What Is a Drop-In Tub and How Does It Compare to Other Types?

If you love the look of a customized bathroom, a drop-in tub could be the key to making your vision a reality. Drop-in tubs have unfinished sides, allowing you to build a custom surround around it—think of a unique look with tile or stone. However, these tubs take more work to install than other types. This guide explains what you need to know about drop-in tubs and how they differ from other options for your bathroom remodel. 

What Is a Drop-In Tub?

A drop-in tub has a built-in ledge around the edges with no finished sides. This allows you to “drop” the tub into a customized enclosure, like a drop-in sink. This enclosure consists of a wood frame finished with tile or stone to create a unique look for your bathroom. Alternatively, you can place a drop-in tub and its support structure in an alcove and finish the exposed side. 

Drop-in tubs are available in various bathtub materials like fiberglass and acrylic, come in a range of shapes and sizes, and the surround is customized for your bathroom. This flexibility allows you to create unique bathroom designs with the freedom to choose the surrounding materials. 

Remember that you’ll need to budget for more materials and labor to install a drop-in bathtub with a custom surround. You can hire a local bathtub installation pro to build the tub enclosure and ensure it’s installed correctly. 

Freestanding Bathtub vs. Drop-In Tub

Freestanding bathtubs are exactly what they sound like—bathtubs that stand on their own with no surrounding support structure. A classic freestanding bathtub is a claw-foot tub. Unlike a drop-in tub, there’s no additional work needed to construct an enclosure or finish the sides of a freestanding tub. A drop-in tub requires a frame, and then it’s “dropped in,” and the ledge around the edge of the tub rests on the structure to hold the tub in place. 

Alcove Tub vs. Drop-In Tub

An alcove tub is standard in most bathrooms and is surrounded on three sides by the bathroom walls. In some designs, one or more surrounding walls are pony walls—also known as partial walls, half walls, or short walls—or cabinets. Alcove tubs are finished on the exposed side, so they’re easy to install and don’t require much custom work to complete the project.

Drop-in tubs offer more versatility than alcove tubs because they come unfinished on the sides, and the enclosure in which they are housed is custom-built. The high level of customization that comes with a drop-in tub makes it ideal for homeowners who want a unique bathroom design. On the other hand, if you want a wallet-friendly tub that can be installed quickly, an alcove tub is a better option for your bathroom.