Having done many homes over the past couple of years with similar colour schemes, I’d suggest a soft grey tile with a slight variation in it. Plain grey could be just a little too safe, erring on the boring, while a marble look tile can be repetitious in pattern and look fake. When you go looking for your tile, ask them how many tiles before the pattern is repeated. If it’s between 40 and 60 you shouldn’t have any problem with it. Hope this was of help! Jill

Moving the niche is not an option at this point. But I do have a question about the niche. My tile installer wants me to consider using the gray tile (same as the floor) on the inside edges of the niche. This is because the wall tile is glass and imperfections in the glass (from cutting it) will show if the glass tile is on the inside edge. How do you guys think that would look? I tried to find photos of a niche where the wall and back of the niche were one color, with the sides being a second color and I couldn't find any examples. Has anyone seen that?

GWA/Caroma make a range of toilet suites that have a flexible floor connection called flexilink for people retrofitting new toilet suites to old floor holes so I would suggest that you check out their flush to wall styles. The location of your wall tap may conflict with most flush to wall styles. Some plumbers may even install the suite off-centre to avoid relocating the wall tap! Your plumber would probably be happy to install your toilet hard against the existing skirting tiles and fill the gap around the edge with a bead of silicone, however I wouldn't be happy as it will look clumsy, get dirty and make it harder to remove the cistern lid. If it was my job I would do it properly, remove the plasterboard and tiles for the back wall, relocate the wall tap, add some noggins so that the back of the toilet cistern had something better to fix into than plasterboard, replaster, install toilet then retile skirting. Or retile the whole wall to above the top of the cistern, or even the ceiling, to provide a flush finish tiled finish for any future toilet suite changeovers. If you are spending good money on a flush to wall toilet and a plumber to install it then it is better to do it right without any regrets about gaps or dirty silicone. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits

check the Govt asbestos websites for the latest regulations.. using their recommended techniques we were able to remove a similar underlay that was less than 10 sqm with lots of hot dirty work and special asbestos disposal fees at the local tip...a bigger area you will need a quote from an asbestos removal specialist and their fees are determined by access and size and we paid about $3500 for asbestos removal for walls and ceilings for a room about 6m x 2.5m