Wow 1655graff! I can totally understand how it would be shocking to walk into a meeting thinking it was a final measurement and install meeting and then have it go a quite different way! Did your GC know in advance of the meeting that the glazier had some serious issues with the plan? She or he should have told you if that was the case, if nothing else, just to prepare you for the shock. I think all the posts thus far have some good points in them. Joe, of course, is a "pro," and I think his point is valid. Your glass guy (whomever it turns out to be) is signing her or his name to the project. And I agree with snookums comment that it's far, far better for a contractor to walk away when she or he isn't comfortable with the plan than to forge ahead with something that may be "on the job learning," causing you more pain in the future. benjesbride also has a valid point: her dad found flaws even in architects' plans; would you entertain the notion that perhaps there are safety/structural issues that you may not fully understand, even given that it appears you did quite a lot of research? Did the glazier propose any type of alternate plan that you would be willing to consider? Is your plan the only one you're willing to go with at this point, as the remodel has already been underway? (By the way, from what I could see in the picture, it looks like you will have a beautiful bathroom!) I applaud your forethought in considering a door that will accommodate a walker. I have a mobility disability, and the walk in shower I will need to install in the master bath will need to be able to get my shower chair in, or ideally, I'll have a bench put in. Did the glazier understand that you need to make the shower ADA compliant? It sounds to me like there was a disconnect between the GC and the glass guy somewhere along the line. This is concerning. What is your GC proposing you do? Is he or she willing to find another glazier? And have you thought ahead about what you might be willing to do if another glazier has the same concerns? If it were me, after I recovered from the shock, I would want to talk with two or three other glass workers and see what they have to say. I'd try to talk with at least one in person. There must be internet sites where you can post your problem and a licensed glazier will answer; you may have already run across such a site during your research. If other experts voice the same concerns, I'd listen. The last thing you want is for you or a loved one to be in the shower and have a wall of glass fall on you or them. You stated you live in earthquake country; presumably, so does the glazier. And if U channels have been abandoned in favor of anchor clips, there must be a reason. I'm sorry I'm unable to answer that question. I'd love to see a picture of the bathroom when it's all done! The waterfall vanity sounds lovely! I hope you do a REVEAL. I hope at least some of this is helpful. Have a great Thursday! :-)

Unless you have a great deal of money to spend, you are better off doing a lot of the hard work yourself and then hiring someone to help finish things off with panache. Good interior designers cost a fortune- six figures for a living room, for a modest start. Mediocre interior designers cost money too- I have no idea of how much though- but my feeling is that any money spent on a mediocre designer is money that could have been spent on better furniture and finishes. Lay out your wish list. Consult some books and bring the problems here to work out together with this very talented crew. There is not a day that goes by that I am not amazed at how the people on this board work together to create beautiful spaces. Try with one room and see how it goes. People have reported good things from distance consultations with Maria Killam, whose specialty is colors. Google her blog and check out posts about her here on GW. She may be able to give you a good color scheme. Laurel Bern's blog is one of my favorites and she sells color schemes as well. I know it can seem overwhelming, but if money is a concern at all, it seems unproductive to waste it on meh interior designers.

Thanks, all for the insight. Based on past experience I don't have a problem with the markup - with past designers the items I've gotten have been below retail even with the markup, and when they weren't I purchased them independent from the designer. I'm not fond of paying the markup AND and hourly rate - I would expect one or the other to be lower when working on items for which the designers gets a markup (v. specing items for the builder to order). That said, we strongly prefer this design firm and are going ahead with them, as they bring tremendous value that others with whom we've chatted just can't provide (prime among them being excellent communication and follow through, and use of CAD in the design process both to help us visualize options and to ensure the desired end result is clear to installers). Mostly, the contract terms just make it such that we're unlikely to buy furniture or window coverings through the designer, but, honestly, we don't really want new furniture, and I can handle window coverings.

10'6" makes more sense. Everywhere else in the house where there are windows close to the roof, they are about one foot from the ceiling such as the Q windows. What about my question regarding sliding doors? If I were to elect to put in sliding doors, what height should I go with? Thanks.