Shower- To tile or not to tile?

[treschic]

So, this might be a stupid question but I am considering options for our master bath shower right now (we are building). Would it be weird to have just a plain fiberglass shower instead of doing tile? Are there any other options I am not thinking of? We are building a 3000 sq ft custom house (LCOL) and I would not be worried about re-sale since this will be our forever home. I am thinking I would prefer to use the $$ towards something else. Thoughts?

[marclovesme]

We have fiberglass inserts in our bathrooms, not by choice. At first I thought they were unattractive and sad looking, but I've come around because they are so easy to maintain and I love not having to clean grount between tiles. When I was looking into alternate options that were possibly more attractive but in a similar vein I found composite marble inserts. They seemed nice and if we ever replace we'd probably go with something like that.

[kaylie]

I think it depends how nice the rest of the bathroom is. If you did a seamless glass door and granite counters on the vanity I think the fiberglass would look very out of place.

[wawa]

If it's just the cleaning that you're unsure about you could take FoxInFiji 's method and do solid sheets of stone or quartz or other solid surface.  It'd look more high end than the fiberglass but only have seams at corners to deal with keeping clean.

Of course if your concern is more the cost then that doesn't help one little bit and in fact is probably worse.

I'd tile.  But then I like my pretty bathrooms.

[minniebee]

Aug 5, 2013 15:04:19 GMT -5 wawa said:

If it's just the cleaning that you're unsure about you could take FoxInFiji 's method and do solid sheets of stone or quartz or other solid surface.  It'd look more high end than the fiberglass but only have seams at corners to deal with keeping clean.

Of course if your concern is more the cost then that doesn't help one little bit and in fact is probably worse.

I'd tile.  But then I like my pretty bathrooms.

Corian also makes shower surrounds. These would look better than the cheap fiberglass shower surrounds, but are still easy to keep clean because there are no grout lines. They're not necessarily cheap, though.  

www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/surface-design-materials/brands/corian-solid-surfaces/products/corian-tub-shower-surrounds.html

[treschic]

The shower will look somewhat like this with a wall and glass door:
pinterest.com/pin/196610339952015780/

The vanity will be similar to this with similar mirrors and window:
pinterest.com/pin/196610339951878828/

[Susie]

Aug 5, 2013 15:30:31 GMT -5 minniebee said:

Aug 5, 2013 15:04:19 GMT -5 wawa said:

If it's just the cleaning that you're unsure about you could take FoxInFiji 's method and do solid sheets of stone or quartz or other solid surface.  It'd look more high end than the fiberglass but only have seams at corners to deal with keeping clean.

Of course if your concern is more the cost then that doesn't help one little bit and in fact is probably worse.

I'd tile.  But then I like my pretty bathrooms.

Corian also makes shower surrounds. These would look better than the cheap fiberglass shower surrounds, but are still easy to keep clean because there are no grout lines. They're not necessarily cheap, though.  

www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/surface-design-materials/brands/corian-solid-surfaces/products/corian-tub-shower-surrounds.html

Interesting!

We are currently batting around redoing our full bath, and we are at an impasse over the shower.  Calvin doesn't want tile, and I hate inserts.  (Why Calvin cares, I'm not sure, since he never cleans it!)  That would be an interesting compromise.

[minniebee]

Aug 5, 2013 16:04:00 GMT -5 Susie said:

Aug 5, 2013 15:30:31 GMT -5 minniebee said:

Corian also makes shower surrounds. These would look better than the cheap fiberglass shower surrounds, but are still easy to keep clean because there are no grout lines. They're not necessarily cheap, though.  

www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/surface-design-materials/brands/corian-solid-surfaces/products/corian-tub-shower-surrounds.html

Interesting!

We are currently batting around redoing our full bath, and we are at an impasse over the shower.  Calvin doesn't want tile, and I hate inserts.  (Why Calvin cares, I'm not sure, since he never cleans it!)  That would be an interesting compromise.

My brother works for a company that fabricates and installs Corian products (as well as other things like quartz, soapstone, granite, marble and recycled glass counters). He mostly works with commercial clients rather than residential clients, but he is always recommending Corian. Supposedly it's really durable and easy to maintain, and if it scratches, it can be buffed out to look new again. I'm not sure exactly how the shower surrounds may be different from the countertop products, though.

[Susie]

We had Corian counters in our last house. I didn't adore them in a kitchen - we had a cream colored Corian sink (not our pick), and every time we ate something tomato based and did the dishes, the sink was stained orange-y. But in a bathroom that would be much less of a problem, and I would be a lot more open to it as a solution. It does have a lot of good features.