[Greenbuilding] basement bath (not really a green question)

[Ben Pratt]

I've been mostly lurking here getting ideas for my next house (which 
will be green, but is 2-3 years away). However, i have a project now 
i could use some advice on.
    I'm redoing my basement bathroom. (It wasn't really a bathroom, 
but there was a  toilet, shower and sink--with no walls.)  I've 
framed-in the space, and am moving on the plumbing.

question 1--For the floor, I was going to use laminate tile or a 
scrap sheet of linoleum. Is there any material I could put underneath 
to provide a barrier to the cold from the slab? (I'm in minnesota).I 
don't have much headroom, so it has to be something thin. the floor 
also isn't level, so a material that could also help with this would 
be even better.

question 2-- there is a bathroom above, with old pipes and electrical 
in between. Is it OK to use some sort of dropped ceiling so that i 
can have access in case there is work to be done in the future? I 
have seen imitation pressed tin that i thought may prevent too much 
vapor from escaping, but I'm not sure if it would allow to much sound 
to pass through. Again--i would want to use a "low profile" system to 
allow for headroom.

question 3 --
I already bought a good bath fan. but now I have read on this list 
about ones with a built in humidity switch. Is there a separate 
humidity switch i could install?

thanks in advance. Any other advice on these issues (or others) you 
could provide would be appreciated,

Ben




-- 
B  e  n  j  a  m  i  n   P  r  a  t  t
Professor
Department of Art and Design
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751
715 232 1537