Very macho conversation guys, & all the numbers & decimal points are very impressive, especially to a math-challenged gal like me. Hey Stinky-gardener-- It has nothing to do with math, or trying to be impressive. If you go into a tile showroom, and ASK about how slippery any specific tile is, that is how they will be rated. If you want to understand what the salesman is trying to tell you, those are the numbers you will be dealing with. It's a rating system, not the quadratic equation. Claire-- I had a discussion with the VP of Laticrete about 2 weeks ago about those non-slip coatings, because he'd heard I'd recommended them to someone. He told me that they don't last, and that they end up making the tiles look pretty nasty, because they tend to catch the dirt in areas where there's not quite as much traffic, and then in the high traffic areas, it wears off, which means either stripping off the coating from the rest of the floor, or recoating right over what's there already, and you can imagine what that starts to look like after a while. I can't say one way or another from personal experience. But I trust this guy from Laticrete. He's seen a whole lot more tile situations than I have, from all over the world, and I've known him personally all my life (our families were close), so I know he wouldn't steer me wrong.

Samjal, I hope you build as a big a house as you and your family want and can comfortably afford! How great that you are so close to your large extended family. Given your lack of building experience, I agree you should not manage this process yourself. You will not be able to spot subtle things being done wrong. Building a home is a tough and complicated job. You need to find a builder/general contractor you like and has a good reputation and let them do their job. It may seem like it costs more to do it this way. But I believe you actually will spend way more than you expect if you try to manage it yourself, due to mistakes and things that need to be redone and delays. Not to mention the amount of time you need to be available to manage the job and frustrations. I am still confused about the financing. If you own the land outright, great, you do not have to pay for it. But if you pay for the home build instead of financing, you need to come up with the entire cost of the build. And do not forget to leave $ for landscaping, furniture, increase in property tax once the house is built, living costs while it is being built especially if it takes longer than expected, moving costs. As far as the design, work on it until it is just right for you. Owning the land is a great headstart. Congratulations on the opportunity to build your dream home! I do look forward to hearing more along the way if you are willing to post updates. Lafdr

Oh boy. This is where things get ugly. We have to 'split' the blame into small measurable units. Here we go. The homeowner picked the tile (was it rectified? Square edged or eased edge?) and the grout (I'm assuming you picked the COLOUR and not the quality?). You picked the FINISHES. OK. The 'look' is on you. The GC chose NOT to QUOTE for the subfloor work (preparation should be $2-$4/sf x 2200sf = $4400 - $8800 for this job). Which means you did NOT pay for subfloor work. A wonky subfloor = wonky tiled flooring. As cruel as this sounds, you got what you paid for. $0 paid subfloor prep = $0 owing for subfloor prep offered. Next point: The GC picked the STRUCTURAL MATERIALS. That's on HIM. His choice of 'thinset' (LFT requires a different technique) was wrong. That one's on him. His installers did NOT use the proper spacing requirements. Again, the GC OWNS the work his subcontractors produce. Again, this is on him. At this point, this requires a redo. And I mean complete gut and removal, repurchase (if the grout has not gone down you might be able to salvage ++ of these tiles....*might) and reinstall. The GC owes you: Replacement tiles for the one's that cannot be salvaged Proper thinset/mortar materials PROPER TILE SETTERS not just 'some guys' who use a trowel!!! His workers = his headache! Proper leveling system and staggered 1/3 off-set tile setting Quote for subfloor preparation What you owe the GC: 1. Payment for subfloor preparation (budget for $2 - $4/sf...just to be safe) You did not pay for subfloor prep. Sadly, both of you owe this to one another. The GC needs to FINISH his quote and you need to PAY the price for subfloor prep once the final bill (labour + materials) come in. As someone in the flooring industry, I have seen enough flooring mistakes to last a lifetime. This is an expensive lesson that the GC MUST LEARN. Don't feel 'bad' about this. Obviously he's skated by on flooring up to this point. He thought he could do it again...but he thought wrong. Now he pays the price for not knowing something he ought to have known. What you owe yourself: A critique of the overall work of the GC. You need to ask yourself if your GC messed up on such a massive job, is there anything else they messed up on? I do not wish to scare you, but a bad flooring job could be the indicator for other problems with this build. Please make sure you move cautiously with any of the other work that has been done or is supposed to be done in the future. Obvious places to look: Plumbing and Electrical. These require expensive professionals (in a hot Canadian market a Red Seal Plumber or Electrician bills $180/hr = more per hour than a Family Physician = $122/hr). A PROFESSIONAL tile setter is one of the other BIG EXPENSES on a build. They are so expensive that many GCs (yours included) will try to save money by using 'guys who swish a trowel'. If your GC cheaped out on tiling, what else did he cheap out on?

Hi there. I think your bathroom looks very nice. But I don't know about the shower curtain. The curtain itself is quite pretty but on my screen it doesn't seem to really stand out against the walls, which again, on my screen show up as kind of a pale aqua. what about something that brings in the paint colour. for example this one from wayfair looks like it might coordinate with both wall colour and flooring and bring a little pizzazz . Just an example. Dakota Fields Hayslett Cactus 4 Gauge Peva Shower Curtain & Reviews | Wayfair.ca Also, your other two botanicals could potentially go over the toilet but stacked. I think side by side would be too much with the medicine chest.