get rid of that grey piping and replace it with pex. my brother says that there are class action suits against the manufacturers of that grey shit.

Footz are you talking about foam Insulation ??
And I Agree with the Spray in Foam , I was thinking of seeing if there is a contracter in this Area that will spray in the WHOLE walls .
But Big Planks of Foam Would Prolly be Way Cheaper !

And Jim , That Pipeing is Oh So fixing to be History !

Are you talking about this Kind of stuff Squirlle / Footz
http://building.dow.com/na/en/produc...n/wallmate.htm

Yeah, that's the shit.
layer it up to fill the depth of the wall cavity, cut it so it fits loosely, use a couple of nails to hold it in place. (drive em sideways into the studs, then bend them to apply pressure to the boards to keep them tight to the wall) Use expanding spray foam to fill the cracks. A little dab'll do ya--it really expands. Trim the spray foam when it dries and re-rock the wall.
You can use odd pieces too, the foam glues it all together. Just be sure that the spray foam doesn't get behind the board and push it away.
Here's a photo:

You probably know this, but if that shower is going to have tile walls, don't use sheetrock (or wax coated sheetrock known as greenboard.) Use Durock or Hardibacker. Only use sheetrock in dry areas of the bathroom. And put tar paper behind the Durock or Hardibacker to protect the studs. Lap the bottom of the tar paper into the shower pan so water that gets into the wall drains into the pan. Fasten the Durock or Hardibacker with epoxy coated screws.

shit, you probably know all this, so I hope you don't think I'm insulting your intelligence. But sheetrock and/or greenboard should never be used in a shower, except maybe on the ceiling.

I learned something knew, Glatt...about the tar paper thing...as a result of your post.

There are other proprietary membranes you can use too, but the tar paper is by far the cheapest and works great under a concrete panel.

Good points,Glatt! I forgot he wasn't using a one piece unit in the shower.

I like this stuff called permabase for tile backing, it's a lot less brittle than durock or hardibacker and has better tooth for the mud.

Mud! That's another thing. When I redid our old leaking shower, I learned a lot during the demo. Do NOT use mastic for the tiles in a wet area. Use thinset mortar. The tiles held on by mastic just popped off with a putty knife and a little twist of my wrist. In fact, some of them had fallen off when the shower just got normal use. But one wall had tiles held on by thinset mortar, and I needed a hammer and cold chisel to get those off.

Wait a second here - I'm about a month behind Zip on my bath, but I thought the greenboard was specifically for bathrooms and "wetter" areas. I am not tiling and will be doing a one piece (hopefully) shower insert install. I need to replace some of the ceiling and top foot or two on the walls about the shower insert. I was planning on using the greenboard. Is that incorrect?

I have no experience with one piece shower units, but if it were my bathroom and I was installing a one piece unit, I'd follow the installation instructions that come with the unit so I don't void the warranty. If they don't address what to use for the top foot or two, I'd probably use concrete backer board, coated with a hard setting (plaster based) drywall compound that could give me a smooth paintable surface. Drywall/greenboard would probably be ok here too, since it will be exposed to the air and will dry quickly when it gets condensations and splatters on it. I'd use regular drywall on the ceiling.

Who wants to come over and redo the master bathroom here? I'll give you like $500.

After I completed the tub surround I did in my house, I crunched the numbers. I do good work, but I take about 80 times longer than a professional would to complete the project, and I'd need to charge roughly 5 times more than that same professional would. I simply am too inefficient.

Let's just say that it's good we had two bathrooms.

OK $700.

One piece units usually get nailed right to the studs through the flange. You want to set the base in a large blob of either thinset or this stuff that I can't remember right now. anyway, you use green board where ever sheetrock would be. It has a slightly water resistant paper. You can tile on top of drywall, but only for areas that will stay dry. In a shower you need to use thinset on backerboard. Glatt is right, avoid mastic.