Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - tough choices

This week I was invited to an elderly lady's home to address the items on her home inpectors list that she had recieved during the sale of the residence.
One item that she had had done was to yank the old steam radiators for baseboard hot H2O

During the inital walk thru, I noted that most of the 10" to center older receptacles were 1/2 covered by the new baseboard which is appox. 8" high. Assuming some sort of explanation i made light of this.

In confronting the plumber ( without the customer's presence) as to the 'fix' here I recieved nothing but sour grapes, absolutley no remorse or regrets for his actions. He would not remove his baseboard, or be involved in any other action to make ammends, claiming he was there 'on estimate'.

The kicker was , that being a two family ( rentals are inspected here) I informed him that there would be an inspection, and it may be an issue.

He immediatly packed up his truck, told the old lady he could not work with me, and left!

Any advise appreciated!

We are preparing for a major renovation of the main bathroom in our older home (70+ years) due to cracks in the main stack. I see this as a great opportunity to replace all the bathroom fixtures, which are a hideous blue color, and all the tile, which is pink. So basically, nothing of the old bathroom will remain. My husband and our neighbor/contractor have the expertise to do most of the work.

While considering new layouts for the bathroom (which measures about 68 x 88 inches), we are faced with an important choice: 1) preserve the current configuration of the fixtures, which means that we can only use a 54" bathtub (of which I have found only 2 models); 2) turn the bathtub 90 degrees so that it spans the back of the room. This actually opens up more space and allows us to use a standard size tub, but it puts the room's only window squarely in the tub/shower area. At the moment, the window is toward the end of the tub/shower, so it doesn't get too much water.

So I have 3 questions. First, if this were your bathroom, which do you think is worse, having a short tub with cramped space or having a window in the tub/shower? We are not considering options to convert to a tub-only or a shower-only design, because we mainly take showers, but this is the only tub in the house (removal could affect resale).

Second, if we decide to go with the arrangement that puts the window in the tub/shower, what are the best ways to protect from rotting around the window? I have read all the helpful threads here about fixing rot once if begins, but how about prevention? The window is a double-hung that provides air flow in the summer time, although we will install a separate ventilation system.

Third, I have considered glass block as an option, but my husband thinks that glass block will look bad from the outside. The window faces the street, and so will be quite visible in this neighborhood of older homes. Is this a big no-no? Thanks for all your thoughts.

If you are worried about resale value, a 54" tub is going to cost you thousands. So much for question #1.

Convert the dbl. hung window to an XO slider. Now you have more wiggle room as to the size of the window. Rot is caused by water sitting on the sill for long periods of time. Slope the sill.

Glass blocks could work,IF you can hide them from the street view with landscaping. Otherwise, forget the glass blocks. Besides, do you have any other means of ventilation? Glass blocks provide zero, and a bathroom HAS to breathe.

lefty,

Thanks for your help. I will forget glass block and look at a different type of window. Just one thing. Why did you say that a 54" tub would cost thousands? I found one that lists at $177-200. Did you mean that a potential buyer in the future would see the non-standard tub as a big drawback that would costs thousands to correct? In that case we'd be better off changing the layout to fit a standard tub now, even if it does put the window in the shower. I just want to be sure I understood you. Thanks again.

You can put in a 54" tub for a couple of hundred dollars. But, when it comes to resale value, a potential buyer will see a 54" tub and lower their offer by a couple of grand, or more. Therefore, the 54" tub "will cost you thousands".