To do what he's proposing, you cannot have a "bowl" mud slope. Take a rectangle and draw two lines from corner to corner. The resultant triangles will have to be completely flat planes that slope towards the center point where the two lines intersect (your drain). Your shower floor will have that X in it in grout from the cut tiles. This is MUCH MUCH harder to do than a bowl preslope, as it has to be sloped correctly and perfectly flat, and the intersecting X lines can be difficult to achieve uniformly for a novice. It CAN look great when done by a pro, but it can also be a slippery uneven nightmare if done by a hack who can't get it level and with tile that isn't rough enough to give your feet grip on a wet surface.

Birchpoint - Larger tile was from; http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/calacatta-porcelain-tile-12in-x-24in.html This web picture looks a lot more beige than my tiles which are more white. You can order a sample. The Floor tile is from Arizona tile: http://www.arizonatile.com/Assets/ProductImages/M/Misingi_Suber_464x464.jpg I think the combination of the taupe floor tile and the porcelain marble tile is the most stunning part of the bathroom. Though some might argue that we should have used mosaic in the bottom of the shower floor but I chose "form over function" for this. With the grab bars which I definitely use because I don't have good balance, I haven't fallen. There is a spray you can purchase on Amazon for tile or other possibly slippery surfaces that can be used if you want to be sure it is less slippery. My tile guy recommended it if i needed more traction. Maybe when I get a bit older, I will apply it for more safety. The size of the shower is one of the best parts of the remodel. 5ft X 5ft is the official size that allows one to say their shower fits the ADA standard. We didn't size ours for that reason but it turns out, it really is the perfect size for us. I love how when you are showering, all sides can be reached without moving too far yet there is still a nice feeling of spaciousness. Some of the pictures I posted in another thread may give you a better idea of the bathroom. Here Also, as I have mentioned in several other threads on GW, not having a shower door has turned out to be so wonderful and enhances the shower experience greatly. We had our contractor build the walls so we could add a shower door if we decided we wanted one but as it turns out, that is the VERY LAST THING we would ever want. To anyone who is in doubt, I say "try it, you will probably like it". Here is a link that might be useful: Hall bath

abbycat- Linear drains can be expensive, because, like a lot of fixtures for the bath, they are, in my opinion, overpriced, and, also, installers sometimes add more to their normal charges. However, you can also do them less expensively with the right products and installer. I did a lot of research to find a reasonably priced linear drain, and finally settled on the Luxe brand. They are very solidly made and precisely manufactured. After shopping all around for price, I found it online at HomeDepot (!) for $214 for the 26" wide model, which was substantially lower than any other place (elsewhere online it was in the $340-$400 range). And it was way cheaper than a number of other brands I looked at, some of which approached $800. An install for a linear drain should not, again in my opinion, cost any more than a regular drain. You use a pretty standard shower drain base (with the linear drain and the plumbing for the p-trap is the same. (The drain base is a PVC fitting about 8" in diameter which seals the place where the drain penetrates the shower membrane.) For a linear drain, the mortar bed for the tile is a slightly sloping, flat plane to the drain, so that's basically easier to form than the standard bed which has to be sloped in from all directions to the drain. And tile laying is easy because, since the mortar bed is flat, you can use any format tile without having to worry about the slope you have with a regular drain, so no fancy tile cutting is involved. The only thing that is challenging is making sure the linear drain hole is precisely placed in the middle of the end you are choosing so that the linear drain is perfectly symmetrical between the walls. And, when the mortar bed is laid, there needs to be a removable form (such as a 2 X 4) inserted so there is a place for the drain to be set in. I did the plumbing, and my tile guy was experienced enough with linear drains that he didn't charge more to do it. However, I think linear drains are still slightly out of the ordinary, and it gives installers a chance to charge more because the drain seems more complicated and exotic. Shower drain base

The toilet is at the far right side in the back. The vanity is a stainless steel open console with a granite top along the right side so the tile along the right side will be visible. The shower base will have a glass enclosure with the shower entrance from the side away from the door. Here is an early version which gives a rough idea though the shower size is not accurate, and the vanity I purchased has a single sink and is a bit smaller. If the layout is shifted to have a full tile next to the shower, I then end up with 2 1/2" wide cuts all along one side. Since the vanity is open, the right side will not be buried at all. The left side is behind the tub and behind the door but still not exactly buried and a 2 1/2" strip seems very bad unless it is totally hidden.