<p>There are rules with jetted tubs - you put nothing in the water until you are done using the jets - no soap or oils. No bubble baths with the jets on! Plain epsom salts are okay. Every now and then you fill the tub and put in some Clorox and run the jets. If you have been careful about the soap/oil thing, there is no reason for the jets to get gunky, but they still recommend the Clorox now and then - at least Pearl does. Mine only has 2 jets that are positioned at each end to create a circular motion, and they are strong. That makes it pretty loud, but I don’t mind that. You can adjust the force of the motor so it’s pretty quiet. One of the reasons I chose my tub was because it was deeper than many of the others I considered.</p>
<p>Cangel, we’re in the south also, and have been battling a mold problem caused by faulty window installation, so you have my sympathy. </p>
<p>If the automatic exhaust fans w/ moisture sensor are too expensive (I have no idea how they compare to the regular ones), I suggest installing a count down timer switch for your exhaust fan. You can find them at the big box home stores, and online, for about $30. They have settings for 10, 20, 30 & 60 minutes, or you can turn off the fan by just running through the settings. Leaving the exhaust fan running for 20 minutes after the shower is shut off will really help your humidity problem.</p>
<p>I also bought some portable dehumidifiers. Soleus is my favorite, since it’s so quiet and the price is reasonable. I suggest the 40 pint model instead of the 25 pint. On days when it’s too warm for heat and too cool for A/C, so the HVAC doesn’t kick in, and the RH is high, I run one or more dehumidifiers to keep the humidity in our home between 40% and 45%. Lower humidity reduces dust mites and other allergens that plague most of my family.</p>
<p>There’s some great info on the house building and bathroom sections of GardenWeb’s home forums. Some folks there are strongly in favor of air jet tubs intead of the traditional Jacuzzi-type jets. Cleaning water jets can be a pain and it’s shocking what nastiness they can harbor. We do have a jetted tub now (not by choice) but when we built, we installed large non-jetted soaking tubs. There was no problem selling either house that had jet-free soaking tubs. In fact, the buyers thought it was a “feature.”</p>
<p>If you get a dehumidifier, remember that you can use the collected water to pour on your plants or other outdoor uses. Cuts your watering bills and dries out the house! </p>
<p>Pity we can’t arrange some kind of exchange…being in the NE, we are trying to add humidity and have two or three humidifiers + the whole house one going right now and it’s still only 30%. 'Course, this is a pretty big house.</p>
<p>Hmm, done a little research, it appears that you can’t get an exhaust fan with a heater and any time of sensor, either a motion sensor or a humidity sensor - I guess that makes sense, the heater might be a little tough on the sensors.
I’m not sure we can do without the heater, generally that is the most cost effective way for us to warm the bathroom - we use it everyday for about a month, running it no more than an hour. Even now in Jan we have days that we don’t need that extra heat in the bathroom, and that is with the house thermo on 62.</p>
<p>So maybe we go with a timer, I’m sure that would work, wonder if it will cut off the heater too? or maybe we get two units - a sensor driven exhaust in the shower and a heater centrally located in the bathroom? whatever we get it needs to be simple to use, and involve the least amount of remembering on our part - that’s what I like about the motion sensing exhaust fans.</p>
<p>I’m not elderly - but slipped in the shower a few months ago and sure wish I had had a grab bar. My butt hurt for a week… I’d put a grab bar in regardless…</p>
<p>Re heating - my parents put in a floor warming heat system - essentially electric wires embedded in the concrete under the tile. Step out of the shower onto a nice toasty warm floor. They live in southern Oregon, in real snow country and find that it heats the bathroom just fine.</p>
<p>The heated floor system that my friend installed has a wall-mounted thermostat with a room-temperature sensor. She says it works like a local heater: she can set the bathroom temperature to 70 degrees while the rest of the house is at 65. Her cats love the heated floor!</p>
<p>^^that is exactly what I have. And love it!
Our bathroom is generally cold as it sits on the outskirts of the house, above the unheated garage. Now I can be barefoot there! And the electric biil is not even higher, at least not higher significanlty, since I can’t really notice the difference.</p>
<p>I also have radiant / under the tiles heating in my kitchen and hallways.</p>
<p>But an absolute winner in our bathroom remodel is a toto toilet, as I have mentioned before. It warms the seat to pre-set temperature and also acts as bidet. You do not know what you are missing till you install one.
[TOTO</a> Washlet E200 SW843 (Round) - SW843](<a href=“http://www.performancetoilets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=11]TOTO”>http://www.performancetoilets.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=11)</p>
<p>We have installed a Panasonic fan in all the bathrooms in this house. It’s very quiet and made to run all the time (we don’t run it that often). I really did not like all the interior bathrooms (2 of the 3 are interior–no windows). With the new fans, I’m happy. It wasn’t a big deal to change them out, DH did it himself, and in a timely fashion. We shopped for cabinets for our bathroom all over the place, ended up ordering them from Lowe’s. Dh did adapt them a bit for me–it’s a weird length of cabinets. We were able to afford a granite countertop by asking about left over pieces from larger jobs–it was big enough for our project and I love it.
