Ordering a $900 bathtub sight unseen, with no reviews, felt like a major gamble. I was hesitant, but our need for a unique width of 32″ limited what options were available. We were getting adept at cliff jumping by this point in the project, and the order was placed for freight delivery. The acrylic tub only weighs under 100 pounds, but the pallet and box were enormous! Box on left.
Tub unboxed and moved into bathroom. It was undamaged, thank goodness! We received a metric ton of damaged products in shipping, and this was a major relief. Cleat on wall for test fitting.
Primary cleat installed. While the installation materials detailed some granular specs, our floor had some variation that required some minor adjustments. Another test fit to check level and plumb, and it was time to build the front of tub cleat.
This is why we had limited choices: our available width. Most larger tubs are a standard 36″ wide. Our house was built with a pool, and naturally had a pool door to the bath. We wanted to retain the doorway, and the tub fit perfectly!
There were a number of projects I felt comfortable doing, but were to important to risk my inexperience. Sweating the shower valves and hooking up the drain to the tub were included in that list. We used 180 pounds of concrete to bed the tub, and here it is hooked up, leveled and plumbed.
Back wall framed with cleat under tub, and shower niche exactly where we wanted it. We opted for Rockwool insulation as this wall is shared with our master bathroom. It helps attenuate water noise of the shower in operation. Next up, tile!
A test fit was done, and I was pleased with how roomy this tub is for me.