No way would joining Direct Buy be a sensible decision for you. You are only planning to spend $6- $10,000.00 in total, so you'd be spending close to $6K just to get in the door. Besides the contract fee there are yearly fees. I did join Direct Buy- we are doing a total house reno from top to bottom (literally), replacing all windows and doors, gutting, rewiring, jackhammering concrete to put in drains, new roof- well you get the idea... I was enthralled by all the possibilities when I went for my visit. Luckily for me, I did go without my husband- signed the contract by myself- and after researching that night at home, I was heartsick that I had made such a stupid decision. WE played good cop/bad cop when we went back in- I composed a letter asking for a refund, and they very graciously DID give us our money back. So kudos to that particular DirectBuy outlet. However, I did a fair amount of research (albeit a day too late), and did discover that there are many many issues with DB. The least of which is, shipping and handling fees which can be 25%, and that they are not refunded if you decide you do not want the product you ordered. And, if I'm not mistaken, the item is delivered to the warehouse, not your home address, so there's that whole issue... I'm not going to go into a litany of all the problems, but suggest you google direct buy consumer concerns for yourself. Again, I reiterate- I do NOT think you should consider joining. You will NOT save any money, particularly just on ONE bathroom reno.

Just hung up with my Ardex rep and got once again some killer info. Don (Ardex Rep) told me that there are a few ways of preparing the glass and to find out how it's done. Then he referred me to a local company that actually prepares the glass - paints it and then re fires it for durability. I need to now call this company and learn more info. The company he recommended was Interstyle Ceramic & Glass Tile Store 3625 Brighton Ave, Burnaby, BC (604) 421-7229

I keep revisiting this thread, hoping for a Sign. :) Is it ever acceptable to use a shower pan and create a tile threshold over it, thereby making it higher? As for cleaning the nonskid elements of a shower or tub. I have some wonderful nonskid strips in my otherwise very slippery acrylic tub where I take my showers. Yes, they pick up and hold grime a little too well and you can't just go gangbusters cleaning acrylic. The other day I used some Softscrub and a curved nail brush that fits around a couple of fingers. With very little elbow grease ALL the grime was removed and the shape of the nail brush is very ergonomic.

I can vouch for the ROG cleaner. I just received it a week ago and used it on my Kohler cast iron tub's non-slip surface which, BTW, never looked new even when the tub was first installed. The tub was delivered to my house in a crate and the bottom was not protected so the non-slip surface was already dirty looking before the tub was installed. My tub has been in place for 13 years and has been used daily. The cleaner was expensive, but totally worth it. None of the other recommended cleaners from Kohler's "accepted" list worked AT ALL. The ROG has two steps. First was the blue cleaner (ROG 3) which is really more of an all-around cleaner. It's a good cleanser with a nice, fresh scent, but it did nothing to rectify the dirty look of the non-slip surface. Second step was the white cleanser (ROG 1) which made the bottom of my tub look brand spanking new! I can see the bottle lasting a long, long time. I do like the blue cleanser a lot, much better than the Dow I was using, and I will purchase more of it. I don't mind spending money on products that work, as that is preferable to wasting money on products that don't. Another plus with the blue cleaner is that it foams nicely and you don't have to use much of it. BTW, I believe magic erasers can permanently damage the non-slip surface. As the writer of the blog linked to above mentioned, the ROG3 is the cleanser recommended on Kohler's website, but it didn't really do anything to improve the look of my non-slip surface. I think it will probably work well to maintain the clean look now that the ROG1 has been used to restore it to new looking.