Ideas for finding an inexpensive or secondhand bathtub?

[louisarogers]

We have decided to install a bathtub into an existing shower and want to find a reasonably priced one. Any ideas?

[Mikel1]

Mercadolibre could be a source for new or used, but look at shipping costs. Also Mundo del Piso by the big glorieta has tubs on display, also has numerous catalogs that you can special order from.

[DonJuane]

I've never timed the time it takes to fill a tenaco in GTO but if it is like many cities, you won't be taking more than one bath per week. Water flow at a bathtub-filling rate is a luxury not many can manage because of the lack of unlimited high-pressure fast-flow water like we take for granted in the US.

**** Not to mention the small 20 gallon water heaters that are typical or the fact that no propane truck can pull up to your home and thus there is no possibility of the giant US-style propane tanks and instead only an option of small (on a relative scale compared to the US) propane tanks hauled up the hills to your home, making the constant requirement for massive amounts of heating fuel required for a bathtub an additional issue of consideration.

******* As a "lover of baths" I know that when the temperature was in the 30-40 range in my Texas home, a 40 gallon water heater would struggle to keep a bath "steaming hot" for more than about 30 minutes (with periodic "hot top-off supplements"), and could certainly not persist for more than one tub filling per every couple of hours. In other words the coolness of the concrete serving as the tub foundation cooled the water faster than a 40 gallon water heater was able to keep up with when it was super cold outside. But now that I'm in Mexico I find it wasn't until I witnessed every single gallon of fuel I use having to be toted up a hill on someone's back that I began to appreciate the true value of the energy that I consumed. It's also why I resigned I had likely taken my last bath when I sold my Texas home. Maybe that is why hot springs are so popular in Mexico. I now have a bumper sticker "I brake for hot springs" and while I desperately miss soaking in a bath, when I find a nice hot and steamy balneario, the trill of the encounter is a special treat.

[Mikel1]

The advantages of building: A tub is in the plan, but for the occasional soak. Extra large solar calentador in conjunction with a Bosch Balanz instanteneo gas calentador, pressurized (also on demand) system. 300 ltr gas tank, filled via a lengthy pipe at Calle level, with wide sidewalk for truck access, as not to block traffic and the side walk is seldom travelled. Grey water system for garden watering for roof and shower / tub run off.

[mr bill]

Don Juane makes some good points and Mike refutes them given his location.

But why buy when you can build? I've built two of them over the years The 1st was using copper sheets riveted over a steel frame. Polished up it looked great. The 2nd was a bit more substantial: concrete block covered with fiberglass with the help of an auto body shop.. Worked out great but to 'move' it would have to be destroyed.

In my hippie house back in the '70's I installed one of these:

[DonJuane]

It's tough to out-build or out-smart Mexico. Not saying it can't be done but again there won't be many baths with a trickle of water filling the cistern or the tenaco. I can't say what the flow is but I would want to know the flow before I started my project. It's all about the flow, but Flow, she don't know - cause the boy she loves is a romeo.

[DonJuane]

A good person to have a chat with if you can't find anyone with "tub experience" might be Rick Zuniga who owns Casa Zuniga. He maintains probably the most elaborate water system in town and he should know what to expect and how to master the limitations. He has a massive pool and solar water heating system, at least by GTO standards and even if you don't get a good answer from him, he's someone quite interesting to have a conversation with. Still he wouldn't need a massive amount of water once the pool gets full, so I don't know how much of a match that would be. Otherwise I've known 3 Gringos who love the tub and who gave up using their tubs after only a few initial attempts, 2 were in San Miguel de Allende and one in San Cristobal de las Casas. I have experience with only renting for 2 months in San Miguel a house with a tub and while excited about it initially, the water heater would only heat enough water for a quarter full and the gas tank went down too rapidly. The water cooled in the concrete and tile tub before the water heater could cycle again, which was about every 30 minutes so I never could produce a whole tub of hot water.

Otherwise I've said enough, not being negative but not a stranger to disappointment, I hate for people to experience it when it doesn't have to happen. So at minimum I'd try to find someone in town with a tub and see how it is working out before investing a whole lot of money. Maybe someone who has one working well can prove me wrong because there's nothing I miss more from the US than a hot bath, H-Mart and Tex-Mex.

**** P.S. All tubs I've seen in Mexico were sculpted out of concrete. (Maybe that's why the water would not stay hot ;-) )