I think if you have hard water or other issues with water that gives your tub/ shower unsightly look it is good idea to invest. Otherwise cleaning recommendations seems to be the same. I got Arisona shower doors with inexpensive tempered glass that gives you slightly greenish hue but it works for my design. Easy clean with squeegee and Windex keeps it looking just fine.

"how can I figure this out before ordering?" you purchase one and see if it operates smoothly, then stop worrying about it. It is just a lock There area number of methods for installing mortise locks, none of them 'low cost' since they all take a certain amount of skilled labor and somewhat expensive tooling to not damage the door. you can fit them with hand tools at a large price in labor This is one of the reasons the newer locks are just bored round holes. A couple hole saws, a small router, and some jigs and you can fit out the doors in about 15-20 minutes each. Even bolt and strike plates often come with rounded corners to allow quick routing of the shallow recess in the edge of the door and the jamb 9and there are also small tools available to square the corners if you do not like the rounded ones or the lock needs square corners). I have a hollow chisel mortiser (it 'drills' square holes) that can be used to bore for mortise locks, and have used it for this a number of times over the years. It runs about $1,000 minimum for good one. The small wood-shop ones are not adequate for the task since they do not move the chisel but force you to move the object being bored. OK fora small piece of wood for furniture making, not so good for a door. As long as there s away to unlock the door from inside the room easily without a key (thumb latch) the AHJ should not have a complaint. Privacy locks are standard for bedrooms and bathrooms, as opposed to passage knobs that cannot be secured at all.

I would if I were you. You have two things going against you. First, mastic shouldn't be used in a wet area. The reason is that even after it's been dry for years, it can still reimulsify (become soft) from contact with moisture. Secondly, even in dry areas where mastic CAN be used, it's not supposed to be used for anything bigger than 8x8 tile. The reason for that is that if you apply mastic too heavily (as you would need to with the larger tiles-- anything bigger than 1/4x1/4 is too big for mastic) then it won't dry, and if you use a 1/4x1/4 notch then you're not getting the coverage you need to have. So now, either you don't have enough adhesive behind the tile, or it's going to stay soft, which means it'll wash out from behind the tiles all that much quicker. Take the tiles down.

Agreed w/numbersjunkie---we looked at practically everything out there, and KA is one of the shallowest. Check the model, though; 28" may include the door, but not the handle (at least on the one we were looking at), not just the carcass. We're getting a Fisher & Paykel; they make a 36" model too and it's pretty shallow (24 and some change for the box to 28" with door/handle included). You sadly have to go to the pricier models (Liebherr, etc.) for some freestanding options that are closer to true counter depth. Good luck!