I'm so glad I found this thread because I have a similar problem. We just bought our house a month ago. There's a window in the shower, above the tub. The previous owners had sealed the window shut with silicon caulk. I knew the grout would need touching up but this morning I tried opening the window to see how secure it was, and it opened right up. It wasn't even locked let alone sealed. There also is no extractor fan in there (having one installed this month) so now I'm really anxious that the wall is full of water. We can't afford a reno right now. Can anyone recommend the best stop gap solution to limit damage while we save up for a reno?

Even if you do decide to do the basket weave there, I think you will still find it lacking unless you have a window stool as that is what is really throwing it off for me. To fix it since you have very little space due to the crank, you might be able to build a faux window stool, but you'll need to remove the trim around the window no matter what as it is common for it to rest on the window stool. You could use a think piece of plywood, maybe 1/8-1/4" - not sure how much space you have and then rest it on a molding strip that would form the lip of of the molding and then trim the edge out in a think strip of molding. Going to show you a picture of how generally the pieces are put together. A true stool is at a minimum 1/2" thick when it rests on the window frame and I don't think you have the space. I think you can get the trim strip to adhere to the marble with construction adhesive, but realize this will ruin the marble in that area. You will need to remove and redo the casing on the sides though for the right propertions so it looks correct resting on the stool. I don't think you need to add an apron under the faux stool as the picture has it. That is often forgone when using tile or other materials as a backsplash.

With a tub/shower combo, I am a huge proponent of curved shower rod and curtain over glass doors. It makes for a much more comfortable shower. With that layout, it will be easier to enter and exit as well. Shower curtains can be left open to show the tile. You can use them as a decorative element of the bathroom as well and they are easy to just throw in the wash and clean from time to time making them much lower maintenance than any glass door. (Squeegeeing after every shower with glass to make it easy to clean later I still feel is a hassle). Double shower hooks make for easy hanging and removal of both a liner and curtain. For a higher end look, you can put your rod at ceiling height and make a custom curtain that extends to the floor. This is not what I personally prefer as it makes it more difficult to put up and take down and since you do not have a light in the shower would make your shower too dark.

My original plan was for my tile setter to use Mapei FlexColor CQ (Warm grey) for both the shower pan and the walls. After reading about using an epoxy method, I’m not sure what to do. Using an epoxy method makes logical sense to me, however, I am hesitant to do so because of the potential picture framing issues which can occur - the epoxy grout can permanently stain the marble. I’ve asked the pros over at John Bridge about all of this, and no one has really had an opinion on whether I should have my marble set using Mr. Starykov’s method. It is interesting that your first shower pan was installed over kerdi + grouted with Mapei FlexColor CQ - and you’ve not experienced any marble water discoloration. As you’ve already pointed out, FlexColor CQ’s dense composition helps repel water on its surface. Less water in = less water that needs to evaporate between showers. Another advantage of FlexColor CQ is that you can go back later and address any pinholes/lower grout areas - without removing the exisiting grout. Unlike cementious grout, FlexColor CQ will adhere to itself after the initial install. I wish that my shower pan had been constructed correctly when first installed. It was supposed to be a traditional mortar shower pan with a clamping drain. However, my contractor was unexpectedly out of town - and one of his employees began constructing the shower pan. I noticed that the pvc liner had been set without a pre-slope. I made comments about it to my SO - and he said he would handle it (I was leaving town for a couple of days). When I came home, the ”final” deck mud had been added and was drying out. My SO and I actually had a little bit of an argument about this - because I knew that it had been constructed incorrectly - and he failed to address my concerns. There are threads over on JBF that recommend using a surface bonded waterproof membrane underneath marble - so, that’s what we decided to do. The clamping drain was replaced with a kerdi flange drain adapter. I later asked the JBF pros about whether surface bonded membranes are preferred when installing marble, I received mixed answers (although EVERYONE recommended to replace the marble with a porcelain tile). After replacing everything with Kerdi, I ran across a post by Mr. Starykov on Houzz - which led me to read my first article about his shower pan experiments that I’ve described in my previous post. All of this gives me a HEADACHE! I need to address a couple points made by Catbuilder above : 1. Birdbath - it is possible that a “birdbath” has been created by your tile setter which is causing the discoloration issues around your drain. However, as I pointed out in my previous comment, I’ve read posts/viewed photos re: water collecting around the Kerdi flange drain that have been unrelated to birdbaths created by uneven/improper sloping. I assume that this is part of the reason for using epoxy adhesive + epoxy grout + penetrating sealer - to limit the water absorption. 2. ”Once you touch it, you own it” - I think everyone needs to be extremely careful when offering advice/opinions/thoughts about legal issues. Without having much more information, including the location of the OP’s project, it would be irresponsible for me to form an opinion re: legal liability related to the above issue - and I’ve practiced law for 20+ years. For example, some jurisdictions have enacted statutes that provide a contractor with an opportunity to cure any issues/defects - while other jurisdictions do not. Also, I’m not exactly sure what is meant by the statement, ”you touch it, you own it” with respect to the above issue based upon the details provided by the OP. If the water discoloration around the drain is due to birdbaths, the fact that the OP has tried to replace cracked grout and/or added silicone caulk, does not somehow relieve the contractor for poor/negligent workmanship. A legal theory that sounds somewhat similar to this statement is one related to intervening causes in tort law. An intervening act occurs after a tortfeasor’s initial act of negligence and results in injury/harm to another, and will generally absolve the tortfeasor of liability ONLY if the event is deemed to be a superseding cause. For example, a person driving an automobile negligently injures a woman as she is lawfully crossing the street. After being treated for a broken arm in the emergency room, the woman has a precription for pain medication filled at a pharmacy. The pharmacist hasn’t slept for the past 24 hours, and mistakenly fills the prescription with a much stronger pain medication at a much higher dosage. The woman later dies from an accidental overdose. The driver of the car is not liable for the woman’s resulting death because the intervening act (the pharmacist filling the precription with the wrong pain medication at the wrong dosage) because it was not a foreseeable event due to the driver’s negligence (hitting the woman while she was legally crossing the street). Now, if in the above situation, the OP decided to pry some of the tiles loose in order to allow the trapped water to evaporate - and in doing so, penetrated the underlying surface bonded membrane. The OP then continued to let his/her family use the shower, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars of damage related to wood rot and mold issues, the tile setter would not be liable for these unforeseen damages caused by the OP’s intervening act of penetrating the waterproof membrane + allowing the continued use of the shower.