How to leave a shower curtain

And the ultimate solution is no shower curtain needed at all, no glass doors- wet rooms made of concrete and tile.

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When I initially built the Airbnb bathroom that was my idea. But I ended up putting up a curtain because water was getting on the woodwork around the adjacent entry door and along the kickboard of the bath vanity. So they were getting water damage. My Airbnb bathoom is just too small to be a wet room unless Iā€™m going to have no woodwork or molding in there at all. And Iā€™d have to tile the whole thing up to the ceiling. I also realized from my own bathroom that a shower with no curtain or door is a lot colder. In the tropics Iā€™m sure its fine.

It makes a huge difference what your STR bathroom is like and where itā€™s located. Itā€™s not so bad where the water isnā€™t full of minerals but you still have to deal with soap scum, etc. Glass doors mounted on a tub have a track that gets mucky and provides another edge that has to be caulked and maintained so it doesnā€™t get grody and molded. A door also takes more room and depending on what space it opens or slides into it can be a big reduction in space. They are expensive, they can break, they afford no privacy. There are some bathrooms where you almost have to have glass but if you donā€™t, donā€™t.

Planning for a 2022 renovation, Iā€™m evaluating replacing a tub with a walk-in shower in my 2BR2BA.

Turns out there is not a huge price difference between tile & a good quality fiberglass insert.

I want tile for the style & appeal. Iā€™m leaning toward the fiberglass for ease of care.

Thoughts?

For sure, there canā€™t be any wood in the bathroom for it to be a wet room.

I had never really thought about it before I had my place built in Mexico, I was used to wood house construction, where even if a floor is tiled, flooding would destroy the wood subfloor, but since pretty much everything is concrete construction here, I realized that shower curtains wouldnā€™t be required. And my shower stall is configured such that water couldnā€™t reach the wooden bathroom doors.

If I were ever going to build another house, which is unlikely at my age, I would actually want to have the house be concrete construction, even in Canada, where it isnā€™t that common.

Iā€™ve never had one but Iā€™ve seen many of them over the years and they donā€™t appeal to me. They always seemā€¦cheap. Plasticky. Iā€™ve seen quite a few that donā€™t look clean and do look scratched. I donā€™t know anything about their ā€œease of careā€ in comparison to tile.

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No, I have to disagree with your wife.

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As the OP hasnā€™t come back on here, one has to wonder if he passed all the comments along to his wife and she now has him under lock and key, with no online access. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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Is that vinyl plank flooring above the shower? Looks cute.

Had fibreglass insert and a larger sized guest cracked the base, that rotted the floor and everything pulled out and replaced with tiles

Good information. Thank you

All I can say is that you wonā€™t find a 300 year old villa with a fiberglass shower stall. And no one sells pre-aged fiberglass either. I.e. Tile is easy to care for, durable and ages well.

But what about when you are renting out a 1993 condo in South Carolina?

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All the more reason for some proper tile. Besides itā€™s near the beach. Tile. What I mean is that tile is the tradition for a reason. Thereā€™s nothing about a 1993 condo in SC that requires re-inventing the wheel (the shower stall).

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I agree as an earlier post indicates. Just thought for a moment that you we thinking that Anne had an Italian villa. :wink:

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Oh, I wish. But I was just speaking to the durability of tile. And the fact that you can buy pre-aged tile because it ages well but that no one sells pre-aged fiberglass because it looks nasty as it ages.

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LOLOL. Not to offend anyone but the OPā€™s picture of the shower is one of those one piece fiberglass enclosures. Iā€™ve seen plenty of rentals where something like that fits. Iā€™ve seen others where it doesnā€™t. If you are doing a quick flip job or only want something that lasts 8-10 years, itā€™s fine. One problem with tile can be itā€™s longevity. People who put tile should think long and hard about what they want.

I just had my entire home tiled within the last 6 years. Iā€™m already unhappy with much of it. Not because itā€™s tile but because I donā€™t like the tile that I chose and I donā€™t like the way it was installed. So Iā€™m already saving my pennies for another complete 1500sf tile job in my home before I get too old to care.

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Doh, I didnā€™t notice that, but it is all the more reason for him to put that shower curtain down, lol.

Well we might be on a different philosophical side about that, but, regardless, @Annet3176 said that there wasnā€™t a huge price difference, that she liked tile better but thought fiberglass was ā€œease of careā€.

My point is that fiberglass is not easier to care for so if all things are equal and she prefers tile for the style and appeal (which are both more than relevant in an Airbnb) that she doesnā€™t need to choose fiberglass because it is not easier to care for. I would think itā€™s especially unfortunate for an Airbnb because, well, because guests and how guests behave.

When a guest drops a razor on the tile then the tile wins but if when a guest drops a razor on fiberglass then the razor wins. Fiberglass is easily marred and soon looks dirty regardless of how clean it is. Iā€™ve had both plenty of times and, from my personal experience, fiberglass was never easier to care for.

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Weā€™re not talking about your shower @GeoffandAmy, I swear!

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My reasons for replacement are two fold.

I really want a walk in shower with a place to sit AND the prior owner loved abrasive cleansers. The tub looks gray because the fiberglass finish has been scrubbed off. It has been regularly used and has worked well for 27 years so for cheap condo construction, itā€™s done itā€™s job well.

I will have the other tub refinished $300-$400.

I like tile. The floor in the condo is all tile. It has the wood-look most area & large square in bathrooms.

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This too. Iā€™m waffling. Iā€™m good with my choices so far but a friend just spent major $$$ redoing her master bath. It is beautiful and looks like a SPA. How long would I like it? Aaarrrrggggg!