For a lot of years, clients didn't have to spend much time choosing between bathtub materials—if they wanted quality, they chose cast iron. Plain and simple. But at the time, bathtubs didn't massage you from nose to toes with jets of hot water, nor did they answer the door, the phone, and requests for the time. Today's "tubs" include ordinary bathtubs, "jetted" or "whirlpool" tubs, and spas (typically, the heated water is maintained in this latter category). Not surprisingly, the number of materials has kept pace with the increase in tub types. Although there are lots of issues (read problems) with designing for and installing some of these new tubs and spas, in this column I'm going to confine
