As you’ll recall, we discovered an ugly secret during our bathroom re-do project about our claw foot bathtub: our bathtub was missing one of its claw feet.  To be honest with you, I’ve always thought it was me, not the bathtub, whenever the bathtub moved during my shower.  I’d begin to question myself:  Did I not get enough sleep?  Did I drink too much wine last night?  Should I make another pot of coffee?  While showering in our bathroom,  this much was true: you had to be careful and position your feet strategically to keep from rocking around.  We’ve really tried to figure out how it happened that one of the four claw feet could possibly be missing.  How did it happen?  When did it happen?  It remains a mystery.

Once we were able to locate a fourth foot for our bathtub at Hippo Hardware (we did a trade for the claw foot), it was time to coordinate all of our claw feet with a matching coat of paint.  Follow these 4 easy steps for an easy DIY project claw feet.

DIY bathroom project: make sure to clearly mark which claw feet go where on the tub.

The back feet are taller than the front feet ever so slightly which is how the water drains out of the tub.  Masking tape and a pen will do the trick to note which feet go where.

DIY Project: Claw Feet

1.  Brush off dust and other debris and wipe with a damp cloth.  I did not strip, sand or use a chemical stripper on the claw feet.  Remember that they’ll be sitting on the floor, collecting bathroom dust (is there a worse type of dust?) immediately after installation.  Don’t make extra work for yourself or needlessly spend money for something you’ll get no credit for.

2. Paint claw feet with a primer.  If you don’t have primer, simply use a white flat (oil based) paint or any other color you may have just make sure the primer is a lighter color than your finished shade.  Let dry for several hours before finish coat.

3.  Apply two coats of finish paint, letting feet dry in between coats.

4.  Be very careful when installing feet to not touch feet together.  The paint will pull off from the feet and leave an unpainted spot that will probably need touching up later.  Trust me on that because, yes, I have experience in that department.

The bathtub up on blocks and waiting for its newly painted feet.

Feet in place – finally!  These claw feet stay in place with one little square nail.  The nail gets slid into place and the weight of the tub pushes against the feet and works as a bracket.  The design is ingenious.

Now, when I’m showering, it’s easy to stay put in the bathtub.  The bathtub isn’t moving and I’m not bracing my feet.  The fourth foot really does make a difference although I probably didn’t get enough sleep last night and I probably do need more coffee.

Related posts:
Found: one claw foot the story of our trade and the visit to Hippo Hardware was too fun!
Want to read about the bathroom project from start to finish?
Bathroom Project Part 1
Bathroom Project Part 2
Bathroom Project Part 3
Bathroom Project Part 4
Goodbye Bathroom
Finding Inspiration for a Bathroom Re-Do
All the sources for the project can be found here