Thanks to all for the suggestions. I am actually rethinking the crackle tile. I don't think I want to deal with the maintainence. Do you still recommend the Kerdi if I am not using crackle tile or natural stone? What does that do? annkathryn...thanks so much for the pictures.Your bath is simply gorgeous! I want to know if you miss having the body jets? I may forgo them & do exactly what you did (one hand held & one shower head). Since I am going with the BainUltra Amma tub I want to have some jets for hubby's bad neck & shoulder. I am thinking that I may be able to accomplish this with a really good showerhead w/multi settings. Thoughts? Looking for antique brass finish which has proven to not be very easy. If I go with the same shower layout as you, do I need any special controls? I am wondering about all the things they suggest you need(thermostatic mixers, diverters, volume controls, etc.) and what is truly necessary. I am trying to keep it simple (not too many controls we don't know what to do with) and I am also trying to keep cost down a bit(kids in college/don't know how long we will be living here). Want to build a tasteful elegant master bath without spending $30-$40K.Thanks in advance for the help ~Donna

The building code for 1 & 2 family dwellings is mostly prescriptive which means it actually sets minimum and maximum values and sizes structural members for a given location in the house. This is not intended to be used as a design guide but to place limits on what you might design yourself. Using the code as a design guide can result in deficiencies but that is not the fault of the code writers. The joist size tables do not consider long span bounce. The wall systems described are the ones most commonly used but the code does not intend to forbid the use of others. The waterproofing requirements are not extensive or adequate although the addition of the requirement to install materials according to the manufacturer's instructions was intended to fill that gap. Concrete foundations and slabs should be designed to ACI 332 since the IRC does not consider many common detailing problems. Placing pipes in an outside wall is a design problem that may be addressed by some codes but there is no reason to prohibit that condition. If there were to be a restriction it would have to be based on a map or list of locations similar to the requirements for wall vapor retarders. You can base your decision about the location of pipes on anecdotal information and other people's opinions or you can design the wall to avoid freezing of the pipe. If you choose the latter, you can use the formula normally used to locate the dew point in a wall in order to determine where the temperature would be 32 degrees or lower. Ignoring air infiltration for a moment, a water supply pipe 1 1/2" deep in a 2x4 stud wall and insulated with 3 1/2" of fiberglass insulation would probably freeze at about -10 degrees F. Ironically, removing 1 1/2" of the insulation on the warm side would lower the outside temperature needed to freeze the pipe to about -50 degrees but for fiberglass insulation air-infiltrations makes that prediction unreliable. So the design solution is to air seal the stud cavity and place R-10 or greater insulation on the cold side of the pipe. This is best done with spray foam (Icynene, etc.) and if the studs are 2x6's, the R value would be as much as R-14 which would put the temperature of the pipe at about 55 degrees when the outside air temperature is -30 degrees F. At that outside temperature the house temperature would need to drop below 45 degrees for the pipe to freeze. This design is roughly equivalent to a double 2x4 stud wall with no insulation in the interior wall and 3 1/2" foam or dense-pack cellulose insulation in the outer wall. The way it was done in my house back in 1903, was to put a "double wall" of wood lath and rough plaster at the middle of the full 2x4 stud cavity throughout the house and at the shower pipe the space behind the pipe was filled with vermiculite plaster. This pipe has never frozen but because of the risk of air infiltration I don't count on protection below -20 degrees. Remember that these calculations assume that the interior temperature is 68 degrees or higher, so if you set the thermostat at 55 degrees or the bathroom is under heated or you close the shower door you should adjust the calculation.

Passed inspection. The flood test is awesome. Has not budged off it's mark. The pressure test however on the water lines was harder. This was my first time testing Worsebo Pipe and the pipe kept slacking off the 200PSI mark. 6:00 AM I cranked it up. 6:30 checked and the pressure dropped to 140 PSI 6:30 AM I cranked it up again - back to 200 PSI 7:00 AM down to 160 PSI Tighten the hose connection at the pump. Cranked back up to 200 PSI at 7:00 AM checked at 8:00 and it was down to 180 PSI. Checked the hose connection at the body jet location and re cranked it up to 200 PSI. Checked at 9:00 and the PSI reading was 195 PSI. So I cranked it up to 205 PSI and it dropped to 200 PSI. It held this pressure from 9:30 AM till 3:30 PM when the inspector showed up. Thank God. I told the inspector the issue and he mentioned that that pipe can be difficult to get the pressure to hold just right. These new Stainless Steel Flood Test testing Rings of mine make marking a flood test so much easier. See the water crossing the ring? There are scratches in the ring right where the water passes so precise measurements can be had. The ring is heavier guage and Marine grade for a life time of service. Had to get creative on this install. The top clamping ring shown did not have weep channels under the top collar so I made them. The brown/black waterproofing is Ardex 8+9 - it should not be used with a clamping drain. The inspector did not ask me about this yesterday only felt the product. What you can not see in this picture is how I used one large sheet of Laticrete Hydro Ban Sheet membrane to cover the entire shower base and up the walls and curb. That by itself would be fine - IF - laticrete allowed the use of it's membrane with a clamping drain. So below that I used a NobleFlex Flashing. A lot of trouble - next time I will just use on piece of NobleSeal CIS like I normally do. But this job I had none and wanted to use up some left over materials. I have lots of Laticrete Hydro ban sheet membrane left over from the steam shower I just built so you will see more of this coming up.

In case anyone is interested - I had the same problem as described above. I contacted TEC and they offered to pay for an electrician to troubleshoot the problem (June 2018). We found that we could ground the drain to the shower from the basement to remove the 55 V potential in the floor so I did that and thought it was all taken care of, if only a band aid solution masking the problem. Fast forward to October when I actually turned the system on for the season: I got out of the shower and stood in front of the vanity. As soon as I touched the faucet (or running water) while standing on the floor with wet feet, I felt the same tingling as I used to get in the shower. Quick check with a multi-meter showed 55 V between the grout lines in the tile floor and ground, and this only occurred when the system was actively calling for heat. I contacted TEC again to see if they had any further input. They couldn't come up with anything so they offered a full refund of the mat, the thermostat, and any installation extras like wiring. This totaled about $500 because my bathroom project was pretty small (15 square foot mat). I considered accepting this offer, but I had spent a lot of time installing the product and had done so exactly to specifications. I didn't do all that to not get a heated floor. Furthermore, I noticed around this time that the product was no longer available anywhere. I contacted support again and requested reimbursement for a full replacement of the floor, including all tile, a new heating system, and the labor to have someone else do it for me. I did it once myself - I have no desire to rip out a tile floor and do it again. With what amounts to essentially no evidence from me, besides the opinion of the electrician, HB Fuller (owners of TEC brand) agreed to $2440 to have someone do this for me. The re-installation is currently scheduled for mid January and I have already received the full amount for it. Overall, I'm very disappointed that I have to go through this, but I'm pretty impressed with their technical service and product support. This is a pretty low price to get out from under this for them - I'm sure it would cost much more for a larger bathroom or kitchen project, and I hope no one was hurt because of this fault.