Although the window CAN be operated, my landlord, for the whole time I lived there (about 5 years) requested that it NOT be openned. As for the trim and molding, yes it's wood, and it wasn't holding up well. When I pulled it all apart, the window trim and sill completely splintered, in spite of my being as careful as I possibly could. So right now, the trim is holding up nicely, because it's all brand new stain and urethane. But I give it a couple of years, and it'll start to deteriorate, as well. The ONLY safe way to have wood in a shower is to completely seal it up with a marine paint. Anything less, and you're asking for trouble. But I don't know what I'm talking about. Just ask my ex-landlord. He'll tell you. He didn't even want me putting in a backsplash in the kitchen because he was afraid I might not know what I was doing. He only allowed me to do this bathroom because we were having problems with the existing walls deteriorating, and as a result, leaking into the downstairs apartment, and he figured he had nothing to lose, being I was doing it with leftover materials, so it didn't cost him anything, save for a new shower valve.

April-- The plastic can be either 6 mil polyethlene (which can be found in the paint aisles at HD or Lowes, or 15 pound tar paper (in the roofing area). Just staple it to the studs, and make sure the bottome edge sits over the tub's flange against the studs. We will scrap the 1/4" OSB and get some 1/2" ply instead. Should it be exterior grade? Absolutely. BC or AC exterior grade. It really shouldn't be CDX because there are too many voids in it. We had to remove the subfloor that was under the old tub so we are down to the joists there. What should we put under the tub? You should have exactly the same subfloor under the tub as you do under the hardi board in the rest of the bathroom. No need for the Hardi under the tub, though. The ONLY reason for the hardi is a more stable bonding surface for the tile thinset. Do you have any experience with the Mapei grout and grout maximizer that we are planning to use? There's no need for the "maximizer". Read that as taking money from those who don't know better. These grouts are already modified. But these places are trying to maximize their profits, capitolizing on the "stainfree" thing going on. All that maximizer is, is a liquid latex additive, and that would be fine for a grout that's not modified yet. To the best of my knowledge, the only company that even MAKES an unmodified grout any more is Hydroment, and they're pretty hard to find. The laticrete grouts they have a Lowes are every bit as good as the Mapei (and as far as I'm concerned, better), but even there, they will try and talk you into using a grout additive. Don't waste the money. What do you recommend for a grout sealer? Rather than type it all out, I'll let you ckeck out my FAQ on the gallery side of this forum, and that'll explain my stance on grout sealers. Any tips on getting the subfloor and hardieboard tight to the toilet flange? We have an old cast iron one that will be staying in but we want to make sure to build the subfloor up to it. you really want that flange to be sitting pon top of the subfloor, at the very least, if not on top of the hardi board. If it doesn't, you're going to have leakage of the STANKY kind.

stone tech - I have a newly installed shower, and the worker accidentally grouted the corners instead of caulked. (Contractor had said he would be caulking the corners.) If there's never been water on the surface, would it work to caulk OVER the grout? Or do I need to insist on full removal, then caulking?

We nixed the window trim and had the entire frame tiled. We also nixed the wood window and put in acrylic - even with marine grade paint the other was coming apart.