Hi BC13, Perfect plan of attack! Vacuum/dust-off all dust. Especially on the new drywall! * First, use your Shop-Vac. Make sure you install a "fine dusts" bag (avail. separately) in the cannister portion. * I would literally give-'em the "White-glove" test! * Some people like to use the O-Cedar floor-duster head that comes with a swivel-head handle. You can wash the pad part. Also, because no two "infrequent painters" will paint the same thickness... * I'd use 2 coats of primer on the drywall. * Many homeowners just don't put enough primer OR paint on the wall! * Sheetrock is sooooo thirsty! I'd hate to have your new paint looking uneven, because of an unintended "too thin" layer of primer. Faron

Joanie, what brand of solid surface are you looking at? I have been looking at countertops for 4 months, and have definately found that at least in our area (northeast) granite and solid surface are priced very close. The budget solid surface colors are very limited as well. We actually had plan to go with an LG clor that was on special. I was really drawn to the seamless aspect of solid surface. When the price came in after templeting I was shocked. They charge an arm and a leg for integrated sink and backsplash. By the time it was all said and done it would have been more than a basic granite by about 25%, even more if I wanted everything completely seamless. So I'm back to the drawing board myself.

While you may be able to get them to redo it, you probably can not get them to do it correctly. They have already shown that they do not know how to do a wet area correctly.

My my, people do love their thinset. Overall, the Kerdi installation looks fine, corner pieces can get messy at times. I don't see any glaring issues, but rather a few points for discussion. Have these with your installer. Regarding the Kerdi bridging the gap at a 45 in your second photo...is there air behind the Kerdi? Is it bridging open space, or did they fill that chamfer with thinset so the Kerdi has full support across the chamfer? I'd prefer it to be filled with thinset. I'm supposing that when tiling begins, the vertical wall tile, which is large format, so it will have plenty of adhesion area, will come up and meet the underside of a slightly pitched-for-drainage sill on the window. As long as that triangular gap between the Kerdi and the vertical wall tile and slightly pitched window sill is fully filled with thinset, all should be okay. If there is air behind the membrane that bridges the chamfered 45 and you're instead having some sort of thin perimeter trim liner installed around the window, that thin trim piece would need full support behind it. All he has to do is slice open the Kerdi, pack the gap with thinset or mortar, then set a minimum 4" wide strip of Kerdi to cover the slice. An inconvenience...but nothing difficult. As far as the last photo, the drywall being proud of the cement board along the vertical edge of the shower? First question is what thickness of cement board was used. Because the Kerdi meets the drywall flush at the top of the walls in your photos, I'd guess he used 1/2" cement board and the vertical is off simply because of how the new work melds with existing work. If that differential is caused because 1/4" thick cement board was used on the walls, that's a rather large issue. You should be able to see the thickness of the cement board at the shower valve hole. But let's assume he used 1/2" and it just happens to be an issue of surfaces meeting flush. What is the detail you have planned to finish off that edge? If you haven't already, talk to your installer. The tile over the cement board can come out to be flush with the drywall, then and a trim piece can go over the Kerdi on the drywall to trim out the edge. It could butt or slightly overlap the tile on the cement board, depending. It's easy, It can look nice. But work out the details before any surfaces are installed; what materials, what overlap, what proportions, what edge treatments, etc. I hope I'm correctly understanding your issues. Still, open up a discussion with the installer now. Put yourself in the driver's seat and work together with your installer. It's easier to clarify issues now rather than later.