I was nervous yes, but once it was installed and the grout was all cleaned from the cracks and crannies (cause that was pretty ugly) then sealed several times I was fine. Right or wrong, here's what we do to keep it maintained: 1. We only use liquid soap. 2. We wipe down the black frames around our design & niche because they spot. 3. We wipe off the chrome & glass & I keep on of those white towels handy to use for all of that. When the sun shines through the window into the shower, I can see where there are some water marks on a couple of the stones which can't really be helped. We'll need to get that off the stone before resealing and I need to find out what to use to do it, but all in all, it's holding up really well. Now which tile did you end up installing and where's the pics of your finished bathroom? Did I miss the thread you posted them in because I've been watching for them and don't recall seeing them. :c)

This old thread got revisited. @dani_m08 to answer the question about extra probe, I believe I ordered an extra one when I bought the set up. The probe wire is just setting in the junction box I think but honestly I cant remember. When I laid out the underfloor heating and the probe, I just ran another probe near the first probe, and it was then sealed into the floor self leveling compound as per instructions. then the end was just threaded into the wall like the one that would be live, and not connected, but just laying there in the box. Regarding the tile layout. I just decided to run it this way, after getting instructions on the 90Degree way, IIRC. The herringbone that I love is from my childhood and the side walks in my neighborhood that all ran at 45Degree. so that to me is herringbone. I know you posted on @sochi thread about her amazing bathroom and a wall mounted faucet. I would totally do it if I had the right sink for it. In my case I had made my sink out of soapstone and an integrated backsplash. The pictures of this bathroom reveal are no longer available because of the use of photo bucket, when it was Gardenweb. I did not keep my account with photo bucket. I'll add some of the reveal pictures so you can see the sink and floor. Regarding the sink there is no ledge for water to drip from my hands when using the faucet. The water drips right into the sink. In my other bathroom with a deck mounted faucet I am always wiping up drips and it is a nuisance. I much prefer the setup for this sink. Below: I love the flush finish from the faucet to the bottom of the sink. nothing drips on a counter or edge of a sink. Below: looking in from the doorway. Below: Here I am finishing up the sink. the backsplash was epoxied on as a separate piece. The whole soapstone install in the room took next to nothing to buy as they were all small pieces that I epoxied together with a 3 part stone epoxy. Below: this is the counter at the tub, and is in 2 long pieces but I was able to epoxy them together at there edges to make a wide slab for the top. All the soapstone was finished with a 60 grit sandpaper to be rough and this lovely soft tone of blue/green/gray/white. I did not oil it so this color tone would remain light. Below: If I recall correctly @sochi helped me decide on this Hubberton Forge Mirror. I have 3 different metals in this room, but they are all a cool silver to black color. Below: the center of this tower shares space with the kitchen on the other side of the wall. there is also some extra space that houses some electrical wiring. this is an old simple house. this bathroom was an add on when it got move to the farm in the 30s IIRC. The plumbing was all rearrange and some of the details that were orignially there I kept but updated it, such as this tower feature. The old one went and the carpenter did a wonderful job with this one. Below: This feature was another thing I kept from the old bathroom but flipped it from the other end and had the carpenter put drawers in it. Before it was a hell hole. things got lost and the build was soooo old and creapy I didn't like using it for storage. Now it is perfect for storage.

My slate was special ordered from HD. It was about 2-3$/sf. I cut it in half using a calculation to accommodate my grout width. It is called Montauk Black and is black. It is from Brazil. It is not a real sturdy slate but is very well gauged in thickness. It isn't the very irregular multi colored product from China or India that HD has on their shelves. This Brazilian slate is only rated for indoor use, freeze thaw action will damage it. It is not the tough slate that is used on roofs of old homes. Vermont has slate quarries and their slate is very strong. Because my slate is what it is, I would not use it in a shower. The Vermont slate, I would. But I am not a geologist or a professional tiler. I have this slate in a heavily used bathroom. It has been fine. It is somewhat textured and I mop it. It is fine and rustic. It probably does hold on to some particles when I sweep it so it isn't a pristine surface. I did notice that I spilled some diluted bleach on the stone and didn't see that I had done so until a few days later when I found a spot in a lighter gray. I think slate is rustic and behaves rustically. It has a very casual feel to me. When I was cutting my slate for the herringbone pattern I installed, I noticed it started to smell like mud. That to me indicates a weak metamorphic rock.

Fans won't solve the problems I had because the problems were not mold related. It was grout wearing away over time leaving cavities with missing grout and getting discolored with soaps and water. No matter what choices you make, a bathroom is a heavy-use space, and you're going to have periodic maintenance. Impossible to avoid. I'm interested in how to avoid week-to-week work in cleaning. Yes, wall hung toilets are made to be repaired through the access panel. This works, as the whole flushing mechanism can be removed through the access panel, once removed, lime deposits can be cleaned off, any o-rings replaced etc. Problem is, toilets include moving parts and water -- things that like to break, and your toilet may or may not break in a way that would necessitate opening up the wall. I think a smart person who installs this type of toilet would do two things: - Put a wall of tile behind it ... really, you know you're going to need to clean that thing ... who in the world chose to put drywall behind it in the above picture? - Buy /store an extra box of tile as "insurance" against a future repair the requires destroying part of that tile. And if you REALLY want to be safe with a wall-mounted toilet, take one more step: - Position it so that the wall behind it is a closet and place a removable panel in that closet ... this would allow you easy access to your toilet pipes simply by removing items from the closet.