I would read your instructions for your tub installation. Most tubs have levelling legs but these are for fine tuning - once sorted the tub should be set in with concrete. I like to pick up the point loads with concrete and let this set. After the concrete is dry we fill the tub and spray the bottom with expanding spray foam. Very important to have the tub full of water and not to spray up under the face as this will bow out the face without the weight of the water holding it in place.

I would have your tub removed and done right. Once you start down that road of compromise it is fudge this there, chaulk this there etc.

Rip it out and wait 2 more weeks if need be - don't settle....

John, I think you misread; the tub isn't in yet, and she's wondering how best to do it.

Toolbabe, I've been following along in your other thread, and I can't believe you now have this to deal with! ;)

I'm sure one of the pros will weigh in, but in the meantime, I'll throw in my thought. I'd be concerned about the weight of filling that whole area and depth with concrete. I would think you could build up the floor pretty easily with wood, and then proceed to install the tub "normally". You just need to measure precisely to get the right height. If it's really 3", maybe you could run a bunch of 1x3's (2.5" tall) or 2x4s ripped down to 2.5" tall, with 1/2 plywood over that. That seems to me a job a decent GC could do pretty quickly and easily, although I realize that your guy may no longer qualify! ;)

Hang in there; this seems to me to be a problem which can pretty easily be fixed. Okay, now I'll step aside and let someone who really knows how to do this correctly answer... ;)

-- Eric

If the tub is not installed - what is the issue?

Ripe out the old work - frame it right and be done with it.

"I'm sorry we screwed up! Your tub will be 3" taller because we didn't double check! Good news is you can pay more to have us screw with the floor and Jerry Rig it! Hope you don't trip climbing in! Maybe we can built a step??" - things heard on the job site.

Rip it out - do it right.

No debate with this one. even if the slab is installed the framing could be supported and removed. With the use of an Fein Multi Master saw any back framing could be cut. The whole slab could be supported all supports removed - rebuild and then dropped.

This should only take maybe 2-4 hours two men (one skilled one strong). When your ready to lower the new top pull in a couple extra pairs of hands or better yet the stone installers.

People settle everyday because of the incompetence of their tradesmen. An install like this can be saved and it's not rocket science. All the debate is because the tradesman most likely is trying to save a buck (His!).

Offer to pay half if you think that's far - if this was my job I'd make right on my own dime. Not that it would happen because I would never build the deck without the tub. The gray area is that he built it off the specs listed but the specs had a disclaimer (round and round you go).

Even if it costs the client in the end to lower the tub she will be better off and using the tub will be a little easier each day with the 3" saved.

Does not sound like to me that this contractor is familiar with the recommended install - perhaps a new installer can help and the clients losses can be cut at this point.

Good morning guys,

Eric is right, John, the tub is not yet installed. We were about to do it, yesterday, when this new snafu came to light.

And Eric, thank you for your encouragement. Yes, this project has proven quite exciting so far... and needlessly costly. At this point, I don't know if I should cry or just sit down and write a book!

The GC showed up at our house yesterday afternoon after I threatened to sue him. He still has not brought in all that I have already paid for, and when I told him about the 3" gap, his jaw just dropped. While I was busy with the plumbers and the electricians, he went and fitted two small pieces of plywood over the floor in the podium to try and raise the floor to meet the footing of the bath. He cut those pieces no bigger than the footing of the bath. Not only are they not high enough, but such short pieces will prevent the weight of the tub to distribute evenly over the whole floor. Me thinks, anyhow.

Anywhooo...

John, this bathtub does not come with little adjusting legs. It is pre-leveled on a board which is meant to lie flat on a levelled floor. I'm adding a picture for you to see better.

What I am thinking of doing is making a few blotches, or mounds, of mortar and squish the bath in place. I'm thinking little mounds will be easier to squish into than a large solid surface, plus I don't want to add too much extra weight. We've had all our floor joists doubled but this is an old house and it needs to be treated gently...

Eric, the reason I hesitate to fill the gap with lumber is that I won't be able to shim level the bath on all four side once it is dropped in place because the corner it sits in is on exterior walls.

Perhaps a combination of the two methods would work well. One thing is for sure, my GC is now toast and this project has now officially been downgraded (some, including me right now, would say upgraded) to a DIY project.

Oh well, it's only money, right.... Sniff, sniff.... ;-(

Here is a link that might be useful: 3

Thank you John,

The tub was on site, so he has no excuses.

