Thank you so much! I ended up buying Durock which is what I read you, Mongo, used in one of your theads. I won't really worry about cutting the niches out of it since the contractor will be doing that part. We will not be relocating the vents. I have a septic system here and no way I am messing with the vent pipes. I was going to have one single 30" long niche for all the goodies my 3 kids keep in the shower. After talking to the contractor last night over dinner, he agreed the 2 niches would be better options. We may increse them to 18 and 18 inches, he'll lay them out and see how the tiles will fit in and all. As it is, the two older ones have bottles that fill up 24 inches of space, so the two large niches would give child #3 some space as well as leaving some open for guests. I can just see the two older ones (10 and 12) fighting over the niches; which is his and which is hers and delagating the soap dish to the youngest (9)for his stuff.

"... Her house build demonstrates that. She described the floor and stair riser issues in her first post ..." She does not go into detail on why the condition of the construction is the way it is. You are assuming it was all the gc's fault. While I am certainly not going to defend the GC she fired, I will say part of that condition might have been from the house being open to the elements for a period of time. ANother part was that she never gave the original GC the opportunity to make the work that was done ready to be installed over. The GC did not complete the project and was removed from the job before he could finish his work, so of course it was not ready to be installed over, because the work was not completed and the original GC did not have the opportunity to make sure the stair system or any other part was in a ready state to be installed over. She very well may have had just cause to remove the CG, but nevertheless she took on the GC responsibility on herself to ensure it was ready for finish trades. I believe it is apparent that this house was not ready to have finished trades in it performing finish work, and it was her responsibility as GC to make sure it was unless soneone else accepted that responsibility by contract. "...A person does not require a GC to have a floor put down. ..." The problem with this is that it was not as simple as getting a floor put down in a home that was ready to have finish trade present. Again, we do not know what caused the stair issues, which could have been: Framing problems caused by the GC's incompetance, or being open to the elements, which flooring installer holds no responsibility for because its a hidden condition, unless it was a tile contractor who must check for build stability, and deflection and rigidity requirements. You might not be aware that carpet, wood, and resilient installers are noit trained for, nor do they hold any responsibility or liability for framing issues. All of which she holds responsibility for as the project GC. The only way the flooring installers would hold liability and responsibility for framing (hidden conditions) issues is if it was addressed on their bids that they agreed to do the work. Any flooring installer would address this in their bids if they elected to take on the added responsibility and liability from stair framing condition and height requirements she may ahve had which could only ahve been taken care of with additional prep they should have addressed in their bids if they wanted to take on the additional responsibility and liability for an added fee. Additionally, she admitted she has no local building codes for such things as stair height. Could they have done better...sure. But it begins and ends with who is liable and responsible. She took that on by electing to be her own project GC. "... While it might have been possible for her to have stepped in earlier to babysit the install where she would have seen that they weren't able to handle the job, stopping it sooner than what happened, that doesn't relieve that company of their total responsibility for having installed a floor over an (obviously) unsound substrate. You can't remove prep from the flooring equation. The flooring company is the professional here and in charge of their own work. It's their job. Once they start putting the floor down, they have accepted the substrate as sound and taken ownership of the results. They did not act responsibly or professionally. Period. Doesn't matter who did the hiring. They and they alone are responsible for their own incompetent work ..." Again, (and again, and again, and again) an installer absolutely is responsible and liable for the surface they install over. However, I will disagree that prep cant be removed. It very well can, and often is removed. While most professional flooring installers do much surface prep, others do not, and FEW, if any, will concern themselves with framing issues AT ALL. I do, but most do not. It all boils down to what was included in the bid. Flooring installers have no responsibility to do added prep work unless they agree to be contracted to do it. They ahve every right to stop work, tell the GC this or that prep needs done before continuing, and tell them to give them a call when its ready to be installed. Lastly, you seem to be taking everything she says as gospel. I dont. I have alot of experience with customers, and customers lie alot... and often. Mostly to save face, save a buck, and/or to shirk their responsibility. The customer is not always right. Thats a falicy. I find it hard to believe that she had issues with the GC, then issues with all the trades. Everyone was wrong in every aspect of this project ... except her. I dont believe that for a moment, but I am not saying its impossible. What I see as possible is someone who bit off more than they could chew, and is blaming everyone else. I am not stating no one else holds any blame though. Could be a little of each. Bottom line its mostly her responsibility unless she has a piece of paper saying different ...except the subfloor issues which the installers absolutely are responsible for if they elect to do the prep and/or install over it.

Thank you all for your quick replies! I emailed the owner in the interim and have since spoken to him - he was on his way here and has now arrived. He told me that the wood was dried to a moisture content of 6-8%. He said that it has been in a heated building since then (either at the mill or his shop) He tells me the wood was kiln dried then went to the company that milled it then went to his shop (in first post I incorrectly stated that it was at his house) that has radiant heat where it was planed and has been stored. It was delivered on his truck and was not exposed to rain/snow. The material that was delivered yesterday will sit over the weekend and will not be installed (until the earliest next Tuesday, so that would be 4 days). The material that was in the garage is what is being installed today. I do trust this company and the owner to do a good job. They do very nice work and are respected in the community. He assured me that what was more important than just acclimation is the moisture content of the wood on installation. He noted that letting wood sit for a longer time wouldn't necessarily be the answer. That it depends on the condition it was stored and the moisture content. He said he did not do a moisture test but that the mill or the supplier (I can't remember which one he said) tested the wood for moisture content. How easy or difficult is that to do - and should I really expect him to do a moisture reading now?

Angelclub, Now that I redid my 5" wide floors with the long boards (BR-111 Brazilian Cherry Engineered) since I had water damage in my home with Triangulo 3.25" wide boards that were all so short, I am disappointed in how the installers installed the floors in certain very noticeable areas with seams lined up and patterns instead of random and stacking similar colors to make long boards look longer. I did not know what you meant when you mentioned you like to be involved as you like floors to be random and now I totally see what you mean. I wish I could redo a section of my new floors. I also now wish I went with the wider boards only because they were longer. This post popped up in my email box as someone like a comment I made so I was happy to reread the comments.