Another bathroom redo question

[maxaroni]

We are looking to replace our shower doors to a trackless door. Our home is only 2 years old so wasn’t planning on retiling. However, due to supply chain issues the builder started putting in white square tiles. The beginning of the development have pretty, decorative tile. So, bouncing around some ideas and we found gorgeous tile that will complement the rest of the bathroom. We were pretty sure we were going to go that route, if we decided to retile.

We went into a couple of bathroom stores and have found a couple of doors to decide between. However, they both recommended not going with tile due to the grout not staying clean, scrubbing the grout, needing to re grout. They have recommended swanstone or Fibo by Fleurco. They are surround shower walls that come in sheets. The tile is all removed and these sheets are glued to the sheet rock and easy to clean. No more grout. They come in all sorts of colors & patterns. We had never heard of these products and nobody we know have it.

Anyone have these products? Advice?

 

[tvguy]

We will never have tile in our house again. 30 years of trying and failing to keep grout clean, we took all the tile out of the bathrooms and kitchen when we remodeled 10 years ago. And grout in the bathrooms cracked and let water through
One of the contractors that bid on our job was REALLY pushing swanstone. No experience with Fibo but my issue with both is there ARE seams in where the panels meet at corners. Those could be places water could leak.
We went to Corian because corners are assembled on site in such a way that there are no seams, so no place to leak other than where the drain is in the floor.

 

[barkley]

had our bathroom re-done last year. we went with tile in the shower/on the shower floor but for the entry (to the shower) went with a piece of of the same granite we chose for the counter top. we already had tile surrounding our spa tub and replaced it with the same time we put on the shower walls. we are over a year in-no discoloration but that may be due to our habit of taking the wand in the shower and doing a quick rinse every week or so. we also have a water softener which helps prevent build up that requires heavy scrubbing which consequentially contributes to grout breakdown.

it also helps visually if you choose a tile that works with a non glaring white grout-it will NEVER look as good as the day you first installed it.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

For what it’s worth, we tiled our shower when we remodeled the bathroom in 2021. I seal the grout annually. I use a sponge brush and it doesn’t take us that long to complete. I do not have issues with the grout in the shower staying clean.

Now, the grout on the tile floor is not as easy to keep clean. I have to use grout cleaner on it every few months. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t tile the floor for that reason - but I do love the pattern we chose.

 

[AgentMama]

We also went with corian shower enclosures when we redid our bathrooms. Lovely look and easy maintenance.

 

[barkley]

For what it’s worth, we tiled our shower when we remodeled the bathroom in 2021. I seal the grout annually. I use a sponge brush and it doesn’t take us that long to complete. I do not have issues with the grout in the shower staying clean.

Now, the grout on the tile floor is not as easy to keep clean. I have to use grout cleaner on it every few months. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t tile the floor for that reason - but I do love the pattern we chose.

we had tile floors in the bathroom-that IS a pain to keep clean, technically still do i guess-the lvp was installed right on top of it (much less expensive than ripping it out).

 

[maxaroni]

Interesting. Didn’t know about corian for showers. In our last house we had a tile kitchen floor that was supposed to be easy to maintain, special stuff in the grout. It still needed to be scrubbed to keep the grout looking clean. This was why these other materials sounded interesting.

 

[_19disnA]

We chose tile in the bathroom shower and floor when building a new home a couple of years ago and haven't had any issues keeping it clean. Chose a dark color for the grout during construction since I think you should avoid white/light colored grout in any tile application, particularly the bathroom. Very light colored grout tends to more easily show dirt/mildew much like having white carpeting. The builder also put up the appropriate water proofing products and backing materials to minimize issue with moisture. You also need to properly vent the bathroom after showering with either a window or vent fan. Moisture/humidity left to accumulate can cause issues with mildew. Those other products where they glue panels over your existing walls won't prevent moisture from getting behind the product and eventually causing mildew issues you can't initially see. Tile is easy to clean with various household cleaning products and you can also apply a sealant annually to help keep it looking newer.

I would avoid those HUGE pieces of tile that seem popular on TV design shows. Think they choose those since it takes less labor to install and you can quickly do a large area. The problem is that any type of settling in the foundation that is typical of most homes is more likely to cause large tile to crack and be difficult to repair.

