Take some time to experiment with the layout before you mix the first batch of thinset. Do this by laying out the first and second row with dry tiles. I assume they've got self-spacers, so butt them up against each other as you will when you actually lay them. You need to lay out 2 rows because they'll be offset from each other and you need to make sure they both look good. Some general guidelines: 1. Center the tiles: You can do this by either centering a single tile or making the joint between tiles at the center of the shower wall. 2. No slivers: If your layout leads to a less-than-half tile at one end, shift the whole pattern over a half tile. 3. Try to make the corners so that it looks like a single tile was "bent" around the corner (e.g., 1/2 tile on each side, or 3/4 tile on one side, 1/4 tile on the other). Sometimes these conflict, depending on the dimensions of your tiling area and tiles, but keep the basic principles in mind, shift things a bit as needed, and you'll be ok. Also, make sure you lay out all the walls, because a perfect layout on the back wall might make the side walls end funny, so you'll need to shift them accordingly. One more thing, which might seem counterintuitive but which I learned the hard way: don't start any row by putting a full tile at one side and working your way across. If your walls aren't plumb and, say, go outwards a bit as they go up (e.g., wall is 48" wide at the floor and 48.5" wide at the ceiling), then if you started with a full tile at the bottom, you'll have a gap as you go up, which violates the "no slivers" rule. Better to have a cut tile on each end, so that if the wall widens the cut tile is just slightly wider as you go up. Happy tiling!

Lazarus - again, thanks so much for another reply. What he told me during the first conversation was that there is a shower pan liner, mortar bed, and some kind of paint on system with the Sioux Chief 821 series drain. I went and talked to my friendly neighborhood tile shop and they basically agreed with you. Given what I see I doubt there is any kind of paint on barrier given the amount mineral deposition or the mortar bed and barrier have failed and there is a crack allowing the mortar to absorb water. Does the mineral deposition come before mold or vice versa? Would think they would appear at the same time but I don't see any mold and there is no foul odor. I talked to the tile shop about doing something temporary because we will likely redo the bathroom at some point in the future (5-10 years). I specifically asked about tiling directly over the current tile and how to potentially do that with the intent of completely sealing the shower pan. He suggested using a product called Mapelastic 315 to seal the current tile/grout and then to apply the new tile with an appropriate thinset directly to this surface. The junction between the wall and the new tile would be sealed with 100% silicone. I am curious about folks opinions on this temporary fix. Fun, fun, fun! Brian

Average kitchen replacement remodels are 40K. That's just replacing the components. You're talking upper end appliances that can run you 20K plus cabinets that can run you 30-40K for a kitchen and a butler's pantry. You've got structural work and systems work and moving all of that work. Plus other components. I don't think that doubling your budget would be enough here for what you're proposing. You're going to have to scale back your finish level substantially. And either learn to DIY or still come up with 30K more than your budget. Plus a contingency fun in case they find something behind the walls. And they will. They always do with old houses. Such as, what size is your electrical panel? A lot of kitchen redos in older homes end up running all new service to the home because it doesn't contain enough capacity for the requirments of a modern kitchen. With a rental unit, you might be lucky enough to have that be fine, but you'll still need a lot of wiring to make another room into a kitchen. Do you have galvanized plumbing? How old is it even if it's not galvanized? What about the insulation level of the home? It's HVAC system? Is it two units for the two spaces? Your remodel will affect all of those items. It's late tonight and I have an early morning, but when I get a bit of time to look at your plans, I'll give it a go. But right off, I see some issues with your plans. Where do you park and enter the home? The proposed kitchen location doesn't appear to be close to either a rear entrance or the front entrance. That's a potential problem. If the apartment rear door will be the way groceries come in, I think I'd make the area that you have designated the new living room to be the new kitchen and the area you have designated to be the new kitchen as the dining room. But, there is a lot of duplicate space, and I think I'd consult an architect that specializes in renovations of older homes for some help in figuring out a plan here. I think you could get a pretty nice master suite out of one side of the home and have a TV room and a den out of the rest. The old apartment kitchen would make a fabulous sunroom/morning room type space.

An LED light belongs where the hard edge shadows and color of the light on skin is tolerable and the light is on long enough to take advantage of the lower energy use. None of these conditions exists in a shower.