I have a question regarding the cast iron shower pans that I just learned about here on this forum. We are going to have to have our shower floor torn out because we believe it was not sloped properly and have had ongoing mildew problems between the wall and floor. My question is this- would the cast iron shower pan be a desirable alternative to a tiled floor and what all would have to be done to install this besides tearing up the current floor and curb the glass sits on. Currently our tiled shower is a neoangle shaped shower that we would like to change to a regular square shaped one. Again, what would this entail and which would be the better route. Thank you so much.

A quart will do fine. As for the grout, you CAN seal it if you wish, but most of the grout manufacturers (at the very least, Mapei and Laticrete, and I believe TEC, as well) are adding chemicals to the grout to stop mold and mildew in its tracks. It still wouldn't hurt to seal the grout if you're so inclined. That said, I have to say that in my OWN installations (in MY homes), I've yet to seal a single bit of grout, including the tub enclosure where I'm living now. I'll let you take it from there. :-) If you DO decide to seal the grout, though, yes, you can use the same sealer. Also, if you can't find the sealers any place else, John Bridge has an on-line store on his site that carries Stone Tech.

Sue Ct - no the $50/sq ft is just the labor to install. The quote was actually $55/sq ft with $5 of it the allowance for tile. I know our tile will be more expensive - so I figured I will just buy it myself and pay only for installation. Now its just the issue of finding someone to install it at a reasonable price Kevin - thanks for the input. Yea, the granite pricing was the thing that really troubled me. As to all tile vs tile and 4" granite slab splash - I was like you - thinking all tile. But one of the KDs has convinced my spouse that it will be easier to clean and that there will be issues with tile to the counter and the grout cracking as the house settles / wall contracts / expands. I do know we have laminate in the kitchen now (no tile, just drywall behind the 4" splash) and there is a slight gap between the laminate splash and the drywall that changes size slightly with the season - so that is what my spouse is worried about. Is there a way to help prevent the grout cracking issue at the counter? Thanks

Thanks Bill. I lost internet shortly after I replied last and just got it back! As it turns out our tile guy stopped by to start the job (after looking at the job several times prior to today) and my husband actually let him go. They parted on good terms but he felt like this particular tile guy wasn't really up to the job. In some ways I think the tile guy was relieved. He'd never worked with onyx before and we have 1x1 onyx tiles to go behind the range. He also was very concerned about the other BS tile I had picked and was concerned about it breaking. Not sure why, it's a very thick tile so maybe he just wasn't comfortable with using tile he wasn't familiar with. I'm bummed because he had come highly recommended, but I'm not sure if he has done much unusual work before? Anyway, I guess we are back to square one. Another question, have you ever installed ceramic beadboard tile? That's what I purchased for him to install. It comes in 8" by 30" sheets and so we thought it would be a relatively easy installation. We do have brackets under two of our upper cabinets, and a few outlets, but it didn't seem all that daunting to us, but what do we know! It seemed fairly straight forward to us, but is that sort of tile really more difficult than trying to install subway tiles, which are the same thickness from what I've seen? Area behind range will have onyx with inset bronze tiles and then beadboard directly under cabinets with liner separating the onyx...no brackets on these Area to get only beadboard with bullnose on the left side only, brackets under the cabinets Thanks again for your quick responses! Kat :)