I put out an email to a builder friend who lives in Jamestown. He's going to contact his tileman and get back to me. Where in RI do you live? I'll need to give him that info. And it's a good thing you're a Sox fan and not a yankees (patooey) fan. You'd get a real nice shower if that were the case. ; ^ ) I'll be in Providence in a few weeks for the JLC-Live tradeshow.

Well fooey. I checked out the Laticrete site, and I can't find any of their thinsets within a hundred mile radius of here. The big box places only carry their grouts. Also, instead of buying from hakatai directly this time (the first time I used them I purchased from them online), I am going with a local tile place where I purchased the argilla a few years ago. Although an avid net shopper, I have to give some of the local guys credit. They have been super helpful, and now carry the hakatai also. In fact, I was shocked that they're selling me only 7 sheets rather than forcing a whole box on me, and its almost $5 cheaper per sheet from them! Since they carry a lot of underlayment materials, I'm going to ask what they carry and would recommend for both the large travertine and mesh-backed glass. Any other thinset product you could recommend that I might be able to find around here? Looks like I might not be able to avoid an admix after all. I'm not so sure why I'm afraid of it, other than I just feel like keeping it simple will be better for an amateur like me.

I've never done a steam shower in a tub setting. Commercial all-in-one units are available, so it's not that it's uncommon or impossible, but some considerations: You need a rock-solid vapor barrier on the walls and ceiling, and it'll need to be sealed to the tub's flange with a caulk/sealant. Now for steam showers all I've ever used for the past 10 years is Kerdi membrane. It prevents moisture from penetrating deep into the walls. Although you can put Kerdi over drywall, for a steam shower I'd use a cement board like Durock or Wonderboard. Cement board the walls and ceiling, and Kerdi the walls and ceiling. So, from the studs "in" I'd have cement backer board, then Kerdi (sealed to the tub's flange), then thinset and tile. Latex-modified thinset, no mastic. You don't want steam penetrating past the tub/tile and into your walls, so where your plumbing penetrates the walls seal the Kerdi to the shower head arm. Seal the Kerdi behind the valve assembly. Where you tub drain open/close valve is n the tub wall, you'll want to fashion a piece of Kerdi to seal that as well. Getting in and out of the tub? Your door will need a seal on it to keep the steam within the tub enclosure. The steam generator outlet is usually set down low on a wall, sometimes under a bench. The reason is that steam rises, and the outlet gets hot, so placing it under a bench is a good place to hide it. You don't have that option with a tub, so you'll want to place the steam outlet where it doesn't become a burn center. A plus is you can have the steam generator right below the tub, accessible via a panel in the tub apron. Just some quick considerations off the top of my head, I'm sure others will have point-counterpoints to follow. Mongo

The caulking should be where the tile butts up to the window frame. one thing you might consider is using a piece of travertine slab for the shelf.