Thanks for all the replies! This is our first house, not our "forever" house. We are planning to finish the bath update so we can put our house on the market within the next 8-10 months. Then hopefully we'll be in our "forever" (or at least for a long time) house. :) The tub in the master is somekind of old, original cast iron tub. So I know it will be a pain in the butt for our GC to remove! I'm not much of a bath person except for occasionally, but my hubby likes to take them a little more than occasionally. Really this update is to make our home more attractive to potential buyers and hopefully secure us a fast sale. The master is one of the only things we haven't updated in our home, and we're not planning on spending a fortune. What I DON'T want to do is spend this amt of money period, and then wish I had done the tub. It's in really good condition, but it's so narrow and shallow. I wanted to potentially put in a deeper, wider one, but the walls are an issue. The non-plumbing side is my husband's closet, which is the same size as mine (not very big, but a "walk in," which is the plumbing side.) Moving a wall is an expense I'm not willing to undertake, so that's why I was wondering if we could hack into the wall just a bit where the tub is against my husband's closet. I havent talked about this with my GC yet. I'll do that this week. But y'all have seen that done?? Removing the tub and taking the time/money/effort to create a big walk-in shower is not what I wanted to do. We do have another tub in the hall bath, but not having a tub in the master might make someone not want our house. It's all about resale at this point! At the lowest remodel cost. :)

Hey breezy! You and me both! LOL I had a different rainhead when we remodeled Mbath at previous house. It was also large and I loved it! Though when I washed my hair, I sometimes used DH's. ( I have very thick hair) We are probably still a month away of being in. The latests setback was the stair color. I told the GC I wanted kind of pecan colored to match my floor. Some how I ended up with BURGANDY! So, they were stripped and sanded and now 2 1/2 weeks later since starting the staining, they are the correct color. Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out! Good luck on your faucet choices! Bridge

Sorry, that does not look good. I agree with Errant a row of your tiles running vertical would look better than that. I think it would have been fine just ending it with the full subway and the Schluter edge too. Since it is not what you discussed with your tiler, I think it's on him to make it the way you want it. You are the one that's paying him. As far as the argument about the wall getting wet just make sure the shower curtain stays inside all the way to the end of the tub. Some vinyl liners have little suction cups near the bottom edge to stick to the tub and keep water from escaping.

To all responders - many thanks for the comments and suggestions. Was able to open access door at plumbing end of tub and was able to see steel mesh and clumps of plaster below tub rim on exterior wall but no sign of studs - so I assume that plaster with mesh support is also behind wall tiles. This would explain erratic readings with stud finder. Exterior wall is brick - not sure if stud finder will give reliable readings through brick but will give it a try. If so will give me some general idea where studs might be.