I have one of the pricey "dry" vapor steam cleaners, from allergybuyersclub site, the tidyvap. I like that site and frankly am surprised they OK'd it for your floors and walls. DO NOT use it on painted walls! It will remove paint, or at least discolor the area you use it, plaster or drywall (drywall even worse). It is very intense heat, and would scald your hand if you used it on skin, so I would not recommend it for wood, either (although I am unfamiliar with trax?). I have used it on UN-painted wood to spot clean adhesives, but I would not regularly use all over wood floors, as I bet it would warp the boards. The machines are WONDERFUL for tile, stone, metal, glass... it is a miracle machine in the bathroom and kitchen, no chemicals and cleans to sparkling new. It is OK for rugs but frankly a little too labor intensive to clean the whole thing regularly, I have only spot cleaned rugs too. (Cat throw up - great for that!) I don't have allergies but these machines are recommended specifically for dust mites, because the heat kills them, and it can be used on cloth/furniture and mattresses effectively. A very good HEPA vacuum (Miele is the cadillac, I love my Oxygen) would be a much better bet for dander and you could use it on walls/wood floors. Dander is superficial, and you won't need the most deep cleaning to keep it clear. You could also get a wet steam cleaner like the shark and try that, but I think a good HEPA vac is all you need.

To educate yourself, I suggest you Google something like "how to waterproof a steam shower." When I entered that, one of the FIRST things I read was not to use tar paper but to use a product like Kerdi, Laticrete, Noble, etc. and there are knock offs of these products as well. Even if he does what he says, from what I understand, there should still be a water proofing membrane under the tile. There are even YouTube videoes of the process, and, of course, plenty of information here in the archives - easier to access through Google than through the search feature here. There is a really good online forum for tiling but the system won't let me post it - initials JB

There are two things you want: 1) you want the light bulb enclosure to be gasketed. Normally the gasket is between the trim and the can, and it's all held together with crews for a tight seal. That will prevent vapor from entering the fixture. Gaskets that are held together by the trim ring just springing up on the housing? Not good enough in my opinion. Meaning, if you ever need to change the bulb you should need a screwdriver. 2) You want the fixture itself to be sealed to the ceiling, meaning there should be no way for vapor to get between the ceiling and the light housing. You don't want vapor getting into the framing bays of your house. With Kerdi, I'll seal the Kerdi to the light's housing with Kerdi Fix. Will a "wet rated light" suffice? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on its design (see #1 above) and with the installation (see #2 above) details. A vapor rated light meets #1, but it still need to be installed correctly. Last two steams I've done, one used "Nicole II" lights, the other used one called "Cora". Not all vapor-rated lights are expensive, but those two were. Wet and vapor-rated assemblies? It's a somewhat code-ambiguous issue where I live. But what I wrote is my way, and I tend to lean towards bullet-proof construction. Mongo

Mosaic is not a requirement for a steam shower ceiling, or for any shower ceiling. Your installer telling you you need mosaic shows me two things. 1) Your installer is not comfortable installing larger tiles on ceilings. Could be that he's aware of his own limitations? Or that he likes taking the easy way when it comes to most jobs? Or that he doesn't know about better performing thinsets? Or that he just likes to do things his way? 2) He's never built a steam shower before. With mosaic on the ceiling, all those additional grout lines are going to result in condensate dripping down on the person using the steam shower. Not a nice sensation when trying to take a steam. None of that means you installer is incompetent. He may be willing to learn, he may be willing to go the extra mile, he may do fabulous work with amazing detail. Or he may be in over his head. Have a good conversation with him about what needs to be done for a successful build, and gauge his response. He may be the old dog who is willing to learn new tricks with and along side you, or he may push back with the "I've always done things this way". Find out what material is going to be used for the vapor proofing and then research it to make sure it is indeed vapor proof. Some tile backer boards have vapor proof membranes are already applied to foam board. Two birds, one stone, you get insulative value plus vapor proofing. Some membranes are a manufactured sheet that get thinsetted to a backer board. You know the membrane has the required perm rating, the seams just need to be properly detailed. Then you have liquid applied membranes. They need to be properly applied to get the vapor barrier performance. They seldom are. They are typically slapped up on the backer board quickly, creating air bubbles and pinholes that never get taken care of with additional coats. Reinforcing fabric sometimes gets used where needed, sometimes it doesn't. The more detailing and care the installer has to do to get a good installation, the more chance you're not going to get a god installation. ESPECIALLY with someone who has never done a steam shower before. Most people think a steam shower is simply a regular shower with a steam generator added into the mix. Nope. You've gotten some good info already; resources as well as explanations. A steam shower simply requires the correct materials used within as well as attention to detail when being built. You'll want some form of insulation on the wall to improve the performance of the space. You'll want a true surface applied vapor barrier to prevent moisture drive into the tile backer board. You'll want to consider porcelain tile, tile with a low water absorbancy. Porcelain is a better choice over the other extreme, handmade tiles that look terrific but are porous as heck and will hold moisture. Good luck with your build, I hope you get a satisfactory outcome.