After months of not seeing a whole lot of progress, a sudden surge of work has occured. My dad came up last week and we cut the wall we intended to make a half wall and taped and mudded the drywall. After a few more coats of mud and sanding, we're essentially ready to begin tiling, which is very exciting.

The shower stall is covered in almost-raw latex which dried a deep blue, almost black. This will provide the outermost moister barrier under the tile.