OK, I'm back with more exciting pictures! First, so it doesn't get lost below -- marcolo -- I read installation instructions for a different one of these shower kits to get an idea of how they are installed, and they said do NOT use 100% silicone caulk. I don't know why. Also, it said NOT to caulk the interior where the frame base meets the pan, only the exterior seam. Why is that? Before I ripped this out, it was caulked (and coming loose) on both sides. Anyway, I decided to partially disassemble the shower frame to get a better idea of what is going on and how to fix it. Here's where I am now: First, as you can see, the wall panel was not plumb when it was adhered to the wall. That would be, of course, because they didn't level the pan when they put it in, so when they lined the wall panel up with the pan, it ended up crooked. Duh. Pretty sure whoever installed this never heard of a level. A closeup view shows it even better. The jamb (metal frame part that was screwed to the wall) only barely overlapped the wall panel by the time it reached the bottom. The screws at the top of the frame went through the wall panel, while the screws at the bottom did not. The pan is badly out of level in all directions (the other wall is even more out of plumb, sigh). Now we can see the state of the drywall underneath the panel... ...and it is really not good. Crumbling drywall and scary black stuff (mold?) extends several inches up behind the wall panel. Here's a little drawing I did showing how the studs/drywall/shower wall come together -- or don't, as the case may be. The studs are badly out of plumb too. Easy to see how the slightest gap in the caulk inside the shower meant water getting under the edge of the shower wall panel and wicking up into the green board. Sooo....now I'm not sure where to go next with this. One thought is to cut away (from behind) the edge of the drywall that is sitting down inside the pan, and then insert some kind of extra flashing behind the wall panel so that any water that got behind it would not get any further. Another would be to cut away all of the damaged drywall (several inches) and patch it, adding flashing as in the first option -- again, this would be from behind. No, I don't exactly know how I would do that, but maybe there's a way to McGyver it. ;) I could try to remove the wall panel (it seems to come away from the green board pretty easily), replace the studs (they are not plumb either) and all the green board, and re-adhere the wall panel. The studs are only there to support the shower wall. This could help solve the fact that the wall flexes where it doesn't meet the studs. The risk of course is that I could break the wall panel, and then I'd really be in trouble. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get just the one panel out without having to take the corner and the other panel as well. Removing only the one panel wouldn't address the other wall of the shower which doesn't seem to have leak problems (probably due to the slope of the pan and the fact that the shower head is on that wall) but I would not be surprised to find water damage to that side as well. And of course there's always the chance this is just a complete waste of time and I will have to bite the bullet and replace this shower kit with another. I don't think there's any way to get the pan leveled, and the fact that it's not level really throws the rest of the installation off. I'm not clear on whether removing and leveling the pan would mean having to do something with the drain height, which might be outside of my DIY abilities (though I do have a great plumber I could call). I'm just not too confident this shower can be made watertight enough to not leak into the room beneath. I haven't even shown the issues we have with the seal thingy at the bottom of the door, where water can easily leak out onto the bathroom floor, and I know that if a good bit of water ends up on the floor, that alone can mean a leak downstairs -- water that goes under the baseboard pretty much goes right on through the subfloor. Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. As is my usual habit, I decided to dig into this problem while my husband is out of town, and I'm going to be nobody's favorite person in my house if I don't restore this bathroom to working order pretty soon! (The other shower is in the basement, and none of us really likes using it -- plus it's the same shower kit and I'm betting it isn't installed any more accurately than this one was!)

Hi all, no photos yet as I've come down with a bad cold; taking a decorating timeout. Right now I'm sitting in the LR with a fuzzy bathrobe and some hot tea. But sometimes a couple of days to let things settle is a good thing. GK, I'm looking forward to seeing your piano. Mine used to be turned so that the keys were visible in the room. It has its advantages, for sure. Awhile back I posted here with another question about the Living room, and Les suggested I look at turning it the way it is now. I hadn't thought of doing it that way, and once I tried it, I really like it especially from the viewpoint of the person playing or singing. Now I have a view of the outside instead of looking up into a corner, and it's wonderful. Whatever you decide, when you have your piano delivered, I'd advise trying it a couple of different ways while you have the movers there. I can't wait to see your pics; I'm sure it will be beautiful, and what a wonderful addition to your life! Oh, and I'm going to check into a way to raise the height to a different level. Right now mine has two settings; one very high, and another about 4 or 5 inches. I'd love something in between, and it looks like the piece that holds the top up is something you just screw into place. So maybe there is one that would allow me to keep it raised but just not so high. Thanks jenny, bigdog, and oceanna. I appreciate your interest and kind words. Oceanna, I do like your suggestion about a more colorful piano shawl. If I go back in that direction I will definitely try something else. I agree that when the lid is raised it's not the best for seeing the artwork, although that view is only a problem when you view it from a sitting position. When you are standing up or walking around, the art shows up better. I do love the three paintings there now and will most likely keep them on that wall. The painting of the young lady used to be in my kitchen, and I miss her there, so she may go back eventually. So that wall is probably in play......(LOL) as you said in one of your other posts, it really never ends, does it?

We have 2 flat screen TV's- a 37" in the living/family room and a 42" in the master bedroom. We love watching both, but the one in the master suite is mounted on the wall above our desk/computer/ work area. It gives us a great deal of entertainment pleasure from the sofa and from our king size bed. This is somewhat off the thread, but I have to say that I look for opportunities to cut back and pull in a bit on our expenses. We get so much enjoyment from our satellite TV connections, however, to consider an alternative, seems, well, ridiculous. For now, I can cut back in other areas, and save gas while I'm at it! Enjoy your TV set-up.

Love that idea Cynic! My cousin and I took a road trip to visit an elderly Aunt in Missouri. She was really crabby and for some reason was not very nice to me and putting down my family which was out of character for her. She kept telling me I was fat and was belittling me. I called her on it. LOL On the last night we were there she brought me into the dining room and started unloading her china cabinet and told me she was giving me her antique bone china cups and saucers. I told her I wasn't taking them but she insisted. I knew she felt bad for the way she treated me. After the cups were all wrapped I told my cousin I was going to leave the box in my bedroom and not take it with me when we left. My cousin told me to take it because I deserved it after the crap I put up with from my Aunt. So she put the box in the car. Every time I saw that box in my closet it just reminded me of how mean my Aunt was to me. I didn't want to think that because usually she was very kind to me. Last Christmas I decided to bring that box of cups and saucers down and took a good look at them. Some of them were from the lady who adopted my Aunt so that made some of them more than 80 years old. They were just beautiful. I decided I would use them as Christmas gifts last year. When we all were unwrapping gifts I brought out that box and had everyone who was at my house choose 2 cups and saucers each. What fun they had unwrapping and choosing which ones they wanted. My niece was thrilled with the gift as was my best friend. I am going to do the same thing this year because I still have quite a few left in that box. Had those cups and saucers been given to me at another time I would have thought they were too precious to give away because they belonged to my Aunt but unfortunately they just reminded me of a horrible experience. LOL you kind of gave me an idea on how to enhance the gift this year with another free item. My brother everyday buys himself an x-large Tim Horton's tea - which comes with 2 tea bags. My brother has them put 1 tea bag in the cup and leave 1 on the side. Each tea bag is packaged. My brother saves all his extra tea bags and gives them to me. I think what I am going to do is wrap a bunch of tea bags to go with the cups and saucers. I've also made cross stitched beaded Christmas decorations that I made from left over materials so I guess they didn't really cost me anything to make but time. Anne