Well Kmcg, you're not the first one to scratch their heads about this one! I had a local plumbing/bathroom remodler come over and take a look at it, and he also suggested redoing the plumbing. But in order to replumb we would have to take out the tub, redo the drain, etc. The estimate he gave me was 8K, but that was also to remove the tub and put in a new one. So yes, it WOULD be so much easier to have the plumbing on the square wall. But it's not, lol! If we go through the trouble to redo the plumbing, really makes no sense to keep the original tub. But it's size and configuration works for the tiny space. I've had this house for 8 years and have been round and round about it. My neighbor had his tub torn out, no change in the location of the drain and water feeds, and had a built-in tub installed. But he also had the whole bathroom redone, including removal of the radiator to give more space in there. We just can't afford to do something that elaborate, nor do we really want to spend that much time and have the bathroom that torn up. We're not sure how much longer we'll be in the house, so we want to keep it as simple as possible. The plastic shower surround setup was not very well installed (I inherited it) and it is getting pretty gunky so we need to do something. We want something better than what we have but want to stick with the original tub, since its size and shape works with the current room set-up. BF is a great tiler and carpenter, but he's no lover of plumbing. It does baffle me why they set it up that way. I seem to recall talking to one of my neighbors who still has the original tub, and I think maybe she said there wasn't a shower originally. These are row houses so are all laid out the same, but there have been MANY changes to them over the years! I do know all of them are plumbed that weird way. The electrical wiring for the bathroom light is on the other side, with the switches outside the bathroom. Here's a picture I found online, but as you can see, the more logical plumbing! And here's a real life example: But I'm sure there was some original logic to the way the tub was done. BF thinks we will be sorry if we don't keep some kind of wall there. If we do have the wall, it will be very tastefully covered with ceramic tile. We may tear out the front of the low wall this weekend to get an idea of what is in there. Right now it is a mystery because the newer hot and cold water knobs on the low wall are located about 3 inches farther away than where they would be on the tub wall. We'd really rather do this job all in one big fast work session, rather than go without a shower for a couple of weeks. This is our only bathroom and we can only work in there on the weekends due to our real jobs. Whatever replica fixtures I get I will have to special order so trying to get an idea of what it will entail ahead of time. We have the tile ordered already, which was probably a mistake, its for the current set up. But when shopping for fixtures we realized we have to change what's going on with the "L" side in some way. We were anxious to get this underway!

I bought a divided Americast kitchen sink a dozen years ago. A year or so later, it split open on the underside with a loud bang in the middle of the night. "Americast" is just adspeak for hard foam plastic. The company claimed bad installation. On top of that, the paint that they imply is as good as a glaze, ain't. Never again. >> Of course that is what my contractor wants to install due to the weight ...Tiling >> around will make it impossible to remove and replace. So the question >> is how to install it properly. Why is the GC calling the shots, especially on something that won't last long and is a major headache to replace? We all know the answer is that the GC is expecting it to last as long as the GC's warranty and after that it's a payable repair. And a boat payment.

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.

You need to actually need to go sit in one I love to bathe but in noway can I see that being comfortable. I also do not think a cast iron would be very easy to carry and install. IMO a nice deep soaking tub not free standing is a much better choice. Have you actually tried getting in and out of a free standing tub most are really awkward. This definately is a thing to test drive and you will need all the plumbing to be visible so expensive too.