 

[OneOftheB's]

We are planning on remodeling our master bathroom and have a large, walk in shower. The plan is a solid pan and large tile with thinner grout lines on the walls. We currently have 4x4 tiles on the floor and 8x12 on the walls and most of the grout is easy to clean, but there is a low point where water collects and and the tile & grout are gross if I don't scrub it a couple of times a week

 

[maxaroni]

Thanks! We are still mulling things over and leaning towards tile. Although, we haven’t looked at Corian as of yet. This project isn’t one that we have to do, it’s more of a want to do, therefore have time to decide. We do want to go with a trackless shower door but waiting on that until we decide about the walls, etc.

 

[kymom99]

We are having fiberglass shower enclosures. Not the prettiest but they hold up well and saved money for other things. I don’t plan on people looking at my showers anyway.

 

[tvguy]

We chose tile in the bathroom shower and floor when building a new home a couple of years ago and haven't had any issues keeping it clean. Chose a dark color for the grout during construction since I think you should avoid white/light colored grout in any tile application, particularly the bathroom. Very light colored grout tends to more easily show dirt/mildew much like having white carpeting. The builder also put up the appropriate water proofing products and backing materials to minimize issue with moisture. You also need to properly vent the bathroom after showering with either a window or vent fan. Moisture/humidity left to accumulate can cause issues with mildew. Those other products where they glue panels over your existing walls won't prevent moisture from getting behind the product and eventually causing mildew issues you can't initially see. Tile is easy to clean with various household cleaning products and you can also apply a sealant annually to help keep it looking newer.

I would avoid those HUGE pieces of tile that seem popular on TV design shows. Think they choose those since it takes less labor to install and you can quickly do a large area. The problem is that any type of settling in the foundation that is typical of most homes is more likely to cause large tile to crack and be difficult to repair.

My real issue with tile was the grout will get tiny cracks and water wicks through causing black mold behind the tile. When we pulled our tile out the insulation was covered in furry black mold, the framing was damaged (the shower is on an outside wall) and the wood siding had to be replaced. I keep hearing how expensive mold remediation is, but legally removing the mold, re-framing the wall and replacing 2 sheets of exterior siding came to $1,500 which I didn't think was too bad.

 

[barkley]

We chose tile in the bathroom shower and floor when building a new home a couple of years ago and haven't had any issues keeping it clean. Chose a dark color for the grout during construction since I think you should avoid white/light colored grout in any tile application, particularly the bathroom. Very light colored grout tends to more easily show dirt/mildew much like having white carpeting. The builder also put up the appropriate water proofing products and backing materials to minimize issue with moisture. You also need to properly vent the bathroom after showering with either a window or vent fan. Moisture/humidity left to accumulate can cause issues with mildew. Those other products where they glue panels over your existing walls won't prevent moisture from getting behind the product and eventually causing mildew issues you can't initially see. Tile is easy to clean with various household cleaning products and you can also apply a sealant annually to help keep it looking newer.

I would avoid those HUGE pieces of tile that seem popular on TV design shows. Think they choose those since it takes less labor to install and you can quickly do a large area. The problem is that any type of settling in the foundation that is typical of most homes is more likely to cause large tile to crack and be difficult to repair.

i agree on the huge pieces-just not a fan. we also went with a non white grout-and a darker color on the floor of the shower (that's where the most dirt will accumulate). we went ahead and bought an extra box of the tiles along with container of the grout mix (pre-colored) so if anything were to be damaged it would be an inexpensive repair (b/c trying to match tile outside an individual run let alone years after the fact is near impossible).

My real issue with tile was the grout will get tiny cracks and water wicks through causing black mold behind the tile. When we pulled our tile out the insulation was covered in furry black mold, the framing was damaged (the shower is on an outside wall) and the wood siding had to be replaced. I keep hearing how expensive mold remediation is, but legally removing the mold, re-framing the wall and replacing 2 sheets of exterior siding came to $1,500 which I didn't think was too bad.

curious-how long had the original shower been in? i found with my parent's home (50's era) and our first (early 60's) that the tile preparation and application process was VERY different from todays-a GOOD installer ensures proper water barriers and sloping to prevent the issues you speak of.

 

[tvguy]

curious-how long had the original shower been in? i found with my parent's home (50's era) and our first (early 60's) that the tile preparation and application process was VERY different from todays-a GOOD installer ensures proper water barriers and sloping to prevent the issues you speak of.

House was built in 1979 and the remodel was in 2013. Hard to slope a wall. Remodeling contractor said black mold is a whole lot more common than people think, and a whole lot easier to remediate than people think and that water ALWAYS finds a way through.
The identical bathroom with identical tile had no black mold. Only difference was it had a bath tub shower combo, where the master bath had a 5 foot long shower only and our kids refused to shower in the tub, so the master bath got a lot use.