By itself, a decent pressure balancing valve in chrome trim with a max temp limiting set screw, a shower/tub diverter and a tub spout will run you about $100. Symmons Temptrol is a rock-solid valve, it's not the sleekest, but they never break. Then you need the handheld; outlet, hose, bar/bracket, and head. A decent set in chrome will also be about $100. You might be able to knock a few dollars off by going with a fixed bracket for the handheld head instead of a sliding bar. I'd think $175 for everything would be doable in chrome. But don't cheap out on the valve, the valve will be buried in your wall. An inexpensive handheld can be easily swapped for a better handheld at a later date. The handheld set does not have to be from the same manufacturer as the valve. Chromes usually match pretty well from one manufacturer to the next, but be careful if you go with brushed finishes, as they can vary a bit.

Breezy - thank you for the explanation. That makes sense. I'm hoping to have something to post soon. Ended up going with a Bianco Antico for my perimeter (assuming the slab is large enough) - I really, really wanted marble, but someone bought most of the marble (and all of the beautiful marble) in my area back in January (someone's building a huge mansion here) and the soonest anyone is expecting more in is 3-4 weeks. I feel so foolish. When we started looking at marble, there were gorgeous slabs and I didn't feel a need to reserve anything because we hadn't even selected our cabinet color. I had planned marble and soapstone, but never found soapstone I liked. Then in one week in Feb., all the marble was reserved. Not just one type or another, but just about every piece of marble in Columbus. Waited and waited. Nothing. Ended up ordering walnut for my island (because yours was so lovely), and hoping for carrara to arrive. Nothing. But was smart enough to hold a lovely BA slab, just in case. Angie and David - I've seen and used those types of faucets in McDonalds, hotels, etc., but they don't look anything like the slim little stick that I saw on the front of one of the faucets. For single handle faucets in bathrooms, I'm more familiar with those that start out cold and the more you turn it, the hotter it gets. Volume doesn't change. Or, like the one in our current bathroom, you set the temperature separately, independent of the stick that you rotate to control the volume. Unfortunately that took assistance from DS to operate when we moved here. Maybe I'm just faucet-challenged? There's really several ways these faucets could work, I just wanted to clarify. At work, we have 2 handles for each faucet. It's a 4 story building, houses 1,000 employees and was built 35 years ago. On the first floor, they changed faucets to hands free. No temperature choice. And, for what it's worth, I did speculate that was how it worked. I am trying, but there's oh so much to learn here :) Rococo- thanks for the link (and the moral support).

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) - The problem is the backing of the mats. There are HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of mats on the market that have backings that are rubberized in some way. The rubber (aka. "plasticizers") are the problem, not the mat itself. Vinyl is a petroleum chemical. The finish applied to the top of the vinyl (polyurethane or urethane) is also a chemical that is reactive (even in its solid state). These two chemicals (PVC and poly/urethane) can AND WILL react with rubber or rubberized products. The chemical reaction turns the surface of the floor ORANGE. As in "nicotine stain" orange. It is a permanent stain. There is nothing to be done because it is a chemical stain not a surface stain. For that reason the mats used with vinyl, cork, hardwood, softwood, linoleum and some types of concrete finishes HAVE TO BE safe for use with the floor's finish. This is where so many people get into trouble. They find it frustrating to go shopping for area rugs (or water control mats) because of this SERIOUS limitation. The only thing I can say to them is to go to a "mid-range" store to find your area rugs. There will be a tag on the rug that will clearly state "Safe for Hardwood Floors" (ie. Ikea sells some yet Target and Walmart do NOT). Now imagine 99% of every area rug that you like is NOT allowed on the floor you have purchased....sigh. It is very frustrating to say the least.

Omg, that's really strange. Hope you'll find a way out! I just hate when such situations occur. Last year after several works on the pipes the water temperature started to fluctuate from hot to cold. Imagine you're taking a relaxing shower and suddenly your water turns ice cold. Terrible! Anyway, I took a look at my water heater, followed all the instructions from its manual and everything seemed to be fine. Therefore, I turned to professional advice and help to goldcoastplumbingcompany.com.au. They helped me several times with my gas pipes, so they can deal with all plumbing issues. Anyway, they solved the problem in about 10 minutes. I wish I had called them earlier!