You know, I think there are actually more people who want just nice spacious walk-in showers but put in a tub when remodeling because they've run up against the real-estate wisdom that the house won't sell one than there are actually tub users. :-) Just my guess because it seems that whenever I pop over to the bathroom forum there is a question on page one from someone who says just what you are - we don't take baths, we'd like to retire the tub for a nicer shower, why can't I do it? - and a chorus of responses of "for resale, for resale!". I'm one of those former kinds AND I put replaced our tub with a new one, but I badly wanted to remove the tub of our main bathroom for a nice - er - make that decent - -sized walk-in shower. Eventually, didn't do it. I put in a tub but I just couldn't get enthused over what tub to get, what tub to get, what tub to get the way I did over the tile, the faucets, the countertop, and yes, even the WC. There is a tub there - it is still uninteresting - I think it is the Kohler Tea-for-two or the Kathryn or something. Whatever. This is my first house, resale was a consideration, and if when we sell the house the next set of buyers aren't bathtub people, I will hurt someone. So, basically, I don't know what to tell you. I badly wanted to pop the hatch on the tub and not put one in again. But I did. Is it the smart thing to do? At the moment, it continues to be an annoyance. At resale time, who-knows coz that hasn't happened yet. So, how do you factor in the cost of having to put in something you don't want for some future anticipated benefit at some indeterminate date for an unknown buyer who we expect will fit a certain mold in terms of their bathroom preferences??? Dunno! Take from this what you will.

I've searched all over and can not find the episode on TV that showed how it was done..I'll try to explain if this is what you mean..... 2 or 3 people lower the tub into the surround onto 2x4's that were placed underneath... Now there is 2-3 inches from tub rim and the surround.. Lift and put more 2x4's between rim and surround... Slide out the bottom 2x4's... Now you can slide out the top 2x4's one at a time .... I guess this all depends on weather you have panel big enough to give you access......

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!

Thanks, Errant. I always check Amazon reviews, but there weren't any for this model when I bought in 2006. I'm really, really kicking myself for buying something expensive and pretty, but that doesn't do the most basic of what it is designed to do. Plus I had a good opinion of Kohler, so it's really disappointing that the company is not standing behind this product. Thanks, enduring. I don't think so -- it appears to be a different style drain assembly.