Clawfoot Tub foot keeps coming off

[Daniel Robertson]

So I have a historic home in Salisbury, NC built in 1900. There is a beautiful clawfoot tub that is original to the house. However, the foot keeps coming off and the tenants don't use it for fear of it falling over while they are in it. Thank goodness that hasn't happened! It has come off and fallen over a couple times. 

When I first put it back on, I noticed that at some point someone had put some JB Weld on it or something similar with the intent of holding it in place. However, I think that was actually causing more problems due to how the feet are supposed to stay on the tub. I broke the JB Weld off and fixed it (or so I thought) the way the internet told me to. However I just learned that it had fallen off again and my tenants have just not been using it for the past 6 months. 

The tenants are great and I want them to have a great experience living in the house they are renting. I want them to have full use of all the appliances and fixtures of the house, I want to provide superior customer service and reward their loyalty, and mostly, I want them to stay for a long time and love their home. 

I'd like to get someone who knows what they are doing in there and get the tub fixed "right" but I don't know who does that kind of repair. The other alternative is to replace it with something modern that just sits on the floor. However, I am not a huge fan of doing that since 1) I would have to buy and install a new bathtub and 2) it wouldn't be original to the historic home. 

Thoughts?

[Dennis M.]

I’d replace it with something that doesn’t weigh 350 pounds and falls over . You can bust up pretty easy with a sledgehammer and make it manageable. They are just boat anchors . A decent modern tub is only around 250$ and weigh 75 pounds . I replace them when I can in upstairs units because when full of water and a human they weigh 6-700 pounds and sag the floor joists and droop a ceiling below