Sorry, I guess I should clarify. (This is why I linked the product page, because I knew I would not be able to explain this properly.) The oval tub has a "preexisting" sort-of-deck with a flange on three sides, otherwise I would not be so daft as to try to put a shower over it. I like my kitchen ceiling where it is! Here, this is what it looks like: However, and this is what I was asking about with the deck question, from the instructions it appears that there must be some kind of deck on the fourth side which does not have a tile flange if one does not use the optional (icky) apron, but it does not say how wide this deck must be. We both would rather not have to clamber over a wide margin to get into the tub - DH has to use this for showering every day. I'm mostly a lay-backer, not a sit-upper - my shoulders and upper back get very very painful so I have to get them into the scalding water. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for the 5'5" tub that would let me keep both shoulders and knees underwater and actually cover up most of the protruding bits on the front, leaving pretty much just my head and hands (to hold my book, of course) out of the water. ;-) The room is only 60" wide - it was carved out of a bedroom - and even if we had budget to redo all the plumbing there isn't room to turn the tub round sideways. I dislike the look of "stuff" cluttering up tub corners so I'm considering a down-low niche for my shampoo/soap/etc. and a high-up one for DH's shower things, and there will pretty much never be any kind of decorative bits on the corners because they'd just get soaked with the shower spray anyway. Well, okay, maybe a rubber ducky. (But no flamingos!) :-) Those four were pretty much the only tubs I've found that fit the parameters of size/depth, cost (crucial!), and appearance. I'm a short-but-wide person and DH is medium-height(5'9")-and-wide and we both manage OK in a standard 60x32 oblong tub - 34" or 36" would be a nicer but pretty much all I could find in this price point were funky molded-up things that looked like they belonged on the space station. Yuck-O. The deepest of the four tubs is actually the oblong Bancroft at 15" water depth but I'm not thrilled with how it looks, the other three are 14" water depth. The oval looks like it would have less shoulder room but that's not the case? The one oval tub I've seen available for sitting in was just about big enough for a kindergartener to do laps in, so it's pretty useless for comparison!

Kudzu, as an avid DIY, I appreciate the fact that you've educated yourself to be able to safely perform all of these tasks for yourself. THe reality of the world today is that we live in a very litigious society. That's one of the reasons that hiring a "real" electrician is so costly. THey carry insurance that covers them in case of an error and a lawsuit. You, as a private party, do not. Peforming electrical work for someone else exposes you to a tremendous liability. If your neighbor's wife uses the new hot tub and is electrocuted, you are financially and morally liable for the deed. This isn't an area that you should be asking for help over the internet with. If you know enough to be able to do it safely, that's one thing. But, you don't, and are asking advice on how to perform this work for someone else who also doesn't know. That's a recipe for disaster. Prudence dictates that sometimes, even for a competent DIYer, a professional is the best option. Tell your neighbor that you don't want the liability for killing his family and that he shouldn't want that either and to call in an electrician.

Cast iron retains heat better than acrylic. It would have been my first choice for a remodel, but I couldn't find one that fit our space (alcove 30x60) that was deep - over 12". I ended up going with acrylic - a Kohler Archer. It is nice and deep and I'm perfectly happy with it. The contractors would have put anything in that we specified - that wasn't an issue. I don't think there is a difference in quality between American Standard & Kohler - both are good brands.

Not a silly question. When you have water forcefully hitting the inclined side of the tub high enough up, though most of it will splash downwards, some of it goes sideways, and some of it -- counterintuitively -- splashes back upwards from where it strikes the side and you can actually have a small puddle start to form on the floor in this area from water spray bouncing up and escaping this way. It the water doesn't hit the side of the tub, but only the bottom of the tub, it doesn't bounce high enough to do this.