Thank you for all the feedback on our tile options. According to my informal email and blog polls most respondents fall either vehemently against tile to the ceiling, or totally and absolutely for it. Hmmmmm. See previous post for the update on tally and our decision.

Now that tile choices have been thoroughly discussed, I might as well cover how the tub itself has sent us on a wild goose chase for parts and fittings. I spent hours – many, many hours -on research for what exactly we need to make it all come together. First came the shower system, which we got from the previous owner together the with the tub.

It was a great bargain, because the tub came to $215 total with cost to rent a zip truck to haul it from point A to point B. Just the shower system itself is $420 plus tax/shipping and handling.

But turns out the ring for the shower curtain was much too stout/short. I am not sure how they showered in a 66″ long tub, when the shower curtain ring was only 42″ but it was what it was — glad I measured it when cleaning! Now its serving as a key part in the make shift renovation art. dreamy, isn’t it?

So I called up the supplier and explained the situation, unfortunately the 60″ long ring (the biggest they make) was on back order with no available date for delivery. I fiddled my thumbs for a bit, called a few weeks later and got the same answer. I went ahead and placed the order anyway, which cost about $160 (still better than $420 for the whole new system), and lo and behold we got delivery in the mail within a week! We probably just got lucky, but it arrived just in time.

Then came the realization that we need actual water supply and drain pipes to make the system work (I know, duh). Obviously we weren’t up on our plumbing vocab, so after some research came across these helpful links.

Then we found the parts on-line. Only it was too late because our contractors were going on vacation and if we wanted the tub/shower operational they had to have what they need within 3 days. Ouch.

After a fruitless trip to Home Depot – where we actually got accosted by an employee for not knowing what we were talking about, Fragers Hardware offered us a workable solution. Actual drain kit and less than ideal, but ok for now, water supply lines.

The ones used for clawfoot tubs are rigid, these are soft, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to shower. It shouldn’t be difficult to swap out these guys for the proper lines in a few weeks. But also, you cant even see these guys when the tub is in place:

Finally – hooray – we got all the parts! Um, no. not so fast. how do you affix the claw feet to the tub? More tediou research. Thankfully stumbled on this guide. From our type of set up, it looks like we didn’t need anything extra.

Just have to pick the paint color now for the exterior of the tub. A much less stressful task! Any and all suggestions most welcome :)