Stick with the cast iron tub. The enamel coated tubs, always end up chipped. Its the same as kitchen sinks. The enameled coated sinks chip easily, and the porclain over cast iron sinks, wear forever.

Is he even qualified to be doing the job? Does he hold a real full contractor’s license from your state? That you actually verified? You called his insurance company to verify that his policy is still valid? He has some sort of certification, or industry continuing education? You viewed other jobs that he had done? He explained in detail how the walls of your tub surround would be waterproofed when tile, grout, and backer board is not waterproof? He explained to you the different choices in anti scald protection?

Because he sounds like a low bid unqualified hack who is only concerned about the expense of hiring the extra bodies to get the tub upstairs, and wants to use a cheap hacky product to make HIS job easier, and is not worried about giving you your best result at all.

Ignore red flags at your peril and regret.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

NEVER an enamelled steel tub. Does he hace 6 in his garage. BTW if that is how this starts I would be looking for a new guy. I personally see no reason to have a cast iron tub in any shape or form. I grew up with cast iron tubs and even as a young person found them wakward to get in and out of . There really is no langer a need for a tub to hold its temperature since with a turn of a tap we can heat the water up constantly. The weight is a factor for delivery and install . A free standing tub which is what you are doing, needs at least 12” on all sides to make cleaning the wall doable.. I would need to see the space but to replace what you had in the same space is not possible with a free standing tub. Maybe some more infoas to style of tub.

He knows way more about your house than we do. Like size of the joists (spacing & span)...

demo a prefab alcove tub, replace it with a tub and subway tile surround, replace the floor with tile.

A cast iron tub w/ wall tile and floor tile (and tile backer board) is adding a lot of weight. Have you ran the #'s?

Floor Deflection Calculator

IMO, best to ask the guy doing the work as to why he is against the cast iron tub.

So to answer some of these questions, the bathroom is a long narrow bathroom with an alcove tub at the end of the room. It is a 30x60 three walled space. We have a 3/4 subfloor and an almost walkable crawl space under the bathroom

The man in question has worked for years in this mountain area and comes highly recommended by the one man whom I trust and who built houses, and was a licensed plumber and electrician.

He has three crews and does residential and commercial work. And he wasn't a low bid, at all.

I just asked my retired plumber and he said he prefers the enamel coated steel.

Ugh.

Steel tubs are "builder grade". Cast iron is FAR superior. As an aside - the decision is not his to make - very unprofessional of him IMO.

So what about acrylic? I have a large soaker tub at home and it's fine but I'm curious if you had to rank quality, if cast iron would always be at the top. Can you even get an acrylic tub that is high quality? I don't want to ever have to replace this.

Cast iron "holds the heat" far longer than anything else and is impervious to discoloration no matter the source. Acrylic is UV resistant, note that term. I've seen acrylic tubs that turned yellow from exposure to sunlight (UV).

Our home has a cast iron tub in the hall bath - so does our second property, both built before the 80s. We kept those puppies in place when we remodeled because they are still in great shape after decades of use. So I get the longevity value.

For our new master bath, I initially planned to do cast iron but ended up getting an acrylic tub. They come in more configurations and I had very particular design needs that limited my choices. I doubt it will last decades like a cast iron, but per my research, it seems like acrylic may have one advantage - a well insulated acrylic tub is actually purported to be better at heat retention than cast iron because you don't have to waste the water's heat warming up the cast iron first. I can't tell you if it's true yet, because our plumbing isn't hooked up yet so I haven't had a chance to take a long soak.

I'm ignorant on the pros and cons of enamel coated steel, so I'll defer to other people's comments on that.

When we did our main floor bathrooms (9-10 years ago?) we put cast iron tubs in both. Toto 1525’s. No regrets.

Cast iron all the way. The guys just don't want the hassle of putting it in. There quote is not going to change and since it's easier for them to put in an enameled or acrylic, that's what they want to do. Don't let them make a decision for you. I've replaced a cast iron alcove tub twice (two different places) because of color only. I never had a plumber complain. In my latest remodel, I put in a Kohler Cast Iron Soaker tub that weighed over 500 lbs. The crew had to hoist it up and through the window openings before the windows were installed. Talk about a difficult thing to do. They did it, because it is what I wanted and they never questioned. If you are sure that the contractor is reputable then I would table this discussion. It is NOT his decision to make. Simply tell him you are getting a cast iron tub and if he doesn't want to put it in you will hire someone else who will. You shouldn't have push back from a contractor. Very unprofessional.

Thank you for that answer! After much research, talking to my contactor and talking to a plumber friend, I decided to go with the exact tub you reference, the americast. It's every bit as expensive as the cast iron, but weighs 118 pounds. It has the same porcelin enamel finish as a cast iron tub and will hold the heat. Thank you!