Hi! The big window in the shower is part of my 1985 tract house and appears to be a problem for most homeowners in my neighborhood. The original installation was prone to leaks, with water penetrating the inside of the wall. Many neighbors use a shower curtain along that wall, but I wanted to have an unadorned window. We gutted the room, and hired a local "vinyl" window company to install the picture window. It's dual pane with patterned (Industrex) glass. The interior of the window was not rated to be used in a wet environment. The installer caulked areas he thought would be vulnerable. There is no way to know if water is going inside the window, but to my eye I think it's doing great. My tile installer used "old school" techniques, putting wire lath up with layers of mortar which he leveled perfectly. The tile is perfectly square and sits flush against the window. Along the bottom edge, he used sheets of vichithane (sp?) which is a sticky rubber product. He over-did that area to make sure water never entered the wall. The marble sill sits on top of the waterproofing system. A window in the shower is great and I love the design, however, I can't shower at night with the light on. I have no problems with a "peep show" as long as I shower in the morning with the light coming in from the outside. Hope that helps! P.S. The local window company convinced us they manufacture windows, but I suspect they are the same as big-box store retrofit vinyl windows. The rest of the house we used Renewal by Andersen and they're much better.

We used Florida Tile's "Pristine" with 1/16" grout lines in our tub surrounds with unsanded grout and love the result. The tiles are nice & large at 9"x18". Here's a couple pics... For our master shower, we went with Florida Tile's Renaissance with 1/16" grout lines using unsanded grout on the walls. It comes in 4 different colors & the largest wall tile is 10"x 13". While they are not truly rectified (usually you have to go with natural stone to get truly rectified--cha-ching!$$$$), our tile guy said the edges were cut straight enough to pull off the smaller grout lines. As far as scrubbing tile & grout, the trick is to squeegee after you're finished showering, then you don't get water spots/mineral deposits on the tile and nothing growing in the grout so no grout scrubbing! Hope this helps!

I don't have a tub recommendation other than to beware that Jacuzzi type tubs sometimes have electric controls where they cannot be used with showers. Some use pneumatic switches to be safe around water. I will say that I think your contractor's gout suggestion is one I would not use. I have always use epoxy grout around water. Near sinks and in the washroom. It costs a lot more to begin with but it is impervious to water. Not my experience with any other grout. It is also impervious to mold and grime. Comes in any color. They used to carry it at Lowes (probably still do).

I know this is an old thread. I'm comtemplating if I want a tub at all but if I get an air or a jetted tub, if the sides have stone around, how do you reach the motor if you need a repair? Just curious if anyone has dealt with that situation. For my current outdated tub, I can reach the motor through the the cabinet; I have a cut out there. I could do the same thing. But adding a slab of quartz to a tub make for a very expensive tub. Dominique, what did you decide and are you happy with your decision?