blond I see your conundrum - the Kohler site shows the Villager as 0 x34 1/4 odd - I purchased the Memoirs 3 yrs ago & LOVE it - I wanted a wider type tub for a small mbr - This really fit the bill - Make certain to look at the dimension & measurements PDF on each tub you consider - What was critical for me was the 'basin area or bathing well' # of gals, water depth Surprising how many tubs on first take give largish measurements but have tiny basin area - Good for going w/tried/true cast iron if you can squeeze a few more inches I would ck the Memoirs Good luck Here is a link that might be useful: kohler cast iron 5' tubs

I would not give it up at this point. Ask the plumber to get his wholesaler into it again - they likely have more pull than a single person buying a single tub. They were willing to replace the entire tub for him, at the very least they should be willing to do what they said they'd do before. I would question the wholesaler as to whether or not this tub was actually brand new and not a return. The first thing I thought of when you said there were spider cracks around the drain is that someone had overtightened the drain (my shower base manufacturer warned me that if you get a "gorilla" for a plumber this can sometimes happen). If you're sure your plumber didn't inflict the damage, I would suspect that the tub had been installed somewhere before. Alternately the tub could have been damaged somewhere in transit - again this should be an issue the wholesaler should be able to take up with their shipper. I'm half wondering if the wholesaler didn't even take it up with kohler but rather was going to do the swap for you just like that because it's easier. Ultimately you will decide how much effort you want to want to expend to get whoever is responsible to pay for the fix. It could be the wholesaler, it could be the shipper, it could be a manufacturing defect. Everyone is going to want to pass the buck on it too, but I'd keep after the plumber and wholesaler because I think it is more likely damage than a defect. At the same time you might want to tell Kohler that you want someone out there to SEE the defect (be careful not to say the word "damage") and actually make a determination about whether it is a defect or not - because surely they can't do that over the phone. Ask to speak to a supervisor if necessary. It sucks that you are dealing with this with your brand new tub though :(.

It feels totally fine without the mortar base. Keep in mind that it IS plastic and if you push on the sides, there is a little "give" but it's not cast iron, so to be expected. I love the look of it, but to me it feels like it retains dirt more than other tubs, because it is plastic. I feel like I want to scrub it after every bath, as opposed to just rinsing/quickly wiping it and then scrubbing every week. But the overall clean lines look of it is amazing and I did not see any other tubs that I liked as much. I think we covered this in upper convos but remember that there are two heights (we chose the lower one and I would stick with that as it feels more standard. And the other thing is that it comes with a single or double tiling flange. If you need more info on that let me know, and I will give you more details.

How about some sort of cart with wheels? And then have your contractor/contractor's crew help cart it up? Or use family/friends. http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-3318/Dollies/Hardwood-Carpet-End-Dolly-4-Casters-1000-lb-Capacity?pricode=WY576&gadtype=pla&id=H-3318&gclid=CjwKEAjwy6O7BRDzm-Tdub6ZiSASJADPNzYrAq_Nga9eTNK1bKxerPaS90_k2YXX784YtFbkgJ1CUhoCwV7w_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds