HI, I dont know what is on the rim, unfortunately. There is a modest amount of heat coming from a single vent near the ceiling. It is inadequate to heat the room. I had hoped that the wall and foundation insulation would be better at keeping the heat that does come into the room. I'll try to dig up what I can at the foundation. It goes down about 4 feet. What kind of waterproofing do you recommend? And what kind of rigid do you recommend? I see some corning drain-mat in another post. Should I add that and backfill w/ gravel? I appreciate the helpful comments. Thanks a bunch. This is not a good situation to be in.

I googled something else and found this thread. Lippageis poor craftsmanship. I was looking for a way to explain to my client why im taking so long. They keep complaining im slow at tiling I keep telling them im very detailed and every stone must fit perfect. Polishing lippage is wrong probably why it broke. A planatary floor sander should be used first to smooth out lippage. a full section should be done, like a room and stop on a grout line/seem. Then honing using honing powder to the desired finish this for natural stone. Polishing will not remove lippage. From WORK From WORK

"Angie’s List and Home Advisor are now one and the same. And they charge the contractor for bad leads, with no real recourse. No good contractor wants anything to do with any of those type of referral sites." The Cook's Kitchen - I do not agree. Angie's List charges service providers to advertise on its site, which is different from Thumbtack and Home Advisor which charge a fee to the contractors in order for them to bid a job. On Angie's List, the contractor can choose not to advertise, and will still be listed on Angie's List, and still have consumer reviews for other consumers to see. I've found numerous contractors on Angie's List and have had very good experiences with them. There was only one that wasn't as good as its reviews. I think I've probably used 10 contractors over the years from Angie's List, so 1 in 10 isn't bad odds. Thumbtack contractors seem often to create bad experiences. The number of people with the connections and ability to get good contractor referrals (like you have) is small, especially with new homeowners. Sometimes referrals from neighbors/friends lead to bad experiences. Referrals from relatives are always a bad idea. Not everyone has a designer, or is experienced in knowing signs to look for in a good contractor. Angie's List helps those people.

Hi HU-585149926! I don't have any technical advice about the job but I wanted to let you know that you aren't alone in hiring/trusting trade people based on a friend's recommendation. My husband and I had a similar situation last year. Our first major reno also. Our friend owned the company and his employee/contractor (who was also the tile guy) ended up walking off the job before completing the tiling in the main bath (we renovated the main and guest bathrooms). Like you, we have learned a ton of what not to do if ever we take on a reno project again. Thankfully, we hadn't paid him everything. In the end, we had to find other contractors to finish up everything (during the first weeks of the COVID situation) and ended up not paying anything else to the friend/contractor. Unfortunately, the situation did "taint" the friendship. I just wanted to offer encouragement. It's likely going to take more work and frustration on your part, but keep plugging along. Good luck!