Update......3/16/2010. I am gonna use the first tile guy that came out (friend of my plumber). Nice guy, very attentive to my questions, etc. The second tile guy that came out said he guaranteed I will have no porblem tiling on the sleepers over concrete. RED FLag!? He said he would email me a quote......he never did. oh well. When I order the tile yesterday, I told the ladies at the tile shop who my tile contractor was....they spoke very highly of him....calling him a perfectionist....hopefully that bodes well for me and my bathroom. So here are the new specs..... Bathroom floor: Mud Bed [including bonding agent on concrete and wire mesh to strengthen the mud bed] tile se on diagonal Radiant heat floor set in mudbed Thinset Tile Shower: Swanstone Shower pan [34x48] Durock walls Thinset/tape seams Mapei liquid waterproofer (either HPG or AquaDefense) One recessed niche tile to ceiling Look ok? TWO Questions: 1. Any preference for either Mapei waterproofing products? The HPG or AquaDefense? 2. Question on vapor barrier for foundation wall One wall of the bathroom is on the poured foundation wall. Do I need a plastic between the cement wall and the insualtion and studs? thanks. mike

"Will you need a fan and or light in the enclosed area?" We actually have one unit in the ceiling above the toilet that has a fan and light built in...we might get a new nicer-looking unit to replace the old one but that should be an easy upgrade. "I like that last setup you showed." Me too, but I'm still not sure whether to go with a barn door or pocket door. I think barn door has the advantage of an easier installation, but a pocket door probably could be installed leaving more room in the toilet closet. A barn door would probably look cleaner from outside the toilet closet, since you wouldn't see the hardware or the door when opened. "It would be nice to have the toilet centered in that space, but if you can keep the center of the toilet 18 inches from the sliding glass door on the wall, you should be fine." That's my worry...the toilet is currently offset slightly closer to the closet...it is about 19" from the center of the toilet to that wall, and 22" to the other wall. With a barn door installed there I imagine we wouldn't keep 18" unless we shift over the toilet. I don't know yet how expensive that would be. A smoked glass insert across from the toilet as in that pic might be the way to go. Then I still have the question of whether that wall should be flush with the window recess or set in a little. I'm thinking maybe flush with the window would be best to leave as much depth as possible for the toilet closet, and fewer edges/angles on the other side of the wall outside of the toilet closet. This post was edited by Phaedrus29 on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 16:33

yaya, that makes more sense - I was trying to picture what you were saying and didn't get it :-) Using side lights was a suggestion made on the bath forum and I think I like that idea. Then I could place the lights a little lower and not have them so crowded. If I do this, I'd have enough room for rectangular tile mirrors instead. Do you think those would look better than the ovals? If I use oval mirrors, should I use rectangular sinks? annz - I LOVE the Craftsman style bathroom and put that in my dream home folder. For this house, we've already put so much money into remodeling and have done everything custom in other rooms, but we're planning to move in a few years. I'm trying to stick with my plan of using nice materials but at the same time keeping it basic and low cost (it's hard for me to do!). I also want it done by June and if we start talking custom framing around the mirrors DH will take forever to finish! andrea - if we were staying here longer than a few more years I would have done so much more to change the footprint of this house, including the placement of windows! We just redid all of the stucco and outside trim, so I know changing the window placement isn't an option for us. It is limiting though.

That is something I batted around, LL! With my proposed cabinet layout (which I haven't posted yet, because I first wanted to focus on the space itself) right where you have the pantry door, I was going to have my dish storage (uppers and drawers so it's in good proximity to the DW. I was also hoping to nestle the fridge back into the pantry a few inches, and doing an interior door into the bathroom means the bathroom has to be 5x5 (instead of 4'6 x 5)which means I either won't have the room to "nestle" the fridge, or my cabinets on that wall of the kitchen may not be able to be full depth. We are talking inches here, so maybe i'm wrong? I wish I knew more about construction and wall thickness, lol! Maybe I should post a layout or two showing cabinet placement?