Q. I have an invalid living in my house. He sometimes cannot control his bowels and makes a mess in the floor. I currently have carpet over hardwood floor. I need the carpet to be taken out and want to find some sort of flooring that can be mopped with Clorox or Lysol in water to destroy odor. I would like to avoid any type of flooring that would have to be glued to the hardwood. It appears that all vinyl flooring has to glued down. Does anyone have any idea what I can put over the hardwood that will stand up to some serious cleaning?

A. Try laminate flooring, it is easy to install by locking the pieces together like a puzzle and it floats(needs no glue). It also cleans like a dream, we just got it and love it. You can get the kind that looks like wood or tile. We have the ceramic tile type and it really looks like tile. GL!

Q. We recently had new porcelain tile installed on our guest bath floor, and we'd like to clean it regularly without harming the tiles and grout. The tile installer had no recommendations about this process, nor did the tile company where we made the purchase. Researching this info is very confusing. Some sites recommend using only a wet mop, while others claim that vinegar diluted in water is appropriate; others advise using some type of manufactured cleaning product. We know that regular sweeping is necessary, but we're unsure which products to use to protect our new floor. If you suggest a wet mop, please advise which is best: Shark, Eureka, Bissell, etc. Thanks for any detailed advice you can provide.

A. I am going to assume that the grout has been sealed. If your tile installer did not seal the grout you should demand he come back and finish the job. It is a must. After the grout has been sealed, any type of cleaner that has any type of acid in it will strip out the sealer. Your tile and grout will be clean of everything including sealer. Which means you will have to do it again. So, first off I use and recommend StoneTech Professional Impregnator Pro. Some sealers sit on the surface of the grout and are apt to peel off. Impregnators actually penetrate the grout and seal it from within. Second, I use and recommend StoneTech Professional All Purpose Stone and Tile Cleaner. It operates like any other cleaner. Dilute it in warm water as per instructions and it both cleans the tile and grout and will not interfere with the sealer. To keep up with the sealing, I believe StoneTech recommends re-sealing every 3-5 years. This is purely a guideline. You'll know it's time to re-seal when, as your mopping or getting out of the shower and the floor gets wet, the grout will change color. This means that the sealer has worn out and the grout is getting wet.

Q. My parents are looking to replace their old tile & grout with something else. One contractor recommended replacing the old tile/grout with a 3-piece acrylic unit, and putting down an acrylic liner over the old tub & replacing the fixtures. Another contractor recommended putting up cement board, covering with new tile, and replacing the tub & fixtures. The second guy said he quit using the acrylic because it didn't work well (leaky, adhesive would come undone after a few years, etc.). Personally, I don't want to deal with cleaning the tile and grout, but if the acrylic is going to fall off the wall in 5 years, I don't want to go that route either. Anybody have any knowledge of which is the better system? - P.S. - We're not interested in getting fancy w/ the design; just plain boring white will be going up either way. Thanks!

A. "Best" is a matter of opinion. Some people would never consider anything but ceramic tile, others might opt for acrylic panels. Another option: Companies that make solid surfacing (e.g. Corian, Swanstone, etc) often make panels and molding designed for lining shower and tub surrounds. The panels I've seen are stiffer than typical acrylic panels. If you want to tile around a tub, here's how to do it: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,672069,00.html?xid=yahoo-answers&partner=yes

Q. I am renovating a 1900's home with a slate roof that needs replaced. There's too much damage to repair but still have hundreds of square feet of perfectly good slate roof tiles. I am not an artist that wants to paint a million little tiles but I do have a kitchen and bath that need to be remodeled. Can I use the slate roof tiles as floor tiles? If so, what extra steps do I need to take to make them suitable for the floor?

A. Thickness doesn't matter, as they would be laid in concrete anyway...I would think that too thick would almost be worse as it would raise up your floors too much...the only way you could reuse the tiles is if you cut off the end where the 2 holes are from attached to the roof. You also do not want to paint them, but they will need a good cleaning... & sealed after installation. I applaud you for thinking about repurposing & recycling, & therefore, saving money as a result!!! Not only that, but you're incorporating the history of the house to the interior. I think that's pretty cool!!! I hope you give it a serious shot at this, & get the advice of a tile expert in how to make this a successful project!!! Best of luck!!!

Q. My niece had her 1yo baby taken away from her by CPS. I want to take her and have been asked to, so I'm having a home inspection coming up. I am cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!!!! I have a bathroom that we are in the process of remodeling, and there are places around our shower that don't have tile yet. So, underneath shows. Does anyone think this will be a problem?

A. How long have you been remodeling? If you can show that this project was started only weeks ago and you are making progress then they probably won't care. But if you started it a year ago, got busy and then kinda never finished it then that will give them cause for concern. Can you document your recent progress on the project and give a reasonable estimate for completion?

