grandmahoney

Me and my husband our wanting to take out the tub and have a large shower put in its place. But we can't seem to decide if we should have plastic shower stall or porcelain tiles installed. My main worry is will the tile be harder to clean. We our in our late 60,s and in good health. But we also know this could change. And we want to be able to stay in our home as long as possible. I would like advise on how hard is the porcelain tile to keep clean?

redstilettos

Keeping tile clean is really dependent on two things. How hard is your water (water and calcium deposits) and how often you clean it. Personally, with you nearing your golden years, while I love the look of tile, I would consider the plastic stall. It is easier to keep clean, less risk of cracking, and is less slippery when wet than some tiles are.

Not to mention, as you age, you may wish to have a coordinating plastic/folding stool or chair to sit on, and it will blend in or be less noticeable with the plastic.

Just my .02

Tartan

Instead of keeping it clean concentrate on walker and wheelchair accesability. My older sister did tile so she can walk right in right now and it has a bench to sit on while showering. She put in grab bars and a shower wand so she can shower at her bench. She is on the list for a knee replacement.

maryb119

We will be doing the same thing later this month. We are putting in tiles. We will use a squeegie after each shower to prevent water spots. We thought about have a seat added while we are putting it in but decided that we will just use a portable seat if we ever need one.

Misty's Mom

We recently did ours too. We put in cultured marble, which is seamless except for the corners. It's really easy to clean. We also had the door removed from the toilet room as my DS's former FIL had gone to his bathroom and while there had a heart attach while sitting on the toilet. The door was closed and it took the paramedics a lot longer to get to him. Who knows if they could have saved him if the door hadn't been there. Here are the pics of our bathroom. Sorry about the lighting. [ATTACH=CONFIG]561978[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]561979[/ATTACH]

Misty's Mom

I might also add the doorway is wide enough for a walker or wheelchair and a shower seat in addition to the bench on the end. We love that there is nothing to step up or over when getting into the shower.

cashs_mom

I've had a couple plastic showers and now have tile. I hope to never go back to plastic. I found it much harder to keep clean than tile. It seems like the soap scum sticks to it more than it does to tile. I just spray my shower every day after we're done showering and don't have any problems.

willferg

Thanks for sharing those pics, Misty. We are about to remodel our bathroom, and I like the way you did yours!

nativetexan

plastic surrounds are ok but I hate them. they don't last as long as tiles in my opinion. of course i have a plastic surround shower again! hate it.

NJ Quilter

We have tile and I wouldn't trade it for plastic in a heartbeat! As another poster mentioned, water hardness is a factor but we have very hard water (lots of mineral deposits) and don't have an issue with the tile being clean at all. Key is to seal the grout extremely well. THAT's what really gets gross. I wish I had followed the store's recommendation on our shower walls re sealing but we didn't get that advice until we were doing kitchen floors! Their recommendation was to use 8 - yes 8 - coats of grout sealer. I did this to the grout on our kitchen floor and it is a breeze to clean - no extra scrubbing at all. Our bathroom grout really needs to be removed and replaced but we're never out of the house long enough for this process to be completed so it's just a cleaning headache on that end.

My experience with the plastic walls over the years was horrible (in various apartments in my former life!). But one recommendation I did get for that - much, much later - was to use car wax about 1x/month on the plastic shower walls and they are far easier to clean. Use a non-abrasive cleaner if that is the route you decide.