Continuing with my complete inability to be brief and concise: ;) Plywood has four typical face grades; A, B, C, and D. "A" and "B" grades are the best, with "A" having no flaws in the surface veneer, it's good for stain grade cabinetry. "B" has a nice finish, but can have some patches in it to get rid of knot holes in the veneer, it's suitable for paint grade. "C" and "D" are lesser grades, they are quite a bit rougher than A/B. The "X" refers to the glue being used to glue the veneers together being an exterior rated glue. The glue should not weaken when wet, allowing the plywood to delaminate. So, for cabinetry or furniture, you'd want AB plywood. For house framing (subfloors and wall/roof sheathing, CDX is what you'd want. As to the shower floor, 3/4" CDX ply is fine. If the subfloor were wood planking or 1/2" ply instead of 3/4", I'd add another layer of ply on top to isolate the wood planks from the deck mud or to strengthen the 1/2" CDX, depending on which you have. So once you have your plywood subfloor in place: On top of that I put down a "slip sheet". I use 6-mil poly, some use tar paper. Staple it to the floor, just enough staples to tack it into place. If there is any radiant floor heating under the shower, don't use tar paper. Instead use poly. Over the poly use expanded diamond mesh, that gets nailed to the floor right on top of the poly. Overlap any seams and work to get the mesh flat so there are no "pops" in it when you walk on it. The deck mud then gets packed on top of the mesh, pack it in well and build it up to the required thickness and slope. Mongo

Hi, We did buy some of the items online for our build. But here are some tips on what to do. Think logistics. 1) Check and make sure with/in your Contract as to how much money you will save if at all, if you go down this route. 2) If you delay getting your item, then what is the impact to the budget. For example if you are missing a shower valve. That delays bathrrom sheet rock, and tiling. Will there be a charge, and a delay on the build? In general buying things yourself is work and alot of it. The advantage is you get the things you like, rather than some default. For complex items like plumbing, I would use a proper shop which will coordinate with your Gen Contractor. You do not want expensive plumbing parts on site until they are needed. Damage, loss and theft are all issues. Even if you have the parts deliverd to your own address. You will then have to drive to the site and hand the items over to the contractor. You will also have to make sure you got the right parts. Any error in the logistical supply chain and you will eat the cost. Worst of all if you order the wrong part!!! You will have to return it, order a new part, and hold up your whole build. Again eating cost. For simpler small things like door knobs you can order online. The trick here is a spreadsheet and focused attention to detail. Inswing, outswing, left hand right hand, which finish etc. How many? Then you need to encode this into an order number which may look like Baldwin-4637B-OilRubBronz-Insw-Left or some code number like that. Any error you eat the cost. We did this, and so long as you are precise and extremely careful you can say money. The parts should be deliverd to where you live, not to the site. When the builder needs the parts, drive over and deliver them. Note avoid any type in web page. Do your order in a spreadsheet. Then having checked it over, FAX it at the company. Then follow up with a phone call. It is easier and less painful for you and the guy putting your order together. The store I used to love was Home Depot Expo. Cheap prices, and lots of stuff all in one place to. Sadly these stores where closed. If you do order from Home Depot, try and learn their ordering system. No kidding! By the end of my build I got so good at it, and you need to be that good, you would present a spreadsheet, printed out with all the SKU order numbers, pallet sizes, number of tiles etc. Last thing you want is some Home Dept clerk messing up your order. Any delay, wrong part, you eat the cost! Even if you can return it. Try returning a pallet of Garden Rock!!! As a side note, my daughter now hates Home Depot. This is because we spent so much time in those stores trying to order parts! Final word: Be Precise, Accurate, and Think Logistics and you can save money and get what you want. Good luck on your build, Best Mike.

I don't know about any shower pans but the Kohler cast iron pan I will be installing. I have one that is 36x60". It has a center drain. There is a 30"x60" that has the drain at either end, to be used where a tub had been. It also comes in a 36"x48" I think. About the other questions regarding a glass screen, I can't tell you.

Thanks for the input. I just measured my master shower door and it's 28.5". I think I will plan for a 26" door, swinging inward and outward. I like the idea of the pony wall being a little bit longer and just leaving the 26" space for the future door. My contractor is very thorough and will be sure to block for a door and grab bar to be installed in future if desired. Definately will put the controls in the pony wall like we did in master. The depth of the room right now is 64" from the current finished shower tile to the wall. So without encroaching on the 30" space for the toilet, we could get a 34" depth shower. That's still pretty small, but don't see a way to make it deeper without expanding the scope and $$ by stealing space from adjacent attic. If money were no object we would look into doing that. I'll ask the contractor about it, but I don't think budget will allow.