Wow, thanks bumble doodle! Tt is great to know that the tub works well as a shower. We are tall too--at least most of us (two of my teenage daughters are twins and one is 5'2" and the other is 5'10", so maybe the short one complains a bit but that's ok, since she complains about everything!) We are getting the non-jetted version. Also, I am hoping that building the deck at the front will help with the water spray. I am pushing the tub back into an alcove under the window the long way (so we get into the tub at the 32" side rather than from the 48" side) and we are trying to go without shower doors in order to make the bath feel open. With a deck, we buy a few more inches of length to help avoid water on the floor. We may not succeed and will put a panel on if we have to. Any thoughts on this?

We have Moen tub/shower trim along with Moen faucets in all of our bathrooms. It is very good quality and they have great customer service too.

I had a cast iron tub professionally done in my old condo. It turned out beautifully and we used it for 5 years before we moved. It was our daily showering tub too and was used for baths for our small children (i.e. lots of toys in there). The finish looked just as great as the day it was redone - not a scratch or peeling anywhere. I think it was Miracle Method.

The trim kit is useless without the right valve in the wall. It’s not interchangeable either. Koehler fits Kohlet valves and Delta fits Delta valves. What the right valve is, depends on your needs. A simple tub shower is usually under $500 for everything in chrome, in a basic style. Start adding fixtures that need multiple output ports, or going into specialty finishes like brushed brass, and the valves and trim both change. And you can have 2K in shower plumbing in a heartbeat. If you are getting large numbers, then it’s your requirements to do what you want that are driving the numbers. You contro the pricing by cutting back on the features and finishes.