Hello Jeannie01, Yes, that's a problem. There are some can lights which can be installed in steam showers, but they will be a specialty product and your licensed electrician should already have special ordered accordingly. The lighting element(s) and the wiring should be COMPLETELY isolated from the moisture of the steam shower. Simply sealing the cover to the tile with a bead of silicone isn't going to be adequate. Contact your local electrical supply house or Electrician's union for suggestions on which equipment is available in your area and insist that your electrician correct his mistake before final payment. Best of luck, Shaughnn

For a steam shower, you want waterproof and vaporproof. that might sound strange, but just be advised that one is not necessarily inclusive of the other. Two I recommend are Hydroment's Ultraset, and Schluter's Kerdi. While I love Bostik's products, Kerdi would be my first choice for a continuous, 6-sided steam shower membrane. Perhaps you can convince your old school German uncle to embrace Herr Schluter's new school German Kerdi! Mongo

Don't know your exact specs, but steamsaunabath.com has lots of options -- some recessed, some not -- we used the Kayla in our former house and again in our new house, as it held up fairly well the first time around. It is a rather large light, and not particularly attractive -- I would have preferred something recessed, but was not an option.

Zagyzebra - I can see that with yours on an exterior wall plus three windows that you would need a more powerful system. And yes, a steam shower that does not get hot enough would be sad indeed! But the ability to vary it to a cool setting is wonderful too. Those small windows sound great. Natural light in a shower is such a nice effect but especially while still allowing privacy like it sounds like yours does. The onyx I am using is a very subdued pattern and color and just a few dramatic accent areas. It is very traditional, classic and formal in an older home, but not near the age of your place. I love the feel of an older homes. They have a unique feeling and charm. Yours is about 50 years older than mine and I bet it has classic beauty. I worked with some builders in new construction a few years ago when the Tuscan look was very popular, and the back lit onyx was just starting out. It was very dramatic but we also did it a lot of that, so I guess I grew tired of it so I wanted something different for myself, with a more subtle color scheme for my area. I was not even looking for onyx when these slabs just jumped out at me at the stone yard and was 'the one' for my Master. We used book-matched slabs which creates a symmetrical pattern from two matched adjacent slabs, that when lined up and cut properly, can meet in the middle for a mirror image from the center, which creates beautiful classical proportions. The natural light is on the front and not the back which reminds me of the delicate hand painted old book inside covers of feathered paint (can't remember what that is called). Anyway, it is very serene and classic which is the feeling I was after and the color scheme is similar to your marble only darker. The Calcutta sounds great and I'm sure it will be beautiful. I love the subtle veining and the warm 'glow' it gives off. I bet you have all the precautions covered but if you don't mind me mentioning just a few that I've read about here on GW recently about white marbles specifically. These have mostly been regarding these marbles on the shower floors. Most came from a combination of or single problems of 1) installing directly on the mortar bed instead of a membrane (presumably like you have on the walls and ceiling), and the translucency and delicate nature shows darker if it remains wet underneath, and usually in an uneven pattern (darker = hidden moisture underneath), 2) sealing the tile with a traditional sealer (on tile and grout I believe) that holds in moisture and will not evaporate properly) and 3) using the typical grey thin-set instead of the white, so since it is translucent, will show darker than it really is. I was going to attach a link to one of those posts on the shower floor problems, but can't find them now. It was either Bathrooms, Flooring, Remodeling or Building a Home forums. Gee, I guess I'm reading too much GW! I tend to do too much research, but then again, it sure comes in handy!! These forums are a wonderful resource! Although they caution using a regular sealer that causes moisture retention, we needed one for the high calcium stone (limestone and the onyx which marble is too), so we researched and tested A LOT to find one that would protect the grout and stone while allowing both to evaporate any moisture behind the stone. The membrane of the steam shower with the water proofing as well as vapor proofing made this more critical so this would not cause a 'vapor sandwich'. Your project may differ and you may need nothing or something else. If you are interested, it is called Stain Proof from Dry-Treat. Smaller molecules or something and my engineer DH was even impressed with the tech behind it. And no, I don't work for them or anything. Just passing along what took us weeks of research and testing to learn. I would not have felt comfortable without seeing the samples myself. How far along are you? I know once I've gone over every decision and actually decided everything, then I'm anxious to see the final results! But I must be patient to get the best installation to match what's in my head. Hope yours will be or is going well. Monicakm - I have the chromatherapy in my bathtub as well. I got to try this also when traveling so knew I would like it. It is always nice to know you have even though it has lost it's usefulness for you. You could always use the color(s) to perk yourself up on a dreary day! You know, with everyone having problems deciding which features are important, or not, for bathtubs, (or showers for that matter) wouldn't it be great to have several hotel chains have different ones installed to use for real, so we could try out various tubs (and showers / steam showers) and see the sizes, configurations and special features!