And the ultimate solution is no shower curtain needed at all, no glass doors- wet rooms made of concrete and tile.
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 Iām going to have no woodwork or molding in there at all. And Iād 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 Iām sure its fine.
It makes a huge difference what your STR bathroom is like and where itās located. Itās not so bad where the water isnāt 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 doesnāt 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 donāt, donāt.
Planning for a 2022 renovation, Iām 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. Iām leaning toward the fiberglass for ease of care.
Thoughts?
For sure, there canāt 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 wouldnāt be required. And my shower stall is configured such that water couldnāt 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 isnāt that common.
Iāve never had one but Iāve seen many of them over the years and they donāt appeal to me. They always seemā¦cheap. Plasticky. Iāve seen quite a few that donāt look clean and do look scratched. I donāt know anything about their āease of careā in comparison to tile.
No, I have to disagree with your wife.
As the OP hasnāt 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.
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 wonāt 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?
All the more reason for some proper tile. Besides itās near the beach. Tile. What I mean is that tile is the tradition for a reason. Thereās nothing about a 1993 condo in SC that requires re-inventing the wheel (the shower stall).
I agree as an earlier post indicates. Just thought for a moment that you we thinking that Anne had an Italian villa.
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.
LOLOL. Not to offend anyone but the OPās picture of the shower is one of those one piece fiberglass enclosures. Iāve seen plenty of rentals where something like that fits. Iāve seen others where it doesnāt. If you are doing a quick flip job or only want something that lasts 8-10 years, itās fine. One problem with tile can be itās 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. Iām already unhappy with much of it. Not because itās tile but because I donāt like the tile that I chose and I donāt like the way it was installed. So Iām already saving my pennies for another complete 1500sf tile job in my home before I get too old to care.
Doh, I didnāt 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 wasnāt a huge price difference, that she liked tile better but thought fiberglass was āease 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 doesnāt need to choose fiberglass because it is not easier to care for. I would think itās 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. Iāve had both plenty of times and, from my personal experience, fiberglass was never easier to care for.
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, itās done itās 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.
This too. Iām waffling. Iām 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!