I much prefer to stone the deck, then drop the tub in so the tubs' rim covers the stone. If you butt the stone up to the side of the tub's rim, then you need to work harder for a cleaner line on the edge of the stone. Account for the thickness of the stone when you pour your mortar bed to set the tub in. If you're going that route. If uncertain, you can dry set the tub on top of the stone, peak underneath, see how much space you have between the tub's base and the subfloor. Then pull the tub, mix and set your mortar bed, then reset the tub and get the rim down nicely on the stone. Then drink beer while the mortar bed cures. Several beers. Mongo

I'm curious as well..we want jacuzzi or whirlpool tub in and want to place shower beside it...but now are curious if we can because of any required clearances...is there info anywhere that discusses the basic area needed in a bath remodel to allow for a typical install, whether it be a corner tub or a regular tub? This would in turn tell us about the tub deck we should allow. Thanks...and thanks for this thread!

Sorry, I guess I should clarify. (This is why I linked the product page, because I knew I would not be able to explain this properly.) The oval tub has a "preexisting" sort-of-deck with a flange on three sides, otherwise I would not be so daft as to try to put a shower over it. I like my kitchen ceiling where it is! Here, this is what it looks like: However, and this is what I was asking about with the deck question, from the instructions it appears that there must be some kind of deck on the fourth side which does not have a tile flange if one does not use the optional (icky) apron, but it does not say how wide this deck must be. We both would rather not have to clamber over a wide margin to get into the tub - DH has to use this for showering every day. I'm mostly a lay-backer, not a sit-upper - my shoulders and upper back get very very painful so I have to get them into the scalding water. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for the 5'5" tub that would let me keep both shoulders and knees underwater and actually cover up most of the protruding bits on the front, leaving pretty much just my head and hands (to hold my book, of course) out of the water. ;-) The room is only 60" wide - it was carved out of a bedroom - and even if we had budget to redo all the plumbing there isn't room to turn the tub round sideways. I dislike the look of "stuff" cluttering up tub corners so I'm considering a down-low niche for my shampoo/soap/etc. and a high-up one for DH's shower things, and there will pretty much never be any kind of decorative bits on the corners because they'd just get soaked with the shower spray anyway. Well, okay, maybe a rubber ducky. (But no flamingos!) :-) Those four were pretty much the only tubs I've found that fit the parameters of size/depth, cost (crucial!), and appearance. I'm a short-but-wide person and DH is medium-height(5'9")-and-wide and we both manage OK in a standard 60x32 oblong tub - 34" or 36" would be a nicer but pretty much all I could find in this price point were funky molded-up things that looked like they belonged on the space station. Yuck-O. The deepest of the four tubs is actually the oblong Bancroft at 15" water depth but I'm not thrilled with how it looks, the other three are 14" water depth. The oval looks like it would have less shoulder room but that's not the case? The one oval tub I've seen available for sitting in was just about big enough for a kindergartener to do laps in, so it's pretty useless for comparison!

Thanks everyone! As suggested here, we tested the height of the would-be bath with some boxes and 2x4s this afternoon. While we technically can walk into the raised tub, it feels awkward and would be very challenging for our 5 yo without a step or stool (there's no room for a built in step). So a few notes: - we live in a concrete high rise; re-routing plumbing is extremely challenging (hence the need to lift the tub 6" for a drainage slop), but in some cases is doable. - We decided to split the would-be tub/shower space into a shower and closet for a compact and ventless WD). The shower will be 34"x37", the closet 34"x35". - upstairs where the WD and linen closet were going to go, a new 32"x66" drop-in tub will go back into this space instead (there was an old outdated one there previously). We lose some storage by putting in 3 full baths vs 2.5, but hopefully this is a good compromise! We're just working on a new floor plan as we speak. I'd love to get feedback on the revisions once I post it in the am (our brains are fried for today, but we really appreciate everyone's help!!)