I much prefer to stone the deck, then drop the tub in so the tubs' rim covers the stone. If you butt the stone up to the side of the tub's rim, then you need to work harder for a cleaner line on the edge of the stone. Account for the thickness of the stone when you pour your mortar bed to set the tub in. If you're going that route. If uncertain, you can dry set the tub on top of the stone, peak underneath, see how much space you have between the tub's base and the subfloor. Then pull the tub, mix and set your mortar bed, then reset the tub and get the rim down nicely on the stone. Then drink beer while the mortar bed cures. Several beers. Mongo

I am seeking a recommendation for an affordable tub filler for a 66" Kohler Mariposa drop in tub. There will be a small tile deck around it. (I think the smallest area is around 4".) This is for my parent's build and I cannot get them to budge on budget for the faucets. So far, we have lucked out with the shower/tub combo for the spare bathroom and the simple shower unit for the master bath shower. Combo unit was the Moen Caldwell ($141). Shower unit was the Moen Banbury ($128). Both units have been in brushed nickel and spot resistant. Now we need a tub filler and there is not one in the Banbury line. I think we would like to stay with a similar feel and look since we may use the Banbury line for the sink faucets (multiple choices for that). Any suggestions? From what I have been able to view online, the Moen Brantford line is similar and has two sizes of Roman tub fillers. One comes out farther and is slightly taller than the other one - we do not know if this is needed (and is about $80 more in price.) If you have a Mariposa tub, where is your faucet located? Are you happy with it? What is the measurement from the center of the faucet base to the center of where the water comes out? Thank you for any advice. The tub has been ordered, but is not in yet and I know they will want the faucet soon.

Our acrylic fiberglass tub was going to have ceramic tile around and under the top lip. This is how we installed the whole unit. We built a 2x frame with a level plywood top that had a cutout to receive the tub. The height of the plywood top allowed for 1" of tile/thinset/backerboard under the top lip and held the bottom of the tub about 1" off the floor (for mortar underneath). We mixed up mortar, dumped it on the floor below the tub and set the tub in place WITH 1" SHIMS UNDER THE TOP LIP. Then we let the mortar set up overnight. The 1" shims were removed, backerboard installed around the tub, and tile installed under the lip of the tub. Hope this helps.

Give me a few weeks and I will post pictures of my new (tiny) master bath that will have a drop in tub and shower combination. My contractor is installing the tub up against the wall on three sides. He will then be putting kerdi panels (used for waterproofing) from the ceiing to the lip of the tub on all three sides and on the section of the pony wall that connects to the lip of the tub on the fourth wall. Note I am saying lip of the tub, not to the "deck". He has explained that all water on the three sides and pony wall that runs down the wall will only have the option of being routed to the tub (unless somehow the acrylic lip on the tub could absorb water, not possible.) If I remember correctly, part of the fourth wall will include the glass shower door which will be fabricated/installed on a seam so that it also touches the tub at the lip and not deck and designed such that water will run back into the tub. The advantages is that basically this is a setup kind of like an undermount where the tub (and most importantly tub lip) are beneath all four sides that are waterproofed because they are designed so there is no path for water to leave the tub. The down side is that the deck for this top mounted tub is pretty much non-existant, maybe 1 inch or so on all sides. That is okay with me since this was the only tub I could find that met my requirements for size and also, and for soaking. It is the Kohler Greek tub and I can't wait til I can have my first soak. So perhaps you could get your contractor to do what mine is doing and add kerdi panels to the walls surrounding your tub - best if it is in an alcove. If not an alcove, then I guess the only way to provide the kerdi waterproofing would be to add walls to make an alcove. Kind of extreme probably. When I talked to my contractor about a top mounted tub and shower combination, he understood exactly the problems and he has done this before. I even found some very old posts by him years ago when he advised people like you not to do this kind of configuration. So I hope my confidence isn't misplaced. Though the new bath will not be anything to show off because it is so tiny, I will post so people may have an idea that seems logical on how to solve this problem if you don't seem to have any other options. Stay tuned.