Q. My house was built in the 60s. The bathroom is small. I can't afford to completely remodel (rip out walls and replace/redesign everything), but something has to be done to make the bathroom better. I'd like to also do things that will be better in the long run should I decide to sell the house in the future. TUB: The tub is large, but the porcelain is worn and chipped. It needs to be resurfaced. I was going to have a company come in and re-porcelain it. It is white now. the tile that covers half of the bathroom is white. (1) Should I get it reporcelained by a company? (2) If so, what color? (3) There is no shower, should I add a shower and those sliding shower doors? TOILET: Currently, the toilet is small. It has an old wooden seat that is broken and needs to be replaced. The hardware is old looking too. I think I should totally replace the toilet. (4) Do you agree? SINK: Currently there is a cabinet sink that it probably 20 years old. It is stained and needs new hardware.... ...More v v v v v v ...This is the only bathroom in the house, so this sink will get used every day. We don't really need the cabinet space because there are three cabinets mounted on the wall in the bathroom and a linen closet right outside of the bathroom. If I install a shower, one cabinet will have to be taken out. (5) Should I install a pedestal sink or one with a counter or cabinet?

A. (1) Yes. Get it reglazed. I was amazed at how good a reglazed tub looks. Plus, I think the old tubs are a better quality and are worth retaining. Cost me $70 to reglaze a 5' tub. (2) Suggest you stay with white for the tub. No matter what you might do in the future to this bathroom, white will fit it with it. (3) Suggest no sliding doors. Cleaning shower doors and their tracks is a royal pain. Go with a gorgeous curtain. You can also use a curved curtain rod so that the curtain bows out and does not cling to you while you are showering. The space feels more spacious. (4) Yes, replace the toilet. I can HIGHLY recommend splurging on a Toto toilet, if you can. (5) Pedestal sinks are nice, but you do lose storage and counterspace. Suggest you stay with a cabinet. (I changed one bathroom to have a pedestal sink since it was such a small bathroom. I now have to store spare paper and cleaning items elsewhere.) Lowes/Home Depot has some great 'all in ones' (cabinet/counter) available that are stunning.

Q. Guy from reputable company came over and gave me an estimate for remodeling my bathroom which is about 5' x 8'. Estimated cost is around $9500 which seems a bit high to me, thoughts? From the contract: We would begin with the complete removal of the bathtub and the surrounding tile and walls, reinsulating the exterior wall. All of the walls will get new drywall and/or tile backer board. A new white 5 foot Americast bathtub will be installed with a new tub/shower diverter with a combined allowance of $650.00. New tile will be installed up to 6 foot off of the floor in the area surrounding the bathtub. Repainting the bathroom walls, ceiling, and trim surfaces will be included in the total price and will not include any wallpaper. The price for this option is $6800.00. Other bathroom items are itemized as follows: Toilet-$250.00 Sink/vanity-$200.00 Medicine cabinet-$85.00 Sink Faucet-$75.00 Floor tile-$1875.00 ( Labor and Material) Light -$35 Towel bar(2), toilet paper holder--$100 I asked him why the tiles seemed a bit high--1875 + whatever he's charging for the bathtub tiling. His response: The $1875.00 covers material and labor. I will go in to more detail on the tile installation to help clear things up. We will remove the existing tile and install a concrete based backer board as a sub-floor for the tile. This will minimize any cracking in the furure. We will then install the tile and grout all of the joints. You will find other companies that will lay tile right over the existing plywood floor but you will have problems in the future. We have to warranty what we install and we will not cut corners. Contractor said that they would take care of removing everything and cleaning up. Told me that I would need to go to Home Depot and pick out stuff that I liked, write down the item numbers, and give it to him so he could send his boys over to grab the stuff right before they needed it. I'm not sure that trying to supply parts myself is the best thing to do--I've very limited space in my condo, and would rather not have bathtub/sink/toilet etc taking up half of my bedroom.

A. Everything sounds a bit too high for what you are getting. You can buy a toilet for less than one hundred dollars. The labor and material is ridiculously high. I think that you should have a couple more remodelers com in and give you an estimate.

Q. We moved into an old home that had been completely remodeled amost a year ago. In both bathrooms, the 8x8 white tiles that are on the walls (but only the row that touches the tub itself) turns a dark purple when damp. We noticed this the first time we used the shower and complained to the builder. We have been dealing with the company that the tiles were purchased from and the people that made the tiles for eleven months now. As of today, no one that we have dealt with has ever seen this kind of thing before. All installation was done properly, I have had other contractors look at the jobs. I would really appreciate any help anyone could be in this matter.

A. My first instinct is that maybe it's a reaction between the sealer and whatever you're cleaning your tub with...or maybe even some kind of residue from inside the bathroom that's migrating out with the steam. But it's purely an educated guess. The way to figure it out is if you change your cleaning routine. Instead of another cleaner, use a mix of ammonia and hot water to clean the tub and tile area from the top down. Ammonia is underrated in its ability to remove grease, residues, etc. It's also one of the few cleaners that doesn't interfere with the sealer used on your tiles. If you can get the purple to go away and stay away for a shower or two, then it's something inorganic causing it. But if it's still purple after the next shower, I'd suggest a sharply worded letter from your attorney to the installer and manufacturer to replace the row of affected tiles or else. BTW, just an off question, but what did they seal the tiles with? I'm wondering if the sealer might not be part of the problem and it's applied wrong in that one row. It's worth considering at least, cuz this really is a difficult question.