lizzy88 writes: "Does anyone use Moen fixtures? It's cheaper than the Grohe or Hansgrohe, but how's the quality?" Most makers make several lines of fixtures, with different levels of quality. In some cases, the lines are differentiated by brand name (the way that in the car business Lexus and Scion, both made by Toyota, are differentiated from Toyota and marketed through separate channels); for instance, Delta and Hansgrohe are part of the same corporate group, but are marketed to different customers. In the case of Moen, the Moen-branded units that you find in the blister packaging hanging from a shelf hook at Target are different from -- different in quality from -- the higher end Moen-branded units that you are likely to find only at a plumbing specialty store. (And probably are manufactured on a different continent.) When we remodeled our shower nearly nine years ago, we installed a Hansgrohe Axor Steel valve, volume control, mixer, and handle, and are very happy with that choice, but we saw no reason for our choice of mixer/handle to limit the choice of showerhead that attaches (in our case, via an articulated arm) to the pipe coming out of the wall above our heads. A showerhead does not look anything like a mixer handle, so a Hansgroher Axor Steel showerhead would not "match" the mixer handle any more than any other brushed steel/brushed nickel showerhead fixture would. It would take some pretty amazing peripheral vision to look at the mixer handle and the showerhead at the same time to determine if the exact color tone of the one matches the exact color tone of the other. Accordingly, we selected the showerhead with an eye more to function than to styling In the nearly nine years since we installed the Hansgrohe mixer, we have used three different showerheads in that shower: originally, an Australian "Down Under Wonder Shower" showerhead, then for a while a Hansgrohe handset showerhead, and now our present one, a Moen Velocity 6320bn -- the "bn" stands for brushed nickel which unfortunately commands a substantial price premium over the plain 6320 polished chrome model. There is no way that anyone could rationally argue that the styling of our Moen showerhead is less of a "match" for the styling of our Hansgrohe mixer than a Hansgrohe showerhead would be. The Moen Velocity is the best showerhead that we ever have used in any setting, home or away from home; it is simply wonderful. We have slightly lower than average water pressure in our shower, but the Velocity lives up to its moniker and gives us more "zip" in the water stream than we have achieved with either of the other two shower heads. I have provided a link to the Amazon listing below, but with a little shopping, you might be able to find a better price. One other point: Moen customer service is great; Moen stands behind its products Here is a link that might be useful: Moen 6320bn (Amazon listing)

Just curious...how'd you come up with 31 sqft for tiling to the ceiling? For a typical tub surround: -poly sheeting: $10 -Half-inch thick Tile backer board, 4 sheets: $60 -Roll of mesh alkali-resistant tape: $7.50 -Tile: Name your price. Say $5 a foot for grins, for 60sqft it's $300. -One bag highly modified thinset $30 -One bag Grout $15 -Caulk $15 So materials, rounding way up, about $150 not counting the tile. Tools? -Stapler to staple up the poly sheet to the studs. -Utility knife and blades: You can score and cut the tile backer board like Hardiebacker with a utility knife. You can even cut holes with a utility knife, score the perimeter with the knife and pop out the center with a hammer. -Stapler to staple up the poly sheet to the studs. Hammer/nails: to nail up the backer board. You could use screws, but you'd need a drill with driver bit. To cut the tile: The box stores will do it for you on a per cut basis. I have no idea what they charge. For for basic tile you can use a score and snap cutter. They can be had for $25-$50. Or you can buy a cheap wetsaw at the box stores for $50. Or buy one on craigslist then resell it when you are done. So...$50 let;s say. Always good to have tile nippers, $20. Have your plumbing fall on grout lines instead of in the middle of a tile and you can nip a hole instead of having to drill a hole. To mix and spread the thinset: -bucket -margin trowel: $7.50 Yup. To hand mix the thinset and grout. The thinset, mix maybe a third of a bag at a time. Pace yourself. Or you can buy a paddle if you have a low-speed drill that has the torque to spin it. -notched trowel: $5, 1/4" x 1/4" to spread the thinset. To Grout: -Grout float: $10 -Grout Sponges: 2- or 3-multi-pack for $5 Basic hand tools, about $50. Add $50 for a tile cutter, so total tools is about $100. Materials: $150 Tile: $300 @ $5 a ft Tools: $100 Total, about $550 Rough guess.

Wow, that sucks. I think there is zero chance of tearing out all that stuff. I would have your GC talk to Kohler to see if they have something with the same finish that would fit your existing. Ditto Gerber. You could potentially even have something custom manufactured cheaper than tearing things out - esp with the need to occupy the space. Be clear this is GC's problem to fix. To make it clear you aren't being unreasonable, I'd say as long as the finish was the same, it wouldn't have to be the exact same design. BTW: for others who are looking at this - try to put your plumbing on the end of the tub that is more accessible (backs up to a closet, or drywalled wall, for example). It's crazy that any plumbing repairs on this tub (leaky trap, for example) could require the demo of the kitchen.

cpartist and kats737, I had bookmarked Heritage but hadn't ordered samples yet. I will definitely do so, now that I have a better idea of what I'm looking for. plan2remodel, I'm keeping an eye on which ones are suitable for wet areas and definitely need to think about that. The tile person at the P&L dealer here said her experience was that their gloss/non-crackle finishes worked fine in showers, but I know the virtues of rectified tile, esp. porcelain, and will get multiple opinions before committing. I did use ceramic tile with a fairly wide grout line in my old shower (previous house) and it held up brilliantly, but I definitely don't want to make a bad decision for this large expanse and large expense. kats737, on the layout, I have an 8-foot-long wall that currently holds a 5' tub and 30"-sq (much too small) separate shower. I'm thinking about how best to use that run of wall with a new tub and no separate shower stall, leaving room for towel-hanging and hopefully a heated towel rack or new radiator at the opposite end of the run from the showerhead. A slightly longer tub would be great; an alcove tub would require building a little half-wall for its other end; and both the alcove option and the Bow option would present different possibilities about how to use the space left over at the end of the run. If I did an alcove tub, it would need an arrangement something like this: