Getting the Old Tub Out of the House
Measure the Route First
Before anything is disconnected, walk the path from the bathroom to the street with a tape. Doorway widths, a turn at the top of a stair, a low soffit in a hallway. A tub that came into an unfinished house during construction does not automatically come out of a finished one, and discovering that with the plumbing already cut is a bad afternoon.
Protect Everything on That Path
Hardboard or heavy protection on floors, corner guards on door casings, and dust containment at the bathroom door. Demolition dust from a mortar bed travels through a house remarkably well, and a day spent protecting is cheaper than a week of cleaning and touching up.
The Drain Is the Real Work
A tub connects to the waste and overflow assembly, which is reached either from beneath through a floor or ceiling below, or through an access panel in an adjoining wall. Where neither exists, one has to be made. This single detail is what separates a one day job from a two day one, so it is worth establishing before the quote is accepted.
Breaking Up Cast Iron
Iron is scored and broken with a sledge inside heavy sheeting, with eye and ear protection, and the pieces are carried out in manageable loads. It is not delicate work and it is not something to do around a finished floor without full protection in place. Enamel fragments are genuinely sharp.
Look Before Anything Goes Back
With the tub gone, the cavity beneath and the framing around it are visible for the only time in decades. Check for rot at the sole plate, for previous leaks, for the condition of the subfloor and for anything the vent is doing that it should not be. Any correction is trivial now and a full strip out later.