Check Ikea for pull out shelves. They wouldn’t work for our bathroom, but I love them in the pantry (former hot water tank closet converted to pantry).</p>
<p>I have a heated floor as well, with a thermostat that can be set on a timer so that it’s warm when I get up in the morning and shuts off after my shower. The mat can be purchased at Costco:</p>
<p>[Costco</a> - Premier Radiant Underfloor Heating and Warming System](<a href=“http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11067373&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US]Costco”>http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11067373&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US)</p>
<p>Even just a little heat takes the edge off the cold tiles. I love it, and just like BunsenBurner’s friend, my cat always knows when the floors are on because he’s invariably sprawled out in the middle of it.</p>
<p>That Costco heated floor is a real possiblity. We don’t have Costco, but I might could find something. I was thinking more in terms of what I’ve seen on This Old House, a heated floor under a whole room, but this could just be a mat in front of the shower and tub. Does it raise the floor up much? This would be on a slab then covered with tile.</p>
<p>That heated floor does look interesting. I am wondering if that heated floor stopped working, does this mean that repair would require tearing up the tile in the bathroom?</p>
<p>My dad did his himself - he simply embedded it into the thin set under the tile. Not sure what could wear out - it is a pretty simple mechanism.</p>
<p>While you have the walls off, get out the digital camera and take photos of the pipes and the studs. It’s amazing how useful that can be! </p>
<p>My builder (high end) says jetted tubs are not a necessity but deep large tubs are. Apparently people have figured out how disgusting the jets can get. Me, I’ve replaced two jetted tubs with unjetted molded acrylic bathtubs… Now that’s luxury.</p>
<p>Heated floors keep your kids’ towels from mildewing when they hit the floor.</p>
<p>The floor mat for heating the floor doesn’t raise up the level of the floor - it’s very thin and just gets embedded in the thinset, as scualum said. You need to test it out prior to putting tile over it. There are simple electronic gadgets you can use to test the current. This step is very important because in the unlikely event of any problem with the electricity flow and the mat stops working, the only solution is to take the tile up.</p>
<p>As long as you’re putting the mat in front of the shower & tub, you might as well do the whole room, with the exception of underneath the vanities. It’s not that expensive if you’re retiling the floor anyway.</p>
<p>I agree that a deep tub is a much better choice. If anyone has a jetted tub that they want to know how to keep clean, here are instructions. You would not have to do this as often if you don’t run the jets with anything in the but but water. </p>
<p>There is a simple monthly procedure to follow to keep the plumbing system clean. Set air control knobs to the closed position. Fill the tub with hot water to at least two inches above the highest jet.</p>
<p>Add two tablespoons of low sudsing automatic dishwasher detergent such as Calgonite or Cascade.</p>
<p>Operate whirlpool for minutes. Drain and rinse the water from the tub.</p>
<p>The following month, substitute 1/2 cup of household bleach for the detergent. Alternate these two cleaners each month.</p>
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<p>I have a shower in my master bath that’s similar to the one in the link. I have regular glass (not the block wall) that’s got a design etched into it. The shower is fairly deep and you can walk in. The glass ends at the entrance to the shower (glass goes from floor to ceiling). I have walls on three sides–so there’s only one side with the glass. It’s really easy to clean; the water doesn’t splash out. It’s the best part of the bathroom. The designer worked with a glass company to create it–the edge of the glass is curved rather than straight.</p>
<p>So I’m wondering, do you not have to have a pan?
Can you just keep the drain where it is and tile around it? That might work if I decide to take out the current shower enclosure.</p>
<p>teriwtt, our shower does not have a pan. The floor is tiled, but the tiles are smaller than the wall tiles and have sandy texture. The drywall behind the shower walls is the special kind rated for wet spaces. The shower floor was cemented and shaped so there is a slight slope towards the drain. I happen to know all of these details because H and I were unofficially inspecting the house as it was being built. Two people using the shower once a day is a lot of use, but we never had any trouble even with the original grout. After 9 years of regular grout sealing rituals I got tired of it and I replaced the original regular grout with the epoxy kind, and I just love it! I squeegee the shower after every use and wipe the residual moisture with a used towel - no mildew, not soap scum, no cleaning products needed.</p>
<p>My friend (the one with the fancy heated bathroom floors) recently remodeled her late eighties bathroom, and her shower which used to have a pan now looks like mine: small tiles on the floor and large wall tiles. She did not go with the epoxy grout and regrets it.</p>
<p>My BFF recently remodeled her bathroom and put in this little storage cabinet. It provides the perfect place for the plunger and spray–two things most bathrooms shouldn’t be without. I’m putting on my ‘wish list’ as our remodel that won’t take place until kids are done with school!</p>
<p>[Bathroom</a> Storage - Toilet Plunger Storage By Hy-Dit ® | Kitchensource.com](<a href=“http://www.kitchensource.com/shelves/hy-co-801.htm]Bathroom”>Shelves and Shelving | KitchenSource.com)</p>
<p>The water-resistant backerboard goes by the name ‘green-board’ a lot. Great, even housing products have aliases! It shouldn’t be used behind shower walls because it’s ‘resistant’ not proof. It’s okay for walls that get splashed, like around sinks, but not for ones that will be wet alot. For that, you need 1/2" thick cementitious ceramic tile backerboards. I think they also use some kind of a felt but I don’t know what that’s called. </p>
<p>We had a house built for us prior to this one and I was there, making a pest of myself, every day but I got what I wanted when the plumber tried to install some fixtures he happened to have lying around instead of the ones I’d paid for, and when they tried to texture a ceiling (because that’s what they always did in bedrooms) and when they tried to hang the mantel 7 ft off the floor. I enjoyed doing it so much I thought about making contracting a career but I’m glad now I stuck to books.</p>