Agreed. If I were doing the work, I'd add a 6-mil poly barrier between the framing and the the cement board...because it'd cost about $2 in materials and take 5 minutes of my time to do it. So why not, even though it's not required. That would omit the need for Redgard. If the corner bench is boxed out, then I prefer the membrane to cover the bench and the floor. I wouldn't want to build my pan, install the membrane, run the membrane up the walls, then on top of that box out a built-in bench and cover it with tile with the frame of the bench not being covered by the membrane. It could set up a scenario for long-term water damage to the bench's substrate. If you're talking about a wall-mounted corner bench, like the "Better Bench", then that just hangs on the wall, it does not have to be included under the membrane. An alternative which provides flexibility of use is a small teak bench. It can be in the shower, moved out of the shower, or moved around in the shower as needed. For pictures, they first have to be loaded onto a third-party hosting site like photobucket or it's equivalent. When your picture is loaded, right click on it and in the drop down menu left click on "Copy Image Location". Then come back here and type: <IMG SRC="paste your url here" WIDTH=400> and then paste your photo's location in between the quotation marks above in place of the red "paste your url here". I add the WIDTH=400 to restrict the width of the photo so the picture doesn't end up being so wide that it generates a scroll bar. You could change "400" to a larger or smaller number. Mongo

For a jetted tub used as a shower, it has to have an integral tile flange. That allows the wall cladding to overhang and any water that hits the wall to not go behind your walls. There aren't that many in that size that are inexpensive. It will need a specialized drain, and, if you want to spend any time in the tub, a supplemental heater so the water doesn't cool off so fast. Since it's a tub/shower, the wall cladding will need to be redone to be waterproof into the tub. It's possible, if the build is recent, and it was done with the proper vapor barrier behind it, that only one row of the tile would need to be pulled in order to replace the tub. But, I wouldn't count on that. I'd count on having to replace all of the wall cladding in the alcove. That can be as cheap as a plastic surround for around $100 or cheap tile with the proper vapor barrier for probably $150 or so. The first is the easiest and the least chance of leaking. The second will read as more upscale, but you have to be sure your contractor understands about the vapor barrier and correct materials to use to tile this (NOT mastic.) And since you have that torn out, it would be foolish to try to keep your current control valves for the bath unless they are also very new. New safety standards are in place for anti scald mechanisms. So, you will need a new shower/bath faucet and valve. Then you will need the electrical line run from the panel to the location for the whirlpool pump and supplemental heater. That location is usually opposite the drain side of the tub. You will need to be able to site an access panel that is removable to be able to get to the electrical innards here. That can be from an adjacent room, or from a hidden panel on the tub itself. All in all, you might be able to get all of the needed materials for 2-3K if you shop the box stores carefully and find some bargains. The danger to that is that if you are inexperienced, you don't know if you're buying quality or crap. They sell both. And that's one reason that it would be simpler to let the pro pick the products after you tell him the features that you want. Then you've got to pay the contractor labor to install all of that. The electrician's price will depend on how difficult it will be to access the panel and run the wire to the location. For that, it's a really good thing you are on a crawlspace! That makes it cheaper for both the electrician and the plumber. On the whole, I'd expect your project to cost between 5-7K, depending on location, and if you have no DIY skills to bring to the table and have to hire professionals for the whole job. And be sure that you hire someone that is licensed and insured to be in your home, and will pull the proper permits to get the job inspected with your code office. Some handyman guy isn't licensed to do electrical of that nature, and while he might be able to do the demo and get the tub in place and glue on the plastic surround, it's unlikely that he'll have the right insurance to deal with a large job like that, and thus probably wont' want to pull permits and be inspected. They are usually limited to smaller jobs like simple fixture replacements like a faucet or light. Which this isn't. Just remember, you are doing a project that combines electricity and water. You really have to know what you're doing here! A small General Contractor should be able to do the complete job, and also carry the needed papers. And he should have no problem with the code guys coming in to inspect his work either. If he does, then he's not the right person for the job.

I have a Sterling Accord that was just installed today. I'm also in a 1973 house, and we're in the middle of a complete remodel of an ugly yellow bathroom. The Accord doesn't use caulking in any of the seams. The only part that has to be sealed is where the wall meets the top of the surround. I chose it because I don't want to deal with the maintenance of tile, caulk, and grout ever again. It'll probably be a week or a little more before I get to use it, but I don't anticipate any problems. My contractor was impressed with how it's designed. Any water that happens to get between the seams is channeled down into the tub. Sterling has a video that demonstrates how to install the tub and walls. It makes it look really quick and easy, but they're installing it in a perfect scenario, and I'm sure the video is well-edited too. All the framing in my bathroom wasn't exactly perfect and straight, but my contractor and his helper were able to work it out.

The point is that you can't predict, when, how badly or even if--to some extent--that a bath done without a full membrane, whether it's a textile or paint on, will fail, and I don't know what the point is of telling someone that just completed a bath in something other than one's approved method is an immediate and complete tearout and start over. I've seen the opinion that a paint on membrane is completely inadequate and the job should be redone. I've seen people told it's inadequate because they can't see it and really it's been put over the studs underneath, I've seen someone told on the kitchen forum that their backsplash was "Probably not up to Code" because tile shouldn't be installed on drywall, it needed to be installed on cement board, that it should be taken down and redone. And rarely is it presented in the manner of "In my location, local code requires" or "In my location it's customary to" or "You may want to find out what sort of water proofing your contractor..." it's almost always presented as "Your lowest-estimate incompetent hack-- that it's your fault for hiring, by the way you cheapass--has totally screwed you over by ________etc. and so forth".