Update......3/16/2010. I am gonna use the first tile guy that came out (friend of my plumber). Nice guy, very attentive to my questions, etc. The second tile guy that came out said he guaranteed I will have no porblem tiling on the sleepers over concrete. RED FLag!? He said he would email me a quote......he never did. oh well. When I order the tile yesterday, I told the ladies at the tile shop who my tile contractor was....they spoke very highly of him....calling him a perfectionist....hopefully that bodes well for me and my bathroom. So here are the new specs..... Bathroom floor: Mud Bed [including bonding agent on concrete and wire mesh to strengthen the mud bed] tile se on diagonal Radiant heat floor set in mudbed Thinset Tile Shower: Swanstone Shower pan [34x48] Durock walls Thinset/tape seams Mapei liquid waterproofer (either HPG or AquaDefense) One recessed niche tile to ceiling Look ok? TWO Questions: 1. Any preference for either Mapei waterproofing products? The HPG or AquaDefense? 2. Question on vapor barrier for foundation wall One wall of the bathroom is on the poured foundation wall. Do I need a plastic between the cement wall and the insualtion and studs? thanks. mike

Sumod- The medicine cabinets are simple wood frames with a cabinet-grade plywood back that just sit in the stud cavity. Because of the dimensions, the front of the frame projects about 1"+ beyond the finished wall. The medicine cabinet doors are also plywood with veneered edges and they are attached to the frame with standard cabinet hinges (Euro hinges). The mirrors are just 1/4" plate glass ordered to size from a glass shop and held in place with mirror mastic and a metal strip at the bottom that you don't really see. The guy who did the cabinets just made the medicine cabinets as part of the job. I don't know about the door brand...we live in a large metro area that has lots of door shops and the doors are just solid core maple doors with the center cut out and a maple panel held in with molding. They're not stained; they simply have a couple coats of clear spray lacquer.

@Amir Ali - I just wanted to post a comment in order to: 1. Let you know that I completely understand what you are going through right now. I have TWO FAILING slate floors that are part of current bathroom renovations. The master bathroom floor had not been grouted due to delays on his part. I discovered that some of the tiles were COMPLETELY LOOSE - and some sounded like they were only partially bonded to the floor. This floor is failing - and it has BARELY been walked on because the bathroom renovation basically stopped due to issues - bathroom isn’t usable so the only use has been when I’ve gone in there to take photos or measure something = maybe some tiles had been walked on four or five times before I started discovering the loose tiles. It is obvious that the tiles failed to bond to the floor - the mortar must have skinned over or something. I am NOT reinstalling the loose tiles. IMPORTANT - my former contractor does not fit the definition of what people here on Houzz love to refer to as a “hack” (at least not the actual business that I hired to do the work) - however, his employee clearly did not know what he was doing (or just didn’t care) - and that makes the owner of the business liable for this work. The business has hundreds of Google ratings (4.9/5), owner is a member of TCNA, I had several reviews from people I know (and trust), and I DID NOT JUST TAKE THE LOWEST BID - I am NOT a CHEAPSKATE. I am so tired of people AUTOMATICALLY blaming the homeowner when they have ZERO basis to do so. Making assumptions and basically telling homeowners that they are IDIOTS and CHEAP really makes me upset. Okay, I’m finished with my rant! 😂 The ”fix” is this: The ENTIRE floor is being torn apart. Not only is the tile being removed, the cbu will be taken out. New contractor assumes that he will also find that former contractor failed to add the required second layer of plywood in order to make sure that the substrate was prepared correctly in order to have a natural stone floor installed. Based upon the above issues, I investigated the slate floor that was installed in one of the other bathrooms back in April. I noticed a few grout issues - and as I went around knocking on each tile, the sound on many tiles indicates tiles that are only partially bonded. This is what the floor looks like from a standing position: And this is what it looks like when I realized that I needed to inspect it after the failure in other bathroom: I have cracks and broken spots of grout in many places. I also have some grout which is stuck on my tile because the contractor failed to seal the tile (as required) prior to grouting (I found this out later - I was in the hospital while this floor was being installed) and made promises over and over to come remedy the issue. So, this floor will also be ”fixed” in the same manner as the first one - I’m just waiting to have it ripped out until after the other bathroom is completely finished. 2. I also wanted to let you know that regardless of whether (i) you have a written contract, and (ii) that contracts specifically provides (or fails to provide) a five year (or however long) warranty period, you still have recourse against the contractor who installed your tile. Most states (probably all but I haven’t done research on this issue in every state) have enacted statutes that protect homeowners for this type of issue. In my jurisdiction, there are specific statutes that relate to home renovation projects - these statues require (among other things) that all work must be done in a good and workmanlike manner. Following industry standards, as well as manufacturer’s specifications, are part of this requirement. Also, the consumer protection act in my state also protects homeowners against contractors who perform shoddy work. I am 99% positive that your state will have some similar statutes. If you want to share your jurisdiction, I am happy to take a quick look in order to point you in the right direction. MANY jurisdictions require the homeowner to provide the contractor with notice and a right of remediation. Unless you follow the requirements of your particular statutes, you won’t be able to bring an action against your contractor to recover damages. FYI - my former contractor has chosen to ignore the notice I provided, so I then was free to hire another contractor to do the remediation work. My former contractor will owe me the money I have to spend to correct his failure to properly install my tile (which will greatly exceed what I paid him - removing tile + cbu + buying new material (including nice slate tile - because I didn’t purchase cheap slate tile for the the project initially). I am sorry that you’re going through this because it is NOT fun. I decided to consider myself “lucky” because he hadn’t yet installed this tile on my laundry floor! Hopefully, you won’t have water damage that will require even more remedial work in order to fix it.

Where is it in the shower (pic from further back would help)? Is the stain the length of the tile? Only one corner? What kind of tile? What is the substrate behind the tile? What is the waterproofing? How was the tile set/installed?