General Question

pauley61's avatar

Pros and cons of fiberglass shower stalls?

Asked by pauley61 (19points) October 9th, 2009

Alternatives that are inexpensive for a small bath? We are re-doing a small bath and are looking for ideas on alternatives to the ugly fiberglass stalls. Tile?

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11 Answers

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

If you have a Habitat for Humanity organization in your area, they usually also have a retail outlet known as a ReStore where you can buy slightly used material for your remodeling jobs. I always check my local restore first. Just this week I got two remnant pieces of counter top (one 30” the other 15”) for less than $10. They also sell 4×4 inch wall tile for about .10ยข each. They carry just about anything you could possibly need, and buying it there keeps the stuff out of the landfill. The money also goes to a good cause.

We are going there tomorrow to pick up some supplies for our bathroom/kitchen/living room remodel. We should probably take both trucks, as I know we are going to find all sorts of good deals.

Give it a shot, hopefully you can find something similar in your area.

inkvisitor's avatar

I second the ReStore option, though it can be a hit or miss since they get such random stuff (but often-so check often!).

Cartman's avatar

I’d go for tiles to. If you can’t find any colourful tiles you like, there are always plain white to be found somewhere (Home Deport etc.) at good prices and a discreet floor tile. Then you can spruce up your bathroom to you liking with towels etc. in the proper colours. That’s what we did.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

I am having horrible problems with a tile shower. My house is old, and as the floor has settled, there has been cracking in the grouting that has resulted in a major leak in the shower. It’s needed regrouting about once every two weeks. I’ve had it partially torn out and new wallboard (special dry wall for bathrooms) put in three times. I am getting ready to have the whole shower taken out, including the concrete that they poured for the floor, the subflooring repaired, and a fiberglass (read as seamless), put in. The whole venture is going to cost in the neighborhood of $10,000.

Cartman's avatar

@PandoraBoxx it seems that there is a structural problem underneath everything. Someone sometime have probable covered up bad or faulty ground work with shiny stuff.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

There didn’t appear to be a problem until we put the shower in. A 100 year old house does funky things. All houses do funky things. We’ve had so much rain this year that the ground water tables are going nuts, and people are having all sorts of structural problems going on.

ccrow's avatar

@PandoraBoxx , are you in New England by any chance? I was beginning to think I would need to build an ark!

pauley61's avatar

Thanks for the great info. Do you think tiling the shower pan is best or use a standard pan w/o tile??

mattyttv's avatar

Tile is a great option and there are of course many designs that can be used to match your decor. You may still like to consider using a general fibreglass lamination onto the floor first before you lay your tiles, just incase you have a leak in the tiles later. This would only be really necessary if you have a timber floor.

pauley61's avatar

We went with tile and it looks GREAT! Thanks!

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