I'll have to be honest, as much as I want to believe in Aquatic after talking with their incredibly enthusiastic and helpful cust srvc rep,as well as the most impressive specs on the market, I visited a showroom yesterday to experience the real deal (Infinity VII) and found the dry test-drive a bit harsh on the bones, i.e., doesn't conform to body like I had hoped, a little too upright and not conforming to the reclining torso. That test drive, albeit a dry run, convinced me this was not the tub for me despite it looking ideal on paper. Granted I wasn't able to float in the tub with water, so this is slightly unfair to the mfr, but getting in and out of the deep vessel along with reclining in the tub without water was surprisingly uncomfortable, and bone-crunching. I'm a young man still, and felt like multiple grab-bars on the walls would be de rigeur. The only reason I post this is not to discourage you from buying Aquatic, but because shopping for a whirlpool/airbath combo has been one of the most difficult quests I've experienced in planning my bath addition, and on paper, this was the tub for me, in vitro, this was NOT the tub for me. Just keep in mind that you simply must seek out a showroom to sample any tub prior to making the huge investment - not just money for the tub, but permanent plumbing specific to that tub leaves little room for future change of heart! For this reason, I've been very careful in ensuring that I'd be completely happy with the fit, and felt it necessary to share my experience. This is a decision 3 years in the making due to lack of showrooms that simply don't offer the real test drive or tub variety that gives you an overall gestalt. Again, Aquatic might be for you, but test drive it, or your regrets will eat you up. Other tubs I've crossed off the list, right or wrong, were Bain Ultra cause I simply wanted the combo, however, they seem to have an unbeatable reputation in the strictly air-bath category. Sani-jet, I actually experienced with water, and the jets were simply too weak for me, but again all their specs looked good on paper. Neptune, I experienced in a hotel, and was extremely impressed, but when it came to owning one, the contour again wasn't something I'd want to recline in for an hour, and none of this years styles/profiles appeal to me. Americh, don't know. Maax.....two trades people gave me bad reviews saying they make the most comfortable, stylish tubs with the necessary whistles and bells, but technical issues required discontinuing their carrying the line....surprising, as Home Depot Expo was pushing this on me like you know what. What am I going with, well I did a dry test run on the Jason LX635 (6 foot) which meets my comfort criteria without water, looks great on paper, has been in the business for as long as Jacuzzi has been in business (Jason=son of Jacuzzi), and was carried by a local trusty high end fixture place with exceptional reputation and attentive to customer feedback. Again, I'm taking a risk without doing a 'wet' run, and their head pillow was so poorly placed, that I dissed the option, but overall, it met most of my criteria. Will keep you posted after install, etc. The most comfortable tub I've experienced was the Maax oval-shaped whirlpool-air combo (Pearl?), but again, I talked to two vendors who said they had issues with them which is highly unfortunate since comfort-wise and on paper it was the perfect tub, like sitting in a LazyBoy, but with water massage. I hope to seek something comparable in the Jason.

You speak of guests - is this the only bathroom in the house? Maybe I'm "speshul" ;-) but I have never dried off in the tub/shower enclosure in my entire life. I step out onto a bathmat or rug and dry off there. There is some drippage but not that much and that's what the mat is for anyway. I tub-bathe at least once daily and I very rarely splash in any quantity, though - perhaps you should install grab bars around your tub so you can get in and out without drowning the bathroom. At the very least, use Kerdi waterproofing membrane on the floor as well as in the tub/shower area! Mold and mildew issues can be mostly mitigated by installing a GOOD ventilation fan and USING it. Put it on a pushbutton timer (Leviton makes a very nice one), that's easiest, since you can just push the button and forget about it. Caulks have also improved in recent years, with anti-mildew agents in the formula to help prevent the growth of the "creeping crud". Polyseamseal makes a "mildew-proof" (I put that in quotation marks because it's really just mildew resistant, but you want to look for the "mildew-proof" label) caulk in several colors. You don't want to hear Bill's lecture about showers and drop-in tubs. Suffice it to say it's a bad idea. I also think it's a poor idea to have a drop-in tub and a tiled deck because of the sloshing and splashing you were emphasizing - that's a lot of places for potential leaks. Because of that, there is a type that is a lot smarter for you to have, sometimes called an "oval in rectangle" because of the integral deck. I think would make the most sense would be to use something like the Kohler Lakewood tub, installing it at one end of the bath (since, after all, you have the perfect 5' wide space) as an alcove installation. The Lakewood is an oval whirlpool tub with an integral deck and tile flange, and attached apron for ease in getting in and out, as well as circumventing another potential place for water infiltration. The Lakewood's pump can be placed away from the tub to reduce the noise problem. Tile the walls to the ceiling in the tub area and think about a high-ish tiled wainscot (with Kerdi behind it) in the rest of the room. Seriously consider, if this is the only bath, using a standard tub/shower faucet setup; you can replace a conventional showerhead with a handshower mounted on a sliding bar. A shower curtain to go on a tension rod can be stashed in a linen closet for when guests will be visiting. A few other tubs that also fit this installation (once I started really hunting, I was surprised at how many whirlpools were appropriate for this installation method): Kohler Pristine; a three-wall alcove installation with tile flange, but no apron front so would need to have a tiled apron. Kohler Dockside, ditto, with inline heater Kohler Terracina, which is probably the most practical possible setup although not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing. Kohler Windward, oval alcove with tile flange and apron Maax Oxford, optional apron & tile flange Maax M 4260O IFS-TO Aquatic Carmel; optional factory-installed tile flange and optional skirt Americh Bel Air, ditto Americh Beverly, ditto MTI models Mirage (a pretty awesome setup, and nice looking), Sumter 2, Sinclair 2, Charleston 1 Jacuzzi Nova and Luxura (not as nice an oval) OK, that's enough shopping for you, you're on your own after this. :-)

Interesting thread this. I worried that it might be narky, fists banging on the table demanding that people take the advice, but it's in a lower key which I like. 'The funny thing with my scenario, is that I think she got thrown off by what composting actually is - maybe when she saw the flies and maggots on the top of the pile of rotting food and organic matter.' Interesting point, this. These days people don't grow up with their hands in mud making mud pies, having been turfed out of the house to go and play. It's all electronic rot. Sad I reckon. And all that marketing everywhere we are and almost everywhere we go. My father said decades ago how harmful it is to us all. And now, as if it couldn't get any worse, fake grass is springing up. My neighbour had no front garden the other day. Then an attractive retaining wall grew, slowly (by todays standards) and carefully. It looked very nice and they'd taken with it. I went out. When I came back, three trees had sprung up at a height of about six or seven feet high and a bright green 'lawn' lay basking in the sun. Instant garden. I couldn't help but say to my partner, "That isn't gardening..." I wasn't being critical, I just felt perplexed.

A glass tub enclosure custom height will keep the water inside the tub. Wait to order the enclosure until the shower head is installed and functioning. But, do your homework at the glass company showroom before the work starts on your bathroom. Take a dimensioned sketch of the entire space so the door size, swing or slide, and metal finish can be quoted correctly. Most people wait until the bathroom is finished to look at glass enclosure and have problems in the build that cause extra expense or disappointment with the enclosure.