I never found a definitive answer on this one, either. We caulked behind the escutcheons in our master bathroom, because there's no access into that plumbing wall; we did not caulk the ones in the hall bath, because there's an access panel where we can periodically check to be sure no water is getting in behind. As far as email reply notifications... I think you have to have something like "allow email" checked in your profile for that to work.

Cold-weather... thank you for your thoughful response. I have some comments and questions for clarification, if you don't mind: If you’re thinking of raising the deck, a deck-cabinet gap can be concealed far easier than the tub-deck gap, but the deck is hard in the wall tile, so that's a big bite for the tile installer to eat. >>> You are sooo right about the tile on the deck being against the wall and since the bottom has crackled glass tiles you can't raise the deck tile without it coming against that glass... and that you can't replace just one row of the glass without it messing everything else up. Darn!!! Guess that option is out.Any tub installer who left it that way is a screw up. The tub installer was the ONLY person who was in a position to fix this thing. Since that person did not, that person gets the prize for the ultimate screw up. If he/she could not do a better job, he/she should not have done any job. The entire onus is on the tub guy to do it or to not do it. >>> The really frustrating part is that I have been a part of the process - trying to get them to do it right (I had to tell then that they used the wrong material - drywall instead of mortar... and I only found that out by researching and talking to people). The GC wanted to give them another chance to fix the issue and since it was only putting mortar in, we didn't think they could screw that up (wrong!!!). Now we have a mess. That's a fiberglass/plastic tub with two things to be aware of. One, the feet can be cut, and they can be set in a bed of mud along with the tub belly. They’re wood blocks covered with resin. Two, the top can be scribed, but only by someone far more competent than this guy. That tub should hang by the top rim and sit firmly on the bottom mud at the same time. It should be set in the mud (which could have a separator layer like a plastic bag or a piece of shower liner) with a load of water in it. >>> Unfortunately it is near impossible to get to the back right corner of the tub because it is filled with all kinds of innerworkings of the tub. The good news is that the ONLY corner that lays flat against the tile is that back right corner... so presumably they can work on the other 3 corners. The mortar does have plastic on it now... so I guess that's a good thing.. would they have to take all the mortar out first and then do something with the feet? By scribing do you mean shaving the top of the feet off? (I hate to say this but in the framer took off a couple of the back feet off at one point... because he thought they were part of the shipping material.. not supposed to stay on the tub). And by mud with water... do you mean mortar like shown in the pic? Caulking/sealing/bridging a quarter inch gap is absurd. The sealant is to stop water from seeping, not to stop pencils from rolling. Sealant thickness should be nearly unseen. It has no strength. Cut the tub. Everything points to the tub person being not skilled enough to eat a donut without a bib. Since the top edge of the tub is NOT level, cut! I can’t see how the GC could allow this. >>> Funny that you should mention pencils rolling - I just took a pic tonight to send to the GC and one of the pics showed a pen under the edge. Okay, not funny at all. Thank you for explaining about the sealant and why it has to be fixed. Cut the tub. >>>What do you mean "cut the tub"I'm gathering from everyone that this is a big problem that just has to be fixed.. it's not an aesthetic thing (which is bad enough... that big gap is going to look bad) but I'm going to have a problem down the road...

Pictures might help because I'm not visualizing a "shower fixture." Does the gap exist because the tile was cut incorrectly? If so, replace the tile.

@Joyce if you're not overloading the drawer with cooking utensils stacked triple high, most of the things you'd store in a drawer that size will be contained. If you were to do height measurements of all your kitchen tools, I think you'd be very surprised to see how many would come in at 2.5" to 3" high. This is the perfect drawer for all those things: silverware, cooking utensils, cookie cutters, knives, lemon juicer, rolling pin. Even most bread pans and pie plates won't much exceed 3" when stacked triple height and would be contained in that drawer. Furthermore, you'll probably be having dividers to contain many of the smaller utensils which will help with any shifting. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how little trouble this will give you long term. I've seen much larger discrepancies in drawer box to drawer front heights than this, so while it's not ideal, it is unfortunately quite common at all levels of cabinetry manufacturing. With any large, expensive project it is natural to have some initial disappointment about unpleasant surprises, and I'm so sorry this has happened.