Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Replace Old tub with Jacuzzi Tub

I am going to remodel a bathroom, and I want to replace the existing tub with a whoolpool tub of some sort. I have not determined which type of tub yet because I haven't progressed to that point yet. I know that there are manufacturers that make a tub that will physically fit into the available space. My existing tub is 5' by 30" and it is currently surrounded by tiled walls on three sides (that happen to be falling off). The closest jacuzzi tub is 5' x 32" and I can make that work by extending the wall a little, since I need to retile it anyway. That's is the easy part. My concern pertains to the drain. I have a slab construction and the drain is currently to the left of the tub. I do not plan on changing the drain location except that a slightly wider tub will more the drain farther out from the wall, and right now, I have no idea if the location in the other direction is even close. Suppose that the drain in the slab does not line up exactly, what can be done to connect the drain? Having never removed a bath tub before (although I've redone just about every other room in the house), I do not know how the drain connects on the existing tub. I really do now want to consider busting concrete to move a drain. Since I'm in the preliminary stage of this one, I figured that this would be the time to find out.

Thanks,

Chip

I had to deal with the same problem you have, here in CA with its infamous slab foundation.

The bottom line is: if you wanna do this right, I advise you to break some slab and get it aligned.
Any other way is a bandage, in my opinion.
Since you already had a standard 5' tub in place, I'm sure misalignment between(if there's any) old tub drain and a new tub is minimal. This means that you don't have to break into too much concrete. Just enough to cut the old one off and replumb a new one.

Another way to get away from it(although I don't recommend it) is to raise the tub about 6" and use a combination of elbows...etc to hook up new drain to the old. I've seen a buddy of mine who's done this and it seems fine. One thing to remember, however, is to create a sufficient support for the new tub(i.e. mortar bed).

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure which way I'll proceed yet. Lemme ask you this, How much slab did you need to cut out? Do I need to go down to the point where the trap is located? I dont really know what to expect if I were to do that. And, lastly, how does the drain in my existing tub connect to the drain pipe? Eventually, I'll remove the access panel in the closet and take a look at it. Anything that you can tell me will help in the planning stage that I'm in now.

Thanks,

Chip

Mine was more complicated than yours; I converted shower stall into jacuzzi tub. Which means, I had to move a drain from the center of tub to one end, about 2 feet.
I had to jackhammer out quite a few pieces. But in your case, since you're going from standard 5' tub to other standard 5' tub, I'll say the misalignment(if there's any) will be minimal.

Why don't you do a precise measurement on present drain location in relation to a new tub's drain hole.

The way tub drain is attached is through threaded drain plug that threads into a threaded end pipe.
The trick to remove the old plug is to tap it couter-clockwise with flat schrewdriver and hammer.