We are having our bathroom remodeled. Since it is a second floor bath, we opted for an Americast-type product made by Crane (called the San Marcos.)
When the tub came I noticed that it had the sprayed on backing, like the Americast, but it also had this strange styrofoam pad, with honeycomb pattern, affixed to the bottom. I asked the general contractor about this, how would it be stable?, etc. and he said it would be set in a mortar bed, and the mortar would fill into the holes, making it stable.
So the subcontractor (not the guy I'd discussed the tub with) went on with our bathroom renovation, gutted to studs, did wiring, plumbing, drywall, the works, and then set the tub. (We didn't see them do any of this because we work during the day.) The tile guy came today and when we got home we were looking at the tile--and the tub too, since up until this point they'd had a board over it. I stood in the tub to check the level on the back wall and there was loud creaking and a noticable flex. Since the tile man is supposed to lay the floor tomorrow, I assume that the installation of the tub is "complete" but this flexing/creaking behavior seemed odd, so we checked under the tub. There is a 1/2 inch gap under the tub that I can easily run my fingers under. No sign of mortar. We went and got a metal flexibile ruler and I was able to insert that up to its full length (minus the bit I was holding onto)--so about 15 inches. No resistance, just a gap for the full length of the tub.
So you can imagine we feel a bit desperate at the moment since our assessment is that this tub has not been installed correctly and the tile guy is tiling it into place! If anyone out there has experience installing porcelain on steel composite tubs, is this sort of flex and extreme creaking usual? Or is this just a characteristic of this sort of product? Surely this isn't how it is supposed to be???
Any feedback welcome!
Thanks!
J.
When the tub came I noticed that it had the sprayed on backing, like the Americast, but it also had this strange styrofoam pad, with honeycomb pattern, affixed to the bottom. I asked the general contractor about this, how would it be stable?, etc. and he said it would be set in a mortar bed, and the mortar would fill into the holes, making it stable.
So the subcontractor (not the guy I'd discussed the tub with) went on with our bathroom renovation, gutted to studs, did wiring, plumbing, drywall, the works, and then set the tub. (We didn't see them do any of this because we work during the day.) The tile guy came today and when we got home we were looking at the tile--and the tub too, since up until this point they'd had a board over it. I stood in the tub to check the level on the back wall and there was loud creaking and a noticable flex. Since the tile man is supposed to lay the floor tomorrow, I assume that the installation of the tub is "complete" but this flexing/creaking behavior seemed odd, so we checked under the tub. There is a 1/2 inch gap under the tub that I can easily run my fingers under. No sign of mortar. We went and got a metal flexibile ruler and I was able to insert that up to its full length (minus the bit I was holding onto)--so about 15 inches. No resistance, just a gap for the full length of the tub.
So you can imagine we feel a bit desperate at the moment since our assessment is that this tub has not been installed correctly and the tile guy is tiling it into place! If anyone out there has experience installing porcelain on steel composite tubs, is this sort of flex and extreme creaking usual? Or is this just a characteristic of this sort of product? Surely this isn't how it is supposed to be???
Any feedback welcome!
Thanks!
J.