umm, seattlemike and sippimom, what do you mean glass is a mess to keep clean? Do you just mean waterspots and soap splash? coz I could live with that, maybe hit it with windex and a squeege once a week. Now, the pink stuff growing at the bottom of my shower curtain that won't bleach out--that's gross to me. Of course I like the look of crystal clear glass, but if I don't expect it to look that way every day, I think I could live with glass. Years ago I was at a friend's dad's house. He was a very successful businessman and it was a multimillion dollar mansion. Very interesting to see all the do dads inside. He had a spacious 270 degree glass shower. She showed me the squeege he used HIMSELF to clean the shower every morning when he was done. I'll never forget that; all that money, and he still cleaned his own shower every day. So i guess my question is, if my goal is not crystal clear but just avoiding a mold collage, how hard will maintenance be?

I have always made my shower curtains, but have never taken a photo of them...never occurred to me, actually! But here's how I approach it. I want the curtain to hang higher than the standard, but not so high that there isn't room at the top for damp air to escape. That's important! Most often, I try to line the top up with something else in the room, like the top of the vanity mirror, or the top of a window frame. Then I cut it long enough to clear the floor by a few inches...usually lining the bottom up with the top of the baseboard or baseboard tile. I don't want it to brush the floor...cleaning issues, and ease of pushing it back and forth. So I usually take away the existing rod and replace it at the higher level with 3/4" copper pipe. I hang the pipe with a pair of standard flanges from the hardware store that I have spray-painted with metallic bronze. I make the pipe fit by adding the short copper connectors that are meant to connect two lengths, one to each end...they give the pipe just enough more dimension to fit well into the flanges. Cheap, doesn't do that horrid blackening thing that the usual metal ones do, and looks fabulous as it darkens. For the curtain, I most often use drapery material. I buy two lengths of fabric, split one down the middle, switch the halves right to left, and match the pattern along the selvage edges. The point of this is to center the pattern on the curtain, and move the seams to the sides...looks and hangs much better. I cut the width to about 100", which is more generous than the standard flat 72" without going too far in the pouffy direction. I make a double 3 or 4 inch hem at the top (adding a strip of some form of stiffener, if the fabric is light and drapey), and then bang in grommets at the usual intervals. In most cases, that means about 18 grommets instead of the standard 12, which also means buying two sets of rings. I put them in at least an inch from the top, so that there's no gap between the top of the curtain and the rod. I'm partial to the rings with the little roller balls on top, but anything you like works. I make a deep hem (5"), and I put the side hems and the bottom hem in by hand. This is overkill and not necessary, but I think it makes it hang much better. (I justify the extra work by reminding myself that it is the curtain I see and handle the most!) These dimensions mean that the cut length is 12" longer than the finished length. I don't line the curtain; I use an extra-long fabric liner inside it on the same rings, which I have found most often at Bed Bath & Beyond. And that's more than you wanted to know about one way of making long shower curtains!

This is a no-brainer for me - - SHOWER CURTAIN!!!! I LOVE the look of a traditional tie back fabric curtain on the outside of my walk-in shower with a mold and mildew resistant plastic shower curtain (NOT A LINER) inside. The fabric curtain stays beautiful and only gets washed once in a blue moon. The plastic (non PVC) curtains which I buy in Walmart for $8 get tossed out every 6 months. That beats the extra $1,000 for installing doors. I never have a problem with water getting on the floor. I simply have to make sure the plastic inner curtain is inside the base of the shower plate----just as I would have to make sure the shower doors were closed if I had doors. I can't stand shower doors. Mold builds up in the tracks or collects along the bottom even with frameless doors. Who wants to squeegee the glass doors and wipe them down on a regular basis? Not me-I often take 2 showers a day, especially in the summer.

If you want to be ready...call your town building office. Ask what version of the IRC code they are using. The code is updated every three years, so it might be 2012, 2009, or the 2006 version, etc. To a certain extent it doesn't matter, because the applicable section of code hasn't changed in quite a few years. But you want to avoid showing someone a 2012 code reference when your town still uses 2006. Even if the verbiage is the same. Your goal is to eliminate wiggle room. Go to this website. Click on the appropriate version of the code. Click on Chapter 27 - Plumbing Fixtures Click on Section 2709 - Shower Receptors Scroll down to read the text. Sections that could be of concern to you are: P2709.2.1 PVC sheets. Plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet shall meet the requirements of ASTM D 4551. Sheets shall be joined by solvent welding in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. That patch in your membrane? You want to make sure is was solvent welded per the manufacturer's instructions with a proper PVC sheet cement, and not stuck together with the red stuff which might be RedGard waterproofing membrane. P2709.3 Installation. Lining materials shall be sloped one-fourth unit vertical in 12 units horizontal (2-percent slope) to weep holes in the subdrain by means of a smooth, solidly formed subbase, shall be properly recessed and fastened to approved backing so as not to occupy the space required for the wall covering, and shall not be nailed or perforated at any point less than 1 inch (25.4 mm) above the finished threshold. 2709.3 specifies that the membrane or the lining material itself needs to be pitched to the drain at the rate of 1/4" per foot of run. Yours is not pitched, it's flat on the subfloor. It specifies that the base under the membrane needs to be smooth and solid so moisture that gets below the tile can flow to the drain's weep holes. You wrote that the base around your drain appears to be swollen/raised up, soft, and spongy. If that's the case, your membrane needs to come up and the base needs to be redone. Do NOT reuse the old membrane. And the last reference: P2709.4 Receptor drains. An approved flanged drain shall be installed with shower subpans or linings. The flange shall be placed flush with the subbase and be equipped with a clamping ring or other device to make a water-tight connection between the lining and the drain. The flange shall have weep holes into the drain. Your weep holes are clogged with RedGard pookey. No good. The weep holes need to be open so moisture in the mud bed can flow through them and escape into the drain. A flat liner with no weep holes? Your mud bed will saturate with water and with it unable to drain, it can get nasty. My opinion? Neither your inspector nor the crew that built the shower can waffle if you can cite and show them the applicable code. Code is simply considered the minimum standard for residential construction. Not that the following will occur, but If you went to small claims court, the code will be your best evidence that the crew failed to construct the shower using the minimum standards for construction. Take photos, save emails, document the conversations by writing notes after you converse. Hope that helps. Good luck.