Low-e coatings don't reflect much of the visible spectrum, so if the product was only heat mirror w/o low-e, the VLT would only be a few % more - nearly insignificant. Sound deadening occurs because as sound waves pass through the dissimilar materials glass, air, HM, air, glass, each medium vibrates with a different frequency which diminishes transmission. Argon gas is also effective at noise reduction in IGU's and the thicker the IGU, the better the sound reduction. A single piece of 1/4" plate glass has a STC (sound transmission class) rating of 31. 1" conventional IGU's are rated at about 34 and the same product with heat mirror is rated at 36, so I would rate the difference as fairly insignificant & not too important as a consideration. Though I cannot quote exact numbers without looking it up, I can say that I believe argon gas makes a considerable difference in noise reduction. Without fail, when we install argon filled windows in a noise-rich environment, the home owner invariably comments on how much quieter the home is. Part of the reduction is the superior sealing of the brand of window we sell, but even when we replace wood windows that already have IGU's in them, the difference is significant. Al

"And I’m not sure this is even a real problem." The membrane will provide waterproofing. The caulk and grout? For the moist part, they are there to help the surfaces shed water and to help maintain sanitary surfaces. You've gotten some good answers. Changes in plane are typically caulked. Caulk is flexible and can move when adjacent surfaces move independently of one another. Grout is rigid and can crack. Cracks in grout can be from movement...typically in corners, from differential movement...or because too much water was used in the grout mix or during clean up. Cracks in caulk are usually shrinkage cracks. Not enough caulk was injected in the crack for the caulk to properly bond to the adjacent surfaces...Or too much caulk was injected in a deep crevice, and as the too-deep mass of caulk cured and shrank, the shrinkage forces were strong enough to break the bond between the caulk and the edge of the tile, or they caused the caulk to crack right in the middle of the bead itself. For deep gaps that need to be caulked, a foam rope (backer rod) is inserted into the gap to reduce the depth of the gap. That allows the caulk to be injected in the gap at the proper width-to-depth ratio. Caulk texture? There both color- and texture-matched caulks these days. So if you have sanded grout, you can use a sanded caulk to help maintain joint texture between grout and caulk. Unsanded grout, use regular caulk. Repairs? In general, it's not wise to shmear a thin veneer of caulk over cracked grout. It's better to cut the grout away as best as you can and then properly fill the gap with color- and texture-matching caulk. With a Schluter shower, great care needs to be taken in cutting grout out of the joints. Go too deep and you can violate the integrity of the membrane. Your wall corners will have membrane behind them, with the membrane bridging from one wall to the other. In a non-steam shower, there is a chance that your wall-to-ceiling joints do not. Depends on the habits of the builder. The sooner the repairs are made the better. Grout hardness, ease of color-matching, etc. Good luck with your repairs.

We have oak floors in our master bathroom and we did keep them when we remodeled. People told me to change to tile, but we like the warmth of the wood. It's worked out fine for us because kids don't use this bathroom. I think if kids are going to be using it, there may be more water issues. I find the wood floors in the kitchen harder to keep up with because it's such as busy work zone. If you do decide to keep them, there are a couple things you can do to mitigate any water concerns: consult a wood floor specialist, consider having your shower door (if using) swing both inward and outward, have a very good exhaust fan on a timer, and use a large cushy mat. We leave the door pushed inward while the exhaust fan is running so that if the door drips, it does so inside the shower. We haven't ever had a toilet overflow. I can't think of anything to do to mitigate that other than having a good toilet. We have a separate WC for the toilet, so we could have changed just that section to tile, but elected not to. If you have a separate WC you might consider doing that and maybe waterproofing the floor as well.

It looks like your yard slopes nicely, I'm not sure about the back of the house what the situation there, but the grading should be min 8" lower than the siding. I'm not sure how much backfill they put around the house, maybe it was too much and they didn't account for the topsoil or they had everything graded and your landscaper put more dirt/topsoil in with the mulch on top and this is why up against or over the siding...This would have to be resolved onsite. Also if it's a new house, I always tell homeowners (even my customers when I sell them a newly built house) don't do anything for the first year... give it a chance for everything to settle before you do landscaping and everything else, because any grading settlement, etc still under the warranty for the first year.