Drop in tub against walls

[Eric in North TX]

I have a nice drop-in fiberglass jacuzzi tub with all the goodies, I want to put in place of a regular tub. I'm pretty determined, and have a few thoughts, but would appreciate the insight of the group. I plan to notch the walls to accept the edge of the tub, then put the drywall (or backer board up). I'll need electricity, so the wall at the head of the tub will be totally stripped and reworked and an access panel left (Fortunately that wall is just a room divider backing on to the sink area.) My main concern is the area where the deck meets the wall, normally a tub has an "L" there to keep the water from seeping behind, with this being designed as a drop in it doesn't. I thought about bonding aluminum angle to the edge & while perhaps unsightly & overkill, that would probably work. This is where the community might know a lot more than I do.

It looks like this:

[hrhofmann]

Maybe cover the backer board with tile???

[Eric in North TX]

Sort of planned that as well, but still looking for ideas for the failsafe for when the grout fails, and no one seems to notice or care.

[aemeijers]

Get the right tub for the job. A kludge like that would be a red flag to a competent home inspector, or most of the people on here, come sale time. Tubs have a continuous wall flange for a very good reason.

If you or SWMBO simply MUST have THAT tub up and running, recommend converting a spare bedroom to a tub room. I once gave an old (like 1912)

6-foot clawfoot tub to my sister as a joke, after buying it out of a farmers field for 25 bucks. (he had been using it as a stock tank.) Damned if she didn't install it in a small upstairs living room of the A-frame she was living in at the time. Little romantic alcove, etc. Everyone that saw it loved it.

Too bad she lost that tub when she traded in the husband....

[dss]

Eric,

If the tub isn't going to have a shower, the drop-in you describe is fine. Some drop-in tubs offer a tile flange option if you want a shower. You could add a gutter and down spout to the tub, but it'll look weird, be expensive and may not work in the long run. Better to find a tub designed for your space and needs. There are plenty of them with all the goodies.

Good luck.

dss

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Little romantic alcove, etc."

re: "Too bad she lost that tub when she traded in the husband..."

And they say love is all you need...obviously not!

[Nonny]

I have to go along with the feeling that if it looks homemade, it won't help when you go to sell the house. HOWEVER, if you're going to do it, why not get some aluminum flashing and use that to make a waterproof return. If I was doing it, I'd apply a liberal bead of silicone to the downturn side of the tub that'd be against walls, the fasten the aluminum flashing to the downturn with self tapping hex head sheet metal screws on, say, 3" centers. Once the silicone has cured, I'd add a bead to the top of the flashing/tub joint just "to be sure."

The flashing would then be placed against the drywall, with just enough inletting, if at all, that the rolled edge of the downturn would not show after backer board and tile was applied. I'd also caulk the backer board to the tub joint.

Nonny