I am interested to see if it would be possible to use stone veneer cultured stone as a shower surround. If anyone has done this has it worked and are there problems with waterproofing?
Have not done it or even heard of it but there are things to consider. Is cultured stone porous? Will it hold water and thus cause mildew? Is it easily cleaned?With concrete backerboard it is probably possible although sealing the grout might present problems. Good luck on whatever you do and post back and let us know how it worked.
majakdragon,
I second that! This would be a nightmare to clean, major health issue. The other would be getting injured in a slip and fall mode. This would not be advisable in my opinion either. The other issue is bath fixture installation would be difficult but could be done.
Johnz, you may really want to rethink this venture.
Good Luck!
Thanks for your thoughts. What if somone used thin cut real stone similar to tile but regular rock. We have a shop in town that can cut stone to any thickness? It seems that it shouldn't be any different than tile just have a different look to it.
John Z
John,
The same issues will be there as I explained earlier.
Real rock is porous. You still are dealing with health and safety issues (rough edges) Extremely hard to keep clean.
Is this really what you want to do? It just seems to be a bad idea. Others may have opinions but this is only mine and hope you take no offense to my concerns.
Does this help?
No offense taken. I am just glad to have found the website for some help. I will think long and hard about it. I live by Park City, Utah and there are alot of resources here that I have yet to take advantage of. Alot of uspcale builders around. At least you have given me somethings to think about.
John z
John,
You're welcome! By all means look around and talk to other builders. We all try and help each other. New ideas are always interesting but as you say, think long and hard about your shower.
I've used cultured stone inside but never within a shower area. I have used it in stairwells like this and of course fireplaces.
http://dougaphs.smugmug.com/Architecture
Good Luck and let us know what you came up with.
I lived in a house that had cultured marble shower walls above the tub. It was easy maintenance. I kept them waxed to provide sheeting action. The bathroom also had cultured marble wainscoting. If cultured marble is not your cup of tea, then you can go with other solid surface material like Corian.
Sorry for the interruption here, but I was just wondering where you would get sheets of cultured marble big enough and thin enough for a shower surround. Or Corian for that matter, wouldn't that be really expensive?
Check with a local kitchen bath dealer for solid surface options in showers.
HomeschoolMom,
As Twelvepole mentioned, you need to get costs from a Dealer in your area.
The fact is that solid surface panels can be acquired in various thicknesses, 3/8 and 3/4 respectfully. Both for showers and tub surrounds, various residential and commercial applications.
The sizes that I am aware of with my projects have been panels that were at 60 x 84 (this was considered custom)
Stock panels are available such as 36x72, 41x72 and 60x72.
The cost does vary by thickness. You can be looking at a per sq ft cost which I will give some examples but check with your local supplier for exact costs. These are MATERIAL only - No labor or accessories that are available.
3/8 Marble - $7 - $10
3/8 Onyx - $10 - $13
3/8 Granite - $14 - $18
3/4 Marble - $15 - $17
3/4 Onyx - $18 - $20
3/4 Granite - $24 - $25
Kits are available for standard sizes but they vary in price based upon what you want included. Kits are reasonably priced for stock sizes.
http://www.showerbase.com/corian_wall_kits.htm
http://www.showerbase.com/Swanstone%20Wall%20Kits.htm
http://www.americancountertop.com/showerstall.html
Hope this helps!
I have seen cultured stone used in a large (8'x8', two head) shower in an upscale home. It had a sealant on it, making it look wet. I don't know if the sealant was sprayed on or brushed on. The whole house was timber frame with lots of cultured stone, so the shower looked OK. It would probably look strange if it were smaller and in a conventional home.
I have seen something like this done, but it was a little different. What they did was put the cultured stone (it may have been real, but I doubt it) around the shower (large shower), and then put glass walls all around. So it was actually a glass walled shower, but it had the stone directly behind the glass. It looked really neat.
I've done a stone veneer outdoor shower.
First, I don't know why anyone ever goes for synthetic stone. The real stuff in many cases is less expensive and more durable and it's real stone.
Technically a stone veneer in the shower could last for hundreds of years. There are some nice sealers that could help close the pores in the stone and you could use an epoxy tile grout between the stones, but it will always be a cleaning nightmare (too many nooks crannies). A really cool looking nightmare, but a nightmare none the less.
The outdoor shower was, well...outside, so mildew and moss on the stone helped add to the rustic feel and it was designed to never be cleaned, so I don't think you'd want that look in a master bath.
Tags: rock, veneer, showers, cultured stone, cultured marble, solid surface, stone veneer, cultured stone shower, Good Luck, hard about
