Hell, Bobert, you've got the room all ready for the new surround if you're set to take out all of that stuff. I think it will go faster and you'll be happier with the new one.

The kind of shower I'd love to have some day is one I saw at a friend's house. She has a large bathroom with storage cupboards and a high ceiling and skylights and such. The whole house has a beautiful stained finish on the concrete floors, and the shower is sloped a bit down and toward the drain, but there is no lip or extra floor tile or anything like that. The surround is of tile and is build to keep water from bouncing everywhere and to hold the usual stuff, and of course the showerhead and faucets are on the one end. It's a largish space, like it would be if there were a tub in it, except there's no tub. No rod, no shower curtain. Just this beautiful room with this great looking shower.

She built this straw-bale house west of Tucson on an acre in a rural area. The guest room has a traditional bathroom with a tub and shower, and the way she designed it that room has it's own door and a sitting room and is off the kitchen and she uses it as a small bed and breakfast.

Anyway, why do all of the rest of that work in the bathroom but not finish the tub? You'll end up with some funky-ass decoupage thing that is going to be the first thing the next owner tears out (and will decrease the value of the house when you eventually try to sell it, or your heirs sell it, whatever).

Just my two cents worth.

SRS