And yes, if I could, I would love to start from scratch. But now, with the marble already on the walls, the granite on the surround, and all the tiling done, I'd be cutting my nose to spite my face. Not to mention I'd be toying with cause for a divorce...

Sometimes, you've just got to bite the bullet and move on, even if it makes the bad guys look like they are getting away with something...

Sorry to hear this. It is a sad story repeated every day by so many people. Their are few left in the trades that truly take pride in their work and the construction of a home is a very complicated process by today's standards compared to even 20 years ago.

If you are at this cross road and you must move on to keep the piece - squishing the tub into the concrete can work. You can use some poly to prevent the concrete from moving to much and drying to fast. Lay the poly under the tub on the sub floor and pile it about 2" higher than needed. The poly then wraps up and over and then ease the tub into it's final position.

Placing the crease at the back will keep the cement from squishing out the back. A stick or 2"x4" can be used to even out the cement.

Others use spray foam as well - either our works well. With the weight bearing down on questionable framing I would side with the concrete approach.

Hire a plumber to help you with this - proper mixing, proper mix and preparing for any mishaps come with expierence and is difficult to learn online.

Send some more pictures before you start and we can re set. The more the better. Is the face of the tub getting stone? Wood?

Is this a shower tub? Just a tub?

There could be a whole list of other issues missed. Grab some wine and take a break from this reno for a day or two until you can regroup.

Their are many here who can help you.... :)

Build a small platform from 2x4's on the flat, screwed to the floor, cover the 2x4s with 3/4" ply screwed to the 2x4's.

That'll give you 3/4" for a mortar bed.

If the tub won't be set in a mortar bed for whatever reason and you just want to set it on the platform, then you can "thicken" the previous platform by adding another skin of 3/4" ply to it. Or you can just make the platform 3" high using 2x4s on edge, ripped down from 3-1/2" to 2-1/4", then top it with 3/4" ply.

10 minutes of work.

Here's a similar situation:

We had conversations up front about the finished tub height, I felt if it was done to plan it would be too low. Nope, build it "as-is".

So I built the main tub platform to the spec'd height which I knew would be too low. After building, it was agreed that I was right. So I built a mini-platform on top of the main platform to bring it up a bit.

This tub is mortared in. You can see the tub sitting on mortar, which is on the "mini-platform", which in turn is on the larger platform that sits on the floor.

There are no "floor overloading" considerations with this installation. Not even close.

Your tub will have the allowed setting methods listed in the tub's installation literature. Oh, and "cedar shims" is not one of them. Cedar is soft and can compress over time, resulting in the weight of the tub/water/bather being carried by the rim of the tub. You don't want that.

Thank you so much for the help John and Mongo,

John, my poison of choice is ice cream, so I will retreat to my kitchen and brew me some homemade pistachio sherbert. By the time I finish peeling the pistachios, I should have simmered down somewhat. I called our plumber and he will come and help me set the bath in the mortar bed next Tuesday. It'll give me time to build the two boxes I need. I'll keep you posted. You guys are great!

{{gwi:1402945}}

I'm still having problem inserting pictures in the body of my messages, so please follow the link at the bottom of my message.

The podium will be clad with raised wainscotting panels, not unlike the one shown on your picture Mongo. May I ask how that panel was fasten to the frame? I see what looks like a bevelled strip of plywood. Is that it?

Oh, and Mongo, thank you so very much for having posted this picture. This is exactly the problem I have, and the visual aid is really helpful and greatly appreciated. Now I know what I'll be doing today, after making ice cream that is. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Gap

The front apron is made up of a removable face frame (made up of a top rail, bottom rail, and four vertical stiles) and three individually removable panels.

Any one or all three of the panels can be slid up vertically in place so the bottom of the panel clears the bottom rail of the face frame, then the bottom of the panel is rotated out, then the panel is slid down to release the top of the panel from the top rail of the face frame.

No tools, no magnets.

Also, the entire face frame can be lifted, rotated and dropped in the same manner. The previous photo shows the entire front assembly removed.

To have a photo autoload in your post type:

<img src="">

and place the url of the photo that you want to insert between the quotation marks.

Ah! Thank you Mongo,

This is so very clever! Mind if I use it? ;-)

Woohoo! My tub is in!

Thank you Mongo, John, and Eric for your help and moral support.

It was not easy, I had to compromise again, but it is done.

Now, for that mortar to dry so I can finally, FINALLY, take my first bath of the year!

The hardest thing, now, is the waiting...