Batroom Remodel Questions

We just redid our bathroom and sadly found mold and rot and had to extensively replace the entire shower and floor. Our former bathroom had a surround and mold behind it. But I've seen mold behind tile as well. If going with tile you have to seal it often and it costs far more than a surround. We did a surround again and thus far no issues. Unfortunately most bathrooms get mold at some point. It is just too damp and steamy in a bathroom to avoid all mold growth. Personally, I would go with the surround and get a really good exhaust fan. As to the doors, I don't like them. Never have. I do find them hard to clean and if you don't like to clean often then doors aren't for you. However, we the right doors you could have a steam shower which some people love.

Hi Cheri,

We redid our bathroom 3 years ago...we had a surround and went with a surround again. The only way I would agree to go with another surround was to find one that you didn't have to caulk...if you have to caulk around them you have to do this practically every year...awful! There are some cheaper surrounds at Home Depot and Menards, but I didn't like they way they looked, so we kept looking....it paid off...we found an awesome surround...it is made by a company called Swanstone. You can find them on the internet...we got ours in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We got the tub, shower surround, and vanity top all to match...ours is a gray color, but you can get lots of different colors. Ours was attached to our wall studs and then the dry wall was put on afterwards, but you can get the surround that goes right onto the dry wall, also. We have had several compliments, and it still looks like new. Ours never has, but the instructions say that if it gets a scratch you can sand it out because the color goes clear through...pretty cool!

As for shower doors or a curtain...we have had both...I said I would never have a shower curtain because I loved my shower doors on our first surround...they opened in the middle, and were really pretty, but when we got ready to redecorate I couldn't find any shower doors that I liked that opened in the middle, so we ended up going with a shower curtain. Took me forever to find a shower curtain I liked, but after I did it was fine. Sometimes I am just too picky. My shower curtain is starting to show some wear, so I need to start looking because it will probably take me forever to find another one I like. It is fun to be able to change it, plus you don't have that track to clean.

Good luck!

C.

I would hands down choose tile. You can seal the grout. It looks so much better and, you are right, the surrounds are often flimsy.
With the shower door/curtain question, my personal preference is a shower curtain with a curved rod. I hated my shower doors! They are out of date and horrible to clean. I love being able to throw my shower curtain in the wash! And the curved rods are wonderful! They don't take up anymore space in the bathroom and give a spacious feel to even the smallest of bathtubs!
I love bathroom remodels! Enjoy your new space!

I've had tile in most of the showers that I've owned and have not had a problem with them "harboring" mold. Sure sometimes it's a pain to scrub the grout, but a good cleaning product and scrub brush takes care of that.

I don't have a lot of experience with shower doors. I'm assuming that your talking about a tub/shower not just a shower stall. The only thing that I've notice (at others houses) is that the track for the door can be hard to clean and can look nasty. But I haven't noticed the door itself looking bad. I had a shower stall once for 2 years and that was fine and didn't get dingy. We did use a cleaning mist after we used it and that seemed to keep it clean and nice looking.

Good luck, we're looking at doing a bathroom remodel as well and it's hard to make all the decisions. I can't imagine what a kitchen remodel would do to me :)

We are now living in our 3rd home, so I have a little experience with contracters.

My fist advice would be always go with one of the middle quotes. Twice my hubby went with the cheapest quote and we were really unhappy and ended up spending more money to have the job done correctly by someone else. After that, I told my husband we would always go with a middle quote and we have never had any problems.

We have had homes with both ceramic tile and the surround. We never had any problems with mold. I know there is more maintance work with tile, you have to seal the grout every year or so.

We also had glass doors in our last home. I hated them! They would always get that white film on them after you shower. It does come off when you clean them, but you have to clean them off after every shower if you want them to look perfect all the time. Plus, it was hard to give my son a bath. The one we had was a sliding one so it only opened halfway.

Ah the joys of bathroom remodel. I just did 2 about 8 mo ago. I ended up going with a surround for the sheer fact that the existing surround was under the drywall so rather than drywall the whole thing this was more cost effective. the surround we have is a no-caulk surround it comes in 3 pcs. & you do have to attach to studding and drywall over the top & 2 sides to hide the flange. So far it cleans really well.
I am a fan of ceramic tile & have never had to seal the tile at Grandma's and they have lived there 26 yrs, she doesn't use tub and tile anything on it and has no probs.

Definately a shower curtain person, no matter how much you clean the tracks on doors they are still YUCKY.

I agree to go with a middle quote & if it is a smaller co. check the references. My bro. is a contractor so I got lucky but he wasnt able to do my kitch. counter and the guy we got didn't do a very good job & was kind of spendy IMO.

If you are redoing flooring as well, there is a wonderful tile out there called Dura Ceramic. It looks like ceramic but is warmer and conforms to your floor if there is any unevenss you also don't slip on it if your feet are still a bit wet. Goes down just like tile, but super easy & less mess to deal with, no mortar to mix just apply the adhesive let set, lay tile, grout, done!

With tile it takes more work to keep the tile and grout clean. Right now our shower has tiles that are way too small (size of a quarter or smaller) and we are actaully redoing our bathroom and I am going to opt for bigger tiles (the size of my hand or larger).

the all surround for a tub/shower to me is always the easiest to clean BUT it is dull and I like the look of tile better... this is a personal option so go with whatever YOU want not what a contracter wants. A reason why a contractor might suggest something is because that means it will be easier for them, in this case putting in a surround would be easier then tiles.

With shower doors and curtians. I hate shower doors, they are hard to keep clean and as another mom said the track is the worst to clean and I could never keep it clean. I do like that the shower curtian can be thrown into the wash or thrown out, I like to change things up and a shower curtain gives me that freedom without having to change the WHOLE bathroom. Once again chose what you want, do not let a contractor tell you what to do.