<p>Oh shoot! JUST regrouted the shower and retiled the floor!</p>
<p>@MommaJ – our bathroom is now 17 years old but we built the master w/o a tub. Large, five-sided shower with frameless, thick glass doors. There are two other tubs in the house but I didn’t want to waste the space when I knew I wanted a large shower. Built-in marble bench is to prop the leg when shaving, as mentioned earlier in thread. Am amazed at how many luxury hotel showers are equipped with super high pressure, multiple shower heads, but no place to prop leg. </p>
<p>We had vanity built both taller and deeper. Contractor and husband were both quite tall but I am very used to it now. Was difficult to wash face while pregnant due to depth of counter.</p>
<p>We heard from contractors that a big shower is doing better at resale than a tub, assuming there is another tub in the house. Previous owners put in a switch next to the toilet for the infrared heat lamp. Should make the electrical part of the towel rack and toilet installation cheaper, since there will already be wiring in that wall. We are pulling the heat lamp from that line and replacing it with a heater/fan on a separate dedicated circuit.</p>
<p>One of my sisters just redid her master bath and she also told us to use the epoxy grout. </p>
<p>We decided against the heated floors. 1) too much water gets spilled around this house and 2) the bathroom is not that big – the heater/fan should be sufficient.</p>
<p>CD, my brother’s heated towel rack has multiple bars. It’s practical and luxurious all at once. Bathroom never smells wet. Feels great to leave the shower. It’s a little fussy tucking all those towels over one another, but worth it.</p>
<p>What do you all do for this first-world problem? DH and I both leave some reading material in the bathroom (Me: Sudoku; DH: Crossword puzzles.) It winds up sitting either on the top of the toilet tank or on the floor – neither is a satisfactory storage place. What’s the solution??</p>
<p>^Install a magazine rack next to your iPad display mount! Most people only have 5’x8’ bathrooms and usually there is a lavatory stand/cabinet right next to toilet…fasten magazine rack to side of cabinet next to your toilet bowl. </p>
<p>We have some kind of beige colored stone tiles in our shower with a beige or tan grout. I’m not sure, I’d have to look at it when I get home. It is really pretty and I don’t think we’ve ever had to clean the walls in the shower, just the tub. The tile always looks the same, it never looks like it needs any attention. My parents have tile showers that are very high maintainence, I am not sure what makes mine different but mine is really no maintainence. We have a clear glass shower door, and I don’t like that. I am not interested in squeegeeing, and I don’t like cleaning the tracks for the door-- those get nasty way too fast. I would rather have a shower curtain where I can launder the liner, or no door at all. One or the other, I would never choose a shower door. The tiles I would probably pick again, though we really need oil rubbed bronze fixtures to go with the color and I’m not a fan of the bronze so much, just not my style though it’s pretty and looks very classy. We keep putting in bronze drain covers and the bronze finish keeps washing off within a few months. I second the suggestion of the heated toilet with washlet. We have a washlet attachment installed to our master toilet and if we ever buy new toilets that’s what I’m getting. You don’t realize how nice it is until you try it.</p>
<p>I helped with the install of our bathroom renovation - cut tile, picked out stuff, helped lay tile, etc. THIRD the suggestion to do epoxy grout. Our remodel is over two years old and I have only cleaned it twice, using dilute vinegar. No mold, no mildew, nothing. Make sure your installer uses cement board (any brand) and not just moisture resistant sheetrock. I painted on the waterproof barrier - I can’t remember the brand, but it is thick goopy stuff, and is completely waterproof. With epoxy grout, you have to remove the excess on the tile immediately or it hardens and cannot every be removed. After the tile was installed I spend a long night doing repeat rinses with vinegar to remove the haze on the tile - but the result is well worth it, and if we had started earlier in the day, I wouldn’t have had to stay up so late!!!<br>
We have 18" x 18" white tiles in the bottom of the shower, then a band of tiny accent tiles, then subway tiles to the ceiling. I used 1 large and two smaller inset plastic niche things, which are then tiled over. They already have the correct angle built in so the water that hits them drains correctly. The big one is great for large bottles, etc. the smaller for soap and razor. (But we never use soap - only body wash, which prevents any scum build up on tile.) Best idea ever; I PLACED ONE OF THE SMALL THIN UNITS ABOUT SIX INCHES BELOW THE LARGE UNIT, AND ABOUT 22 INCHES ABOVE THE FLOOR OF THE SHOWER. THE NICHES ARE INSET SO TAKE UP NO ROOM. THIS IS THE PERFECT SHAVE YOUR LEGS HEIGHT - JUST PUT YOUR FOOT IN THE NICHE AND SHAVING IS EASY. Okay, I’ll stop shouting now. LOVE my niches. We have very thick frameless glass, and squeegy after each shower. It takes less than 30 seconds and I enjoy doing it. We also had some kind of coating on the glass so it is suppposed to stay clear… haven’t had any problems.<br>
The other wonderful thing we did was to use CULTURED QUARTZ for the shower pan and fop of the ledges. I hate cultured marble, but the cultured quartz is terrific stuff - ours is dark gray with flecks of blues and lighter grays.</p>
