We chose cast iron tubs (Toto 1525's) when we reno'd our two main bathrooms. They aren't huge, or fancy, just soaking tubs, but IMHO cast iron is the way to go if your floor can support it (or will after adding add'l support) and the budget allows for it. Definitely solid, and supposed to retain heat better, too. We love ours. If we had had bigger bathrooms, it would have been nice to have a longer version (for stretching out while lying in the tub) but we were constrained by room size. Even so, ours are pretty roomy and very comfy and as I mentioned, solid.

Just a quick update. I spent days reading material on air tubs and whirlpools and got my decision down to a 36 x 72" Jason and Purebath. To get an outside opinion, I called an online bath dealer in the Richmond, VA area where I used to live (Whirlpooltubs.com, Steve) and after discussing a lot of models, which he sells as well, he steered me to Mansfield, an UN-fancy company that offered a ton of features and everything I was looking for, at a nice price. I ended up with the Baywood 6 Ariance GentleTouch (air bath version) which has back jets with heated neck/back rest, heated silent air (all offer this), included neck pillow, chromatherapy. This combined the features I thought my husband might benefit from (back jets) with the surround air jets, in a quiet system, as we will put the motor on the other side of the wall with insulation. Mansfield offers the Ariance in 3 models: HealthTouch (whirlpool), GentleTouch (air bath) and DualTherapy. I would love to tell you what I think about this bathtub, but we are still building our home and are months' out yet. This dealer was on the ball and very helpful.

Wish I'd seen this link sooner but I'll post my 2 cents... The air issue is a biggie! We have the Bain Ultra Amma and it came with dual back heaters. When we installed it, the back warmers didn't heat and the air jets were cold. The tech support was fantastic and they immediately shipped me a new motor. Unfortuantely, It didn't help much. I guess remotely locateing the motor just has the air cool too much making the run?? I LOVE the chromatherapy. I generally don't use the air jets in winter b/c it cools the water in the tub too quickly. :-( So I basically have a beautiful large bathtub with really cool lighting. Their tech support is awesome but unfortunately the air is what it is... An inline heater is not an option with this tub b/c both ports are used up with the worthless back heaters... Here is a link that might be useful: my tub

I just finished a Swanstone install over a 72" Laurel Mountain whirlpool tub. This is the second Swanstone surround I have done. (I got a lot better at it this time) I was a professional tile installer for 10 years and didn't want the maintenance of grout in a tub area. Here is what you should know about Swanstone: 1) There is caulking (and the associated periodic maintenance) in the corners where the panels meet and also at the base of the panels where they meet the tub. This will have to be re-done every 3-5 years if you dry your tub/shower after use. If you don't towel down your walls, you'll need to do it more frequently. 2) Swanstone requires carbide blades to cut. Dont even think about reusing a carbide blade for cutting other materials after it has been used on Swanstone. Even carbide dulls quickly when cutting this material. YouÂll destroy a hole saw and probably 3 or more scroll saw/saber saw blades during your installation. Plus a 40 tooth finish grade carbide circular blade. Consider it part of the price of your project. Make sure you have extras before you even start. 3) Scribing and coping the panel walls so they fit closely in the corners and against the tub is a must. Swanstone is easy to sand with a belt sander (makes a mess, use a good respirator). An Accuscribe tool makes this a lot easier. 4) 2 people are required to move and dry fit the panels. They are unwieldy and the material is very dense. Both people need good dry leather gloves on. The edges, when cut with carbide blades, are sharp. 5) You want a really solid backer board behind Swanstone. The panels are a quarter inch thick so they can bow unless adhered to something that is quite rigid. I used Durrock cement backer board. The backer board should be primed with a good primer (Zinsser) before installing the Swanstone product. 6) Acetone!! They say you can clean the Swanstone product well enough with alcohol before caulking. DonÂt waste your time with alcohol. Use acetone. In my experience, Swanstone is impervious to acetone and you will create a much faster drying and oil free bonding surface for silicone caulk with acetone. I wiped all sides and edges with acetone to remove all oil and fine dust after cutting & coping and dry fitting prior to installation. The bond to the walls is very strong. 7) The biggest headache is the required 2x4 bracing. Setting this up is a royal PITA. Use masking tape to hold vertical 2x4Âs in place against the panels while you position and wedge into place the horizontal 2x4Âs that create the side to side pressure. Measure the inside dimension between the vertical 2x4Âs exactly and then add 1/16 of an inch, this is enough to create sufficient side to side pressure. Make sure you pre-drill holes at an angle through the horizontal braces so that you can screw them to the vertical braces. If a horizontal 2x4 falls out, it will damage your tub and you get to start all over. Bracing the back wall panel with shims takes time and patience. Do not be in a hurry, you have plenty of time before the silicone adhesive sets up. 8) A word on framing: Use Timberstrand studs behind the cement backer board. This will draw a lot of comments from folks, but here is the line of logic: Timberstrand is delivered with a much lower moisture content than any other kind of stud except steel. It is also perfectly straight & square. Due to its low moisture content, it undergoes much less dimensional change once installed. This is critical behind tub & shower walls. Timber strand is 3 times more expensive than regular lumber, but it is worth it in this area. When you frame with it, take the time to get everything perfectly square and plumb and you will have a much easier time with coping and fitting the Swanstone panels. Further up in this thread, there was a comment made about redoing grout in tile after 3 years. Yeah, that is true in my experience if the lumber behind the backer board was "wet" (high moisture content) when the tile was installed. This is common. Problem is, it becomes a self perpetuating problem that requires major tear out and remodeling in pretty short order. The cycle goes like this: Tile & grout is installed over high moisture content lumber. The lumber twists and shrinks as it dries out causing micro fine cracks in the grout (grout is brittle). Folks shower and the walls get wet which introduces more moisture that gets behind the grout and ultimately the tile. Do this daily for a year or so and the backer board is now wet. The backer board transfers moisture to the studs so they undergo expansion causing bigger gaps to appear in the grout and more water to be added to the system. Leave it untreated for 5 years and your studs will begin to rot and tile starts falling off the walls. Plus you have mold growing in cracks in your grout that is really tough to keep out. IÂve done two bathrooms in my current house with pretty intricate tile work. They are beautiful! Nothing looks as nice as well done tile. However, both are occasional use bathrooms that get used maybe 10 times per year. I did Durrock over steel studs in both tiled shower areas and they should hold up for 20+ years with nothing more than yearly resealing of the grout. The two daily use shower areas are Swanstone over Durrock with Timberstrand studs in one and steel studs in the other. They should now hold up for 20+ years as well with twice daily use and once every three years re-caulking of the seams.