bl wrote:
I built a shower this summer, with Swanstone parts. I was lucky, I
could use a standard 32x60 base with the drain in the middle. Even that
base was ~$600, with the 3 walls the Swanstone parts totalled $1800. A
custom one might be more, but it's _EASY_. Easy to install, easy to
clean, won't leak, looks good. And an amatuer can do a
professional-looking job in a few hours.

Wow! And I was naively thinking that I can get away with not much more
than the *complete* shower kits (standard, centered drain, includes
walls, glass end everything) costing here at Home Depot about $218...

I'm not a fan of tile. You can do almost any shape with it, sure. But
it's a fair amount of work. If it's your first time tiling, it will
often look like it. You have to grout. And seal grout. And clean
grout. There are many more opportunities for leaks. You have to make
the floor slope. For me, that adds up to calling a contractor, and at
that point you've spent as much as a custom shower base. A good tile
guy can do beautiful things with tile, given time and a sufficient budget.

Thanks for reinforcing my opinion about tiling. Tiling is out of a
question for me then.


Good plastic isn't cheap. I priced doing my shower in Corian, just for
info. $3500 ... That was just for a base and 3 walls, and me doing the
labor!

A lot depends on what you consider an arm and a leg, and what kind of
house you're putting the shower in.


The kind of house I am in right now is a 20-year old cheaply built town
house in New England. Everything is wood/drywall based and very poor
workmanship and quality of materials. Not worth investing in Corian... I
am trying to get away with the least expensive but also least labor
intensive option.

I amazed that I can't find a plug-in replacement. The shower base you
saw in the photo doesn't look to me custom made. I wish I knew which
company manufactured it - I could than contact them and get a definitive
"yes" or "no".

Imagine investing lots of money and labor in fitting in something
expensive, only to find 2 months later that a direct plug-in replacement
could have been found somewhere...

Lynn