<p>Look for the largest recommended exhaust fan for your room size. Then install one twice as powerful.</p>
<p>I have to agree with that. Were I to do my guest bathroom again I would have the exhaust wired to come on automatically whenever the light was turned on. Anxiousmom, I love the leg shaving niche idea. After an unsuccessful attempt a couple years ago we are again trying to sell our house and build an empty nesters’ dream house so I am taking notes… Does anyone here actually have one of the deluxe toilets to recommend a brand?</p>
<p>I like the glass shower door because I can feel a little claustrophobic and also like that it lets in the natural light.</p>
<p>1moremom, I prefer Inax over Toto for their washlet configuration. Inax provides two nozzles vs. just one. We opted to go with an Inax seat on a Toto toilet (the seat was made in Japan, while the Toto toilet was made in Georgia.) That was partly a cost saving measure, since the toilets that come with integrated bidet functions cost approximately $3K+ depending on the model. Also, I’d never used one before ordering so I wanted the option of moving the seat to a guest bathroom in case I didn’t like it.</p>
<p>There’s a forum/site run by a plumber named Terry Love that provides more info than most people will ever need or want on all sorts of plumbing fixtures, including bidet seats and advanced toilets. I saw some cheaper seats offered by Costco and other big box retailers, but was impressed enough by what I read about the Inax to pay a bit extra. </p>
<p>We’re finishing our basement right now and the plumber and electrician are downstairs as we speak. Don’t forget to try and leave the house during construction! Good grief the noise and banging and sawing and what not is maddening. </p>
<p>I ALWAY stay on-site during remodels. (Then again, I am always helping out…) So many of the decisions end up being made on-the-fly, when you have to solve some problem that you did not anticipate. In my other bathroom, the cast iron tub sits up 4" above a tiled 2x4… dang thing couldn’t be plumbed unless it was up like that. Luckiily, I was there to make that decision. If you aren’t there decisions get made differently, and you might not like the results!</p>
<p>I know, I literally got taken out of the shower this morning by the electrician to decide on switches. Problem is you never know when they’ll show up, how long they’ll stay, etc. Trust me, no one wants me down there “helping”</p>
<p>Just before we did our big reno a few years ago, I was certain that I wanted a rainshower head in the master shower. We were travelling and stayed at a hotel with a huge bathroom and shower, with that showerhead. I didn’t like it at all. Personal preference, I suppose, but it’s something you really should try if possible before you have one for good!</p>
<p>Our shower has a large bench, three niche areas, a handheld as well as a fixed showerhead, glass enclosure that is easy to keep spot free with about 20 seconds of either a shower squeegee or a Mr Clean eraser. We installed safety bars in all of our new bathrooms during the reno. Another choice that I love is the fan that is on a timer, with six different amounts of time and automatic shutoff. Ours is a steam shower, too, which my fitness fanatic husband loves. </p>
<p>Not sure how large your bath is but we have a separate WC for the toilet, a floor to ceiling storage/linen closet for towels and sheets, toiletries, etc. The two sinks are separated by a counter to ceiling unit, separated, for each of us. We also have a vanity area for me, which I use largely for storage. I really should get a stool for that! Oh, and we replaced our Jacuzzi with large decking around it with a deep soaker airjet tub. Love that! And yes, to a comfort height toilet.</p>
<p>Our designer did a great lighting design so we have potlights in addition to lovely crystally fixtures over the sink and vanity areas. They are on dimmers so if one of us is in bed earlier than the other, we can leave the light on without it being bothersome to the other.</p>
<p>I remodeled a master bath in a vacation home a few years ago. Good decisions: no seat in the shower–I had the guy who did the cabinet work make me a teak bench. </p>
<p>Installing radiant heat-- feels great. Hate cold tiles now.</p>
<p>No shower door–just used glass that ends about 20 inches before the shower ends. (It’s. a big shower.)</p>
<p>Decisions that cost more than they are worth IMO:</p>
<p>A rainshower and multiple shower heads. We rarely use these extra shower heads–mostly use the main one and the hand held. </p>
<p>Soaking tub–almost never use it. We are shower people. Plus there’s a hot tub outside. </p>
<p>Steam room type gizmo for the shower–like the multiple shower heads, we rarely use this. </p>
<p>We got carried away. I’d say if you do add the extras make sure that you really want them. </p>
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<p>No, you definitely want light and fan on separate switches. Use each as needed, with or without the other. If you don’t need the fan, why put up with the noise?</p>
<p>Another suggestion, make sure your sink faucet can be used easily with wet hands. </p>
<p>Anyone try those new automatic faucets you can turn on by waving your hand in front of it?</p>
<p>^ Use them all the time in public bathrooms. Very convenient, but can you adjust the temperature?</p>