>>a house needs a tub unless it is in a retirement community and even then, if there is more than one bathroom, it should have a tub>> Hmmmm....maybe, maybe not. I'm 65 and like the majority of my friends, prefer showers. When we remodeled our MBa it has a custom shower and a double vanity, plus a matching 6' tall linen closet. Plus an alcove with another 3-drawer cabinet in that. I'm a firm believer in lots of storage, LOL. My MIL loved baths, hated showers. When she moved to a nearby retirement facility, she had a choice - shower or bath, both with attendant. Eventually she gave up bathing for the walk-in shower, saying it was easier and faster. One reason she moved: she was terrified of falling in the bathroom during her bath, when she lived with us. We thought about putting in one of those walk-in tubs, but she did use them at the senior facility instead before she switched to the shower. It's a reasonable alternative, but forget trying to wash a dog in them [smile]. They're pretty tight-fitting inside, with the built-in seat taking up a lot of interior volume. I can tell you that when I broke my leg at age 54 (I was out gardening and fell on concrete stairs), it was IMPOSSIBLE to lift the cast high enough to step over the (rather short height) tub-shower on the main floor, at first. It was almost 5 weeks before I could do it, wrapping the cast in a plastic bag. That tub is only 16" high at the rim - but it could have been a mile high as far as trying to get into it, when disabled. My vote is double vanity, linen cabinet, shower (3x5 is ideal and I wish we had that). Add in safety bars and a good vent fan, too.

O.K. so I said "luxury vinyl" no way ever. Used this in a small bathroom and love it. Many of the very upscale homes in this area are are using luxury vinyl in baths. This one has a super nice attached underlayment, a nice textured surface, and is so much warmer feeling than ceramic tile... you may be thinking more tile than plank... but thought I'd throw it out there :) Good luck on your decision! https://www.lowes.com/pd/SMARTCORE-Ultra-8-Piece-5-91-in-x-48-03-in-Blue-Ridge-Pine-Luxury-Locking-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring/1000196679

You mean waterproofing PRIOR to installation of tile as well as during/after install? Yes, you have to build and waterproof the shower before a single tile is installed. Tile and grout are not waterproof, they are just the part that you see. Not a pro here, but to educate myself (after a shower disaster, and in order to make a better hiring decision when searching for new pro to fix bathroom), I read the shower chapters of the TCNA handbook, read waterproofing threads on this forum and the John Bridge forum, and checked out DIY books from the library. I wasn't intending to DIY, but it was very helpful to learn what building a waterproof shower really requires. There's a lot of bad info out there, so don't go digging around in YouTube videos, with one exception - I watched Sal DiBlasi's videos. I think he has another site with more info on it, but I haven't gone on there lately. Doing some research before talking to contractors will help you make a better hiring decision. You can order a downloadable version of the handbook for less than $40: https://www.tcnatile.com/products-and-services/publications/218-english-publications/188-handbook.html You can search for Sal's videos online: Sal DiBlasi, Elite-tile Company, in the Boston North Shore area. After you educate yourself, start interviewing contractors (not sure if you want a GC or if you are going to directly interview tile professionals). Ask this question: "How do you build a shower?" For your entertainment here is a story that illustates how hard it can be to find an excellent tile pro, and how vulnerable people are to GCs' hiring decisions regarding subs. When you do find an experienced and qualified tile pro, understand that on average a correctly built and waterproofed shower will be several thousands of dollars. Don't skimp on this by hiring an unqualified person. The chances of a leaky shower is far too great a risk. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5725013/what-to-do-when-a-project-goes-completely-south#n=28 In my case, I hired a very expensive GC, who then hired a very cheap and unqualified tile installer. If you hire a GC, you need to find a way to ensure that he/she doesn't cheap out on the tile pro to increase their profit. I haven't found a way to do that yet. The only 2 projects where I had to hire a GC, they did this and it caused big problems. So, if you hire a GC, have an honest talk with them about who they are going to hire to build your shower. The tile pro is the most important sub that will be involved in your bathroom reno. The tile pro is the one who is in charge of building the whole shower. Sometimes a framer will frame the shower, but the tile po is ultimately responsible for the whole thing. Don't let a GC just tell you the person is qualified; you need to see that tile pro's prior work and ask them the question "How do you build a shower?" and here his answer for yourself.

Cork is an excellent carpet replacement product. It is warm and quiet underfoot. It comes in two formats: A floating click-together format for 'dry' areas and a glue down tile for wet areas such as bathrooms and mud rooms. Yep...you heard me. The glue down cork tile is 100% water proof. As in MORE water proof than vinyl click together products. How? The glue down cork tiles are butted together (no grout lines) when installed. They are then coated x2 with water based polyurethane. The poly seals the seams to create a continuous sheet of cork. The only areas of concern (as with ALL floors in a bathroom) would be at the walls where cork meets drywall. I'm a cork flooring expert. I've done this more times than I can count. A situation like yours were you do NOT want to refinish the entire house because two rooms had issues. Cork is an oak. It has many of the same colour tones as White and Red oak. In fact it starts out quite orange (sigh...ignore that phase of it's life...it doesn't last very long) but soon calms down to a lovely soft yellow which is IDENTICAL to the current laminates you have. Here's how I would do it: I would pick a floating floor that has an IDENTICAL glue down tile option. I would install the floating floor in the bedroom. This gives you the 'total' floor height that you need to match. Now you remove the bathroom flooring and lay in new plywood OR cement backer board (cork doesn't care) to raise the floor up. Now you glue down the cork tile (6mm or 8mm) so that it matches the existing floating floor. Finish the floor in two coats of polyurethane and Voila! A continuous floor with minimal effort. A glue down tile floor (if you hire this part out) is going to cost (labour plus materials) the same as a porcelain tile installation. That's roughly $12-$15/sf. Sounds horrible until you realize you have 30sf to cover...now that's not too bad! A floating cork floor will cost (roughly) the same as a HIGH END vinyl floor installation ($4-$5/sf for materials + $3/sf for labour). www.icorkfloor.com Cork Flooring Tiles Glue Down - Forna Silver Birch 6mm Flooring (icorkfloor.com) Floating Cork Floor - 12mm Forna Floating Cork Flooring (icorkfloor.com) Those are just and example of how to get a continuous floor in two different formats of cork.