. My tub is wider than 32" but it is 22" from floor to top and 17" from drain to overflow. I also have a box or skirting of tile. That makes your entry wider. There is some up and over for me..lil bit scary on the way out when it's slippery. I wouldn't want it any higher than 22" IMHO.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I have the same set up. The shower stall and the tub share a wall. My tub is wider than 32" but it is 22" from floor to top and 17" from drain to overflow. I also have a box or skirting of tile. That makes your entry wider. There is some up and over for me..lil bit scary on the way out when it's slippery. I wouldn't want it any higher than 22" IMHO.

Yes, we're doing the tile thing, too. Actually rocks, so not flat and even wider. I didnt' think about the width of the rocks and the box adding to the up and over problem. You're right that 22" is prob high enough, I'm not getting any younger... the 31" tub at the hotel was a challenge, plus it took forever to fill up.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Yes, we're doing the tile thing, too. Actually rocks, so not flat and even wider. I didnt' think about the width of the rocks and the box adding to the up and over problem. You're right that 22" is prob high enough, I'm not getting any younger... the 31" tub at the hotel was a challenge, plus it took forever to fill up.

You live in an apartment building, right? And the hot water isn't a problem? Because for our tub, we had to have a 75-gallon hot water heater installed. The tub holds about 75 gallons, so with a standard 40-gallon heater, we wouldn't have had enough hot water for the tub plus anything else at all.

You wouldn't want to install a nice big tub and then have the frustration of never having enough hot water for it. I think you can get special in-wall heaters to "boost" the hot water supply....