Drop In Whirlpool

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dotwari

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I had a contractor install a drop in tub a year ago that I purchased from Home Depot. The contractor installed the tub he says correctly and at this point I am sick of arguing with him. He droped it in and put thin set under the tub. The problem lies that the two sides and the back of the tub is almost flush with the tile, so all I need to do it put some caulking around it to make it water tight. The problem is the front side of the srop in lip. Imagine looking straight at the tub and starting at either corner there is a small gap that gets bigger as you go toward the center and in the center it is actually 1/2 inch from the tile. Here is the problem, what would cause this? Is it his work or the tub is bowed? Now how do I fix this? Do I take out the tub and try again? And if the answer is yes how do you take the tub out of the thin set without breaking the tub? The only fix I see is to put a piece of wood under the front lip for support and then get something like a bullnose and frame in the tub with that so you can not see the gap and then seal it so it is now water tight.

Any suggestions? Help I am at my wits end and really I am afraid to waste another $3K on another contractor.
 

dotwari

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Here are 3 pics. One is the length of the tub where you can see the gap, one is with my finger to show you how large the gap is, the last is a not so great pic of the back side of the tub against the wall. This photo shows the gap is not there at all and it is caulked. Only the front side of the tub has a huge gap. I did look under the tub today and the only part of the tub that is "fixed" to the flooring is the legs of the tub and those have a this layer of thin set around them. I also took a level to the tub and everything is level. Do I just have a bad tub and need to get a whole new one?
 

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Krow

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When someone says that they placed thinset under the tub, most plumbers assume that the thinset is placed under the entire base of the tub, not just the legs/feet.

Has this been like this since it was installed? Did it ever sit on top of the tile?

It really should be fairly close to the tile (maybe 1/8" max above the surface of the tile). I like to place my tubs dirctly on top of the tile with cement or mortar under the entire base surface area for full support. This will take the strain off the perimeter edge of the acrylic tub
 

dotwari

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Yes the tub has always been like that. The back and sides arealmost touching the tile as you can see in the last picture. It is like the front part of the tub is warped. Is there anyway to correct this or do I just need a whole new tub.
 

Jadnashua

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Unless the size of the hole the tub is dropped in is compressing one side of the tub (which could cause it to bow), then the tub is likely defective. Have you discussed this with the manufacturer? See if you can send them pictures. Tell them it is posted on-line, and you'd like to resolve it amicably.
 

hj

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tub

Unless the four corners were setting on the deck and the middle was bowed upward, the tub is not installed properly. In your case it appears that there are gaps under the corners meaning the tub is not set down as far as it should have been. Once the tub is all the way down and setting on the corners, then any gap on the sides will be from a warped tub or uneven tile.
 
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