Ontariomom and Barbarav I do like my Bosch oven although the glass cleaning can be an issue. I have been very careful taking items with liquid out of the oven to avoid anything dripping into the vent opening at the top of the door. No problems for 2 years until I grabbed a baked sweet potato wrapped in foil a few weeks ago and ended up with a small drip. It's not noticeable until you turn the oven light on so I'm not motivated to do anything about it yet, Someone had some tips for reaching into the vents to clean the glass that I might try, or worst case we take apart the door to clean it - it's out of warranty at this point anyway. The counter and cabinet do not become excessively warm when the oven is on and it vents from the front - so I wouldn't worry about installing it next to a refrigerator. I do have a friend with that set up (different brand) who dented her refrigerator door by opening it against the oven handle - so it's good to be aware of those possible issues as you evaluate brands. I have an odd little set up in my kitchen - that works for me. But here is a look at my raised cabinet oven. The cabinet is 42 inches and the granite brings the height to 42 3/4 - the same as your plan Ontariomom. The oven sits a couple inches higher than my old range oven - so bending isn't an issue for me. The counter steam/microwaves work well for the family at that raised counter height. I went with the Bosch 500 for the knob/retro look, size and price at the time. Beyond the drip, it's been a good oven that bakes evenly. I also know that many here love their Electrolux ovens. Good luck with your decision!

The floor to ceiling shower doors are for steam showers, and the setup for a steam shower is different than a regular shower. The vapor or moisture barriers are different for a steam shower than for a regular shower. A steam shower needs to have a sloped ceiling to drain the condensate. The ceiling needs to be tiled. You are not supposed to use Hydroban in a steam shower, but you can use Kerdie or Redgard in the steam setup. Hydroban will let the vapor through which is why you don't want to use it for steam showers. The Kerdie and the Redgard will not. Hydroban is a moisture barrier and Kerdie and Redgard are vapor barriers. Installers need to know the difference. Beyond that I don't know. Maybe an expert will chime in about what I just wrote. I am only a DYI and have never done a steam shower. I would do a porcelain tile in the surround if it was me. Marble absorbs moisture. Porcelain is so durable and can be beautiful! DON'T put the rainshower in the attic, your pipes will freeze like Raehelen said. And like Raehelen also said, I would use a movable bench. But that is just my choice. I want the flexability in my shower which will be the same size as yours. I will be using a Kohler shower pan that is 36x60" sized. Here is a rainhead shower that I am installing, in the link below. It is in the wall, and I can't wait. Noopd put it in his shower and that is where I first saw it. See the link below where I asked some questions regarding my shower plans and refer to Noopd's shower. There are pictures too. One last point about the the rainhead shower by Hansgrohe, a friend of mine that works for Ferguson's just got back from an educational workshop at Hansgrohe in GA. She got to try out the shower head and Loved it. I bought my plumbing supplies from my friend at Ferguson's. I wanted the convenience, and to support her and the local economy. I have not been disappointed. I have bought a few things on line and that has worked well too. Ferguson's doesn't sell Toto for instance, so I ordered my toilet online. The down side to online ordering is the return if needed. Edited to say that in the link provided, it states that I will be using a smaller shower pan than I actually ended up with. But that might be clarified further down in the thread. You'll have to look :) Here is a link that might be useful: Mongoct, Noopd, or Others, Please Advise Me on My Shower Plan This post was edited by enduring on Tue, Nov 12, 13 at 7:59

I inherited a Carolina Stove wood burning insert from a friend. It was manufactured in 1987. I am planning on installing it in my home but have run into a few problems. It has an 8" flu and I already talked to a certified chimney sweep (best friends uncle) who said it would be ok for draft purposes to downsize to a 6" flu if necessary if I insulated it. Now for the questions: My chimney is lined with ceramic and measures approx 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inner dia and I would need just shy of 20' length I could get a 8" liner but at the damper it looks like I would have to deform the liner pretty bad to get it to go through. I can 1- cut the damper out where the pipe would go through or 2- use a 6" liner. I also have to get an elbow or possibly a insert boot adapterbecause with the insert in all the way the opening on top of the insert is about 1/2" back from the start of the cemented portion of the fireplace. I would have to angle the piece meeting the top of the insert back about 30 degrees so it could make a straight run to the damper then bend up to go up the chimney. I am thinking the 6" liner would be the way to go for a few reasons. 1- no deformation to fit through the damper 2- lower cost I was envisioning a setup where I have a 8" elbow coming out of the insert, then a 8" to 6" reducer that will get me very close to the damper, then hooking up to the 6" liner. I can't seem to find a solution to hook the elbow to the insert. I have a copperfield pro book to look at components but I am still at a loss. Do I use a 8" insert boot adapter? I have no clearance to connect it to the insert from the outside. I will have to reach up through the insert and pull it down. What does that connection look like? There are no screw holes on the insert. How do I get a secure no leak connection? My dad tried to explain that his had some threaded rod and connections inside that he tightened in place. Does that stuff come with the insert boot adapter? Also as stated earlier I have a 9.5x9.5 chimney opening and I can't find a collar plate with those dimensions. The ceramic sticks out above the chimney about 4-5 inches. Do I cut the ceramic flush for a 13x13 plate. Or do I cut the collar plate with some tin snips and bend the sides over the ceramic and seal with some silicone? Trust me when I say I read up on this and searched quite a bit on this site and every other site I could find on Google and STILL have these questions. I have left messages with the sweep that I intially talked to but he hasn't gotten back with me. Please help...

mary9915 - that looks great in your kitchen, thank you! may_flowers - we actually put the wide moulding back in, we are slowly trying to replace what was ripped out. The tile would be a good way to introduce a small bit of pattern, but I'm just not sure about cleaning around it. DH and I are messy cooks (well mainly me) with a lot of frying and stuff flying everywhere. The hood does help keep it contained, but the wall gets gross and I want something easy to swab down. Thank you for helping with my identity crisis! fiesty68 - I like the idea of glass, have to show to DH hollysprings - do you think that it would be SS overload? We have a 36" fridge on the other side and I'm afraid of too much. Does it matter that the range/hood wouldn't be centered on the SS? I left myself enough room on the right for my longest handles to be able to swing freely, but that did cut down on symmetry. love that photo robotropolis provided too linelle! I just wonder if that shelf would just get filthy though, and still leave too much wall open. We are on the Front Range of Colorado and very dusty, not to mention my kitchen windows look out onto a dirt alley.