Opinion Please-Ceramic Tile or Plastic Surround

[B&B Mom]

I need some help....we are getting to the point where we are ready to redo our bathroom and I'm wanting to replace our plastic corner shower stall with ceramic tile. The problem is my husband believes that mould is a big problem with the grout.

Does anyone have opinions on what they decided to go with...tile or shower surround?

Thanks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OK, I guess you will have to be honest with yourself and decide how much cleaning you put into keeping the mold/mildew away.

If you hate cleaning grout regularly then go for the shower surround.

A shower surround is easier to maintain.

 

[Disneyrsh]

If you want to sell your house anytime in the future, go with the ceramic tile. The plastic surrounds will fall apart in about 5 years, they're cheap junk.

If you use an epoxy grout, small grout lines, grout that is the same color as the tile you're using and you seal the grout afterwards, you should be fine in terms of resisting mold on the groutlines.

Also, the kind of tile you use will impact how difficult it is to clean. If you use a porous limestone tile, you're gonna be cleaning all the time. I recommend a hard porcelain tile. This tile looks exactly like stone but is very hard and non-porous, and the color goes all the way through the tile so if it chips you won't see it.

Another option is to use sheets of corian or other solid surface material in the shower. My dad owns a countertop shop and has used this for years in some of his installations. Old Key West has a solid surface bathtub surround in the studio bathrooms.

Good luck, and shop around on the tiles, there's a HUGE difference in prices.

 

[Lisa F]

Tile is definitely a higher end look. I find that tile is much easier to maintain with a daily shower spray. We use Method ylang-ylang daily shower spray. It smells fantstic and it's non-toxic. I buy it at target but I saw method detergent last time I was at walmart so I wonder if they are starting to carry the brand.

 

[EthansMom]

We occasionally get mold here in our bathrooms -- I really have to keep on top of the cleaning and make sure to run the bathroom fan to help keep the mold from becoming a problem. That said, I think that tile grout is no harder to keep clean.

On my white grout, I use Soft Scrub with Bleach and a handheld scrub brush -- I just take these in and clean when I'm in the shower once a week. On the bathroom DH is remodeling, we'll have tan grout and so I'll probably use Tilex to clean it.

The most important thing is to use the right grout, seal it well 2-3 times and keep your bathroom clean (if you start noticing mildew or mold, get in and clean thoroughly right away).

Also, be careful to get tile that does not have little pock marks in the surface -- I had tile like that on the floor of my last kitchen and my current kitchen came with a similar tile (lucky me). No matter how much regular cleaning you do, dirt and grime settle into the little pock marks and the only thing I found that really got the tile clean was a thorough scrubbing on my hands and knees. Ugh!

The tile we are installing in the kids' bathroom right now is a nice porcelain tile (good wear rating). We are putting it on the floor and tub surround -- roughly 100 sq ft in all. The bigger tile is 6" x 6" and DH is making a decorative strip about 2/3 of the way up the shower with angled 6" x 6" tiles and matching 2" x 2" tiles. The 6" x 6" tiles were about $6/sqft and the 2" x 2" tiles were about $13.50/sqft. It's costing us about $1000 for the tub surround and floor, including grout, sealer, tiles, etc.

I have to agree that you might want to look at the solid surfaces available. In our last house, we had solid surfaces in the shower -- it's plastic that's drawn out in sheets -- so big plastic walls, but they look like marble and clean like a dream! I used a mild abrasive (often just baking soda) and a scrub brush to clean them once a week and they looked great! In Utah, the company that made them, installed them -- took a few hours out of one day for them to install the tub surround in the basement we had finished.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I will never build a house again with ceramic tile showers/baths. No matter how much I cleaned it, the grout always became a problem.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Tile is definitely a higher end look. I find that tile is much easier to maintain with a daily shower spray. We use Method ylang-ylang daily shower spray. It smells fantstic and it's non-toxic. I buy it at target but I saw method detergent last time I was at walmart so I wonder if they are starting to carry the brand.

I have to say that the "Method" Cucumber-scented bathroom cleaner smells so good.
One day after cleaning I went shopping and someone asked what perfume I had on, because it smelled so great!

 

[carrie_106]

Go with the tile, I agree that if you use Tilex, or a daily cleaner it will be great. The surrounds discolors, and they look really bad after a few years. My husband is in real estate and agrees with the poster above, ceramic bathrooms are more valuable for resale.

 

[Disney Doll]

We redid our bathrooma couple of years ago, and put in walls made of a product called Swanstone. It is a solid surface material, similar to Corian, but not as expensive.

The walls are solid white, they come in a kit with everything you need to install them. They are smooth and lovely, easy to clean, only a couple of seams so much less possibility of mold formation and leakage.

It is probably a little more expensive than either tile or an acrylic/plastic surround, but boy, is it easy to keep clean!!!

I love it.

 

[B&B Mom]

Thanks for the replies everyone!!!

I absolutley love the look and many choices that tile offers and if cleaning once or twice a week will maintain the cleanliness of the shower that is ok with me. Pricewise, that's another issue.

I have another question now....what about the base? Is this usually a separately purchased piece or can this too be a tiled surface? I've seen lots of tiled showers but for the life of me can't think what the base was. Would it require a special type of tile so it would be slip resistant?

Thanks again

 

[NCRedding]

We ave a tiled shower, the base is also titled. I have no problem with grout, but did have a problem with the grout dissolving and allowing a leak to form. I know of at least three other people who had leaking problems due to tile showers, but I still love the look.

 

[klj27]

I think it depends how long you are planning to stay in your house. We had to redo our entire bathroom in April (down to the studs). We knew that we would be selling within a year and did not want to put extra money into the bathroom that we would not get back. We went with all higher quality products and we decided to go with a surround. I am so glad that we did. We had tile before and I never really liked it and I especially did not like cleaning it. The surround has 4 built in corner shelves and the tub is 16 inches deeper than our old tub. I don't feel like it will hurt our resale because our house will be a starter house for whoever buys it. I think they will be thrilled to move into a 40 year old house with a 6 month old bathroom. I say to get what you like.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

Thanks for the replies everyone!!!

I absolutley love the look and many choices that tile offers and if cleaning once or twice a week will maintain the cleanliness of the shower that is ok with me. Pricewise, that's another issue.

I have another question now....what about the base? Is this usually a separately purchased piece or can this too be a tiled surface? I've seen lots of tiled showers but for the life of me can't think what the base was. Would it require a special type of tile so it would be slip resistant?

Thanks again

We have a tiled shower, however we have a regular base. Since we did the bathroom ourselves (well, DH did most of the work!), this helped A LOT. But a tiled shower DEFINITELY looks a lot classier than a whole shower surround. Especially if you put a frameless glass door.