It took us a while to write this one up because, well, this job was a tough one for us. Carl reached out after getting quotes from several companies—all of which he found ridiculously high. Having owned his own construction company (primarily in land development), Carl knew the business, how things worked, and what materials should cost. He also wasn’t looking for anything too high-end—just something functional and practical.
His grandson worked for a competitor named after a major sports team, and they quoted him nearly $20k for the project. After a brief phone call with us, Carl decided he wanted to see and handle our materials in person before making a decision. We set up an appointment later that week, and our project manager (at the time, Tom Wolff) headed to his home.
The bathroom was in rough shape. Carl, being a big guy, had trouble stepping over the high ledge of his clawfoot tub, which had become a serious safety concern. The tub was also too small for him to bathe comfortably, and the shower curtain wrapped tightly around him like a cocoon—not ideal.
Here’s the plan we proposed:
- Remove the clawfoot tub—intact, if possible—so Carl could resell it.
- Build a sturdy wall on the left side of a 48″x34″ stone composite shower pan.
- Install a 500lb-capacity flip-up seat for Carl’s comfort and safety.
- Add a couple of safety bars, a shower wand, and a curved curtain rod for extra space and accessibility.
The Challenge: Moving the Beast
That’s where things got… complicated. Removing the clawfoot tub was far more challenging than we anticipated. After this job, we actually updated our contracts to avoid finding ourselves in this type of situation again. When we discussed the tub removal, we used the phrase “removed intact if possible.” Well, we learned the hard way that “possible” is a subjective term.
This tub wasn’t just heavy—it was a 700lb monster, the largest we’d ever attempted to move in one piece. It took two of our guys and three of Carl’s to even budge it. Then came the real problem: the tub didn’t fit down the stairs. It physically would not fit. It was, by definition, not possible.
But Carl didn’t agree. He had a different working definition of “possible”. His solution? Remove a window, haul the tub onto the roof, and lower it with a bucket loader. Yes, really. And if you’re reading this, please—don’t ask us to do this. We’ve learned our lesson.
Below, you’ll see a photo of our operations manager, Josh Brodnicki, sitting in that massive tub inside the bucket loader. Zoom in for a laugh—you’ll notice he’s thrilled with us for putting him through this.
Back on Track
Once the tub was out, the rest of the job went smoothly. We built a solid wall with 2x6s to frame the enclosure and support the 500lb flip-up seat. The only hiccup after that was a defective valve that wouldn’t properly mix the water. It was on backorder, so it took about a week to get back and replace it.
Fast forward to today—over half a year later—and we’re finally writing this job up. Why now? Because Carl recently reached out with this message (verbatim):
“Thank you! Love my shower … my inner sanctuary. The workmanship was impeccable… thank you.”
Carl, you didn’t make it easy for us, but we couldn’t be happier that you’re still thrilled with your new walk-in shower. These are the kinds of messages that remind us why we do what we do.