The slate sold at Home Depot can be horrific. Some have a very loose grain, it's more sedimentary like "layered" shale versus what we think of as slate, even though they are related. Prior to installing any piece, balance it on three fingertips and give the edge of the slate a rap with the edge of a metal trowel. If it gives a nice "ring" then the grain is fairly tight. If it give a dull "thud", set the piece aside. The cleft of slate will catch shower debris. Soap scum, sloughed off skin cells. And slate can shed layers of stone over time. Definitely discuss the upkeep and cleaning and maintenance with your spouse prior to using it. Slate is one of my favorite stones, but I generally don't recommend using it in a shower. There are several decent ceramic faux-slates available today, they look fine and perform much better than true slate in a shower. If you can find a honed slate, it's generally a better quality stone that natural cleft slate, and as such it will perform much in a wet shower environment. Just my opinion.

Hi all, Word of warning: I have a mildew/soap scum problem on my tile (I think they are porcelain or ceramic tile walls)because of poor circulation in our walk-in shower. I sprayed clorox on the walls, let sit and then sprayed them down. We went on vaca for a few days, came back and now the walls are etched with streaks. I have scrubbed and scrubbed and in reading John Bridge Tile Forum it seems I've permanently bleached my tiles. So be careful using acidic and bleaching products on your tiles - if they are ceramic. We will probably have to redo our shower if we ever put our house on the market to sell (we can live with it for now). Also on this same forum they have this as a cleaner which I will try in the future. If anyone has tried it please post and let us know how it worked. I've cut and past the thread about this below (it does mentioned bleach so be careful on ceramic tiles): 'This is an excerpt from a thread about mold. The auther is a member and an official with the Dallas Housing Authority. 4. so what works? According to the instructor of the mold class I attended, try a spray bottle with the following in it: 1/2 gal. white vinegar 1/2 gal. hydrogen peroxide-common peroxide available from your drugstore 1 cup boric acid keep closed tightly mix well - use in a spray bottle on a dry surface. Shake well and spray area well. The vinegar/peroxide kills active live mold and the boric acid keeps them that way. (Note: uncapped peroxide loses it's oxygen molecules to the air when not capped tight and becomes H2O [water], so keep this solution in a bottle that can be capped off tight). Instructor stated that boric acid works on mold bodies like it does on roach bodies - cuts them and they bleed to death because they cannot "coagulate" (snakes and snails and puppydog tails). I guess we all know that there are some very beneficial molds, too.' One last note on the above solution. This solution will not "bleach" out the mold stain. After mold is under control, then you can bring out the bleach and whiten the mold stains.'

asolo... 'town' water in central MA from underground wells pumped into tanks (not an 'open' reservoir system)... per the 'quality' reports we get, we do not have "issues" or mineral or other problems, although it is not 'soft' water.... that said I will say there are days when I fill the bath and the water has a brown sheen to it... other days a blue sheen... so I know they have consistancy issues. I don't know that I could "tell" if I had buildup/scum issues in my old tl machine... all you ever see ther is the inside of the tub.... not the window or the boot/drainage holes... in the tl that was all out of sight.... As far as temp goes, i typically always run my bosch using the water heater, so that should not be the problem here... All that said... after two weeks of going back to charlie's except for my whites (when my 'sample' arrives from charlies I'll try their first auggested approach for whites and see how that goes)... the scum is now totally off my door and the boot/drain hole area is back to looking like new from a cleanliness perspective... scum is gone... I will stay with the charlie's for all but whites for now... it seems to be working at keeping my machine clean and all but my whites clean... now to fix the whites problem... liriodendron... can't use cheer or most 'mainstream' laundry products with my husband's skin problems... but thanks for the suggestion...

Hello...Had to do the same as you and recaulk shower walls to bathtub and used a good commercial bathroom cleaner and a scotch brite pad and scrubbed well. Rinse clean and then dried with a towel, I then used 100% acetone on a rag to clean the region to be caulked, but check first to make sure the acetone won't dissolve your tub surround material! Use a q-tip in a tiny out of the way spot and rub surface to see if it attacks the plastic...if it dulls it or comes off on the q-tip then use alcohol instead. I did this twice, then blowed dried the joint well with hot hair dryer to make sure no water was present. Then used a bathroom grade 100% silicone caulk which prevents mildew from forming. Read the labels carefully as many silicone products don't retard mildew growth...it should say bathroom on the label. Best regards, Mark in Buffalo