Great info Tante! I'm going to try and attach a couple of pictures to this post so RW can see what we did to our master bathroom. I chose the color scheme for the master bath - medium/dark tones, and always being different I chose dark tile with touches of tan, green and blue. BTW, the only thing missing from the after pic is the shower rod and curtain which we have yet to purchase.

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Well, if you're doin the whole shebang, here's a review source for more bang for your buck or puck, or....

http://http://www.terrylove.com/crtoilet.htm

This review is updated pretty regularily and includes MAP scores (how much solid stuff the toilet can flush), loudness...some sound like freight trains, not good off a bed rm., whether they have a "bowl wash," some just suck it down with no swirl to clean as it goes, and customer comments.

His favorites are higher end ones, and with good reason, but like for us, there aren't even plumbers here that use them so you go down the list to more available ones.

Yes, I have pergo in my kitchen........which I love.....but you have to
pick up spills right away or it will buckle.

tile or vinyl sounds good.

If you want durable flooring, I would go with ceramic tile and it isn't really that hard to do. I redid our whole kitchen and did a tile backsplash, too. Then, I did the shower surround at my MIL's house. I bought a Home Depot book and just learned as I did it. Cutting is the trickiest part, but the nice thing is that individual tiles aren't that expensive if you screw up a couple. DH and I found that a Dremel is great for more intricate cuts - everything else we did on the manual score and snap thing.

Good luck, we are in the process of redoing our bathrooms, too.

Thanks Everyone. Good advice from ALL!

Yes MsCherokee, that's the same unit, only the one I looked at has only one bench across the back end and has 3 shelves up the wall on each side of the bar. It's called "Terracina" by Kohler.

I did some more homework today, picked my friend's husband's brain and we are now of the mind that when the addition where the bathroom is was added on, that they cut a LOT of corners and probably brought in the one piece unit before there were walls anywhere and it's on the studs or on the plywood laid for floors before the walls were erected, with no pad under it.

I don't want to move the drain, so now I am thinking tile all the way. I can lay tile! The bathroom is 6 ft wide and 9 feet long or thereabouts, so it's not a BIG job. Easypeezy.

The friend's hubby actually told me to make my own pad and just shim the end up a bit and there's your drain angle. He also said they are using the ice and water shield stuff in bathrooms now to seal the walls and floors. He gave me a sample of it (he's working on his bathroom and kitchen) He said just run it halfway up the walls after insulating and put the greenboard up over it and no leaks to worry about!

He already taught me how to put in light fixtures a few years ago when he built a chimney for me, and reminded me that the wiring was already replaced in most of the house before that job ( I forgot! We put in a circuit breaker box and upgraded to 200 amp service from 60 amp fuse box.) He said just do what he taught me with the wiring and suggested using a fan light combo and venting it out the wall near the light with a small diameter PVC pipe since I don't need a high power fan for such a small bathroom.

I looked into the engineered hardwood flooring. It's different from Pergo and laminated flooring. It's actually hardwood bonded to the stuff that TREX is made from with a cushion pad glued to the bottom of that. You can sand and refinish it several times and it doesn't warp and can be used in moist areas, but it's more expensive than hardwood! Sooo, I think it's ALL around tile now!

I'm actually getting excited about this now! I'm already looking at tile! I really don't think it's going to be that expensive either, since I am one of those deal searchers and we have salvage/stores all over the place.

I drew it all out and made notes and I'm gonna do it!

...After I figure out what to do about that UGLY rusted 4 ft. electric baseboard heat...

anyone have radiant heat in their floors?


LMAO here at me...this could be trouble!

(Hey, Char? YOU can fit in that crawl space! You'd go in for me wouldn't ya, budddy? That ol' DM is too brittle and she's too far away! I think the spiders might be bigger than she is! )

Can I move in with you?!

When you finish with yours, how much will you charge to do mine??

My whole bathoom needs to be ripped out and started over....what a 50s mess..

Let me know when you're available...K?

We have a roll in shower. When we laid new tile we chose larger tiles so we'd have less grout and chance for bacteria. It is a little difficult to work with since larger tiles are harder to maneuver around the drain but it can be done. You'll need to check your rubber matting under the concrete. This is the rubber proof liner that keeps water from leaking through to the floor joists. It is laid under the concrete and you should already have that under the tub. If it appears in good shape you shouldn't need to change it out. If I remember correctly, it laid on top of the sub floor.

Now, if your replacing where the drain is located, you'll need to angle the floor so that the water flows to the new drain. More than likely if your going from a tub to a stand up shower you'll need to angle the concrete. Most hardware rental places have something you can use to do this. My contractor used a jack hammer type tool and then poured new concrete over the angled area to smooth it out. Just be careful not to puncture the rubber liner.

I only know this stuff because I stood over the contractor and watched so I could learn and never have to pay someone to do it again. lol Good luck!


PS: Whoops, missed your update. That's cool! I didn't know they are using something new for waterproofing! I'll have to remember that if I have to change out my showers. I posted pics here once of my bathroom. If you want to see them just let me know.

Oh, oh, if you choose tile, make sure you get the non slip kind. That is why we ended up remodeling my bathroom. The tile was slippery and I would fall everytime. We chose a tile with grooves and a rougher surface.

Good points, Sandy! I will also add . . .Make sure you get the right pitch too. Who ever did DBF's bathroom years ago had the pitch too steep. Your feet kind of fall in towards the drain. Not good for an MSer. (I don't use that shower when I am over there.)