Cultured Marble Shower - pay for install or diy?

[Patrick Irish]

Not sure where to post, move If necessary.

Wife is due in 2 weeks with our first born. We’re in a 1000sqft townhouse I bought 10 years ago. We, with help of my licensed contractor father, moved some doorways and walls to add storage space. This has turned into redoing the hall bath that is a shower over tub with 1980s cultured marble.

We got a quote for $3,000 for a new cultured marble higher end series wall panels installed with a matching vanity banjo top that has an embedded sink. This is after my fathers discount and it’s all installed. Would take half a day for install.

deal or no deal?

Other option is we’ve found several local stone shops that sell artificial marble 3 piece shower panels for around $400. This is not installed and does not include a vanity top.

My dad likes the $3k installed route because it’s done and no quesswork. I like the idea of the $400 panels but need to find out if the outside edges are polished/profiled and of trim pieces are available. A vanity top would still need to be sourced and probably not match.

what do you think?

Anyone install some of that artificial marble panels before? It’s going over a tub and it don’t think it would be hard. It looks pretty square where it hits the top of the tub and comes down to the floor.

[Brian Tymchak]

You should post these kinds of questions in the Off Topic forum.

Tough to answer. Prices are very location dependent.

[Jamie Buxton]

A big part of the answer is your skills. Maybe you can succeed easily, but maybe you can't.

You don't want a half-complete bathroom when your baby arrives. Hiring it done avoids that risk.

[Richard Coers]

Nature pays no attention to a calendar. That baby could come tonight! Go for the install unless your wife doesn't mind not having a shower when she comes home from the hospital. At my house, that bathroom better be finished ASAP!

[Brandon Speaks]

I would hire that all day long.

[Andy D Jones]

Think not only of the work (and risk) for you, but the stress on your expecting wife...

The latter could entice the child into an early arrival, too.

And your father, who has helped you all along, has advised you to go with the installed job.

I know what I'd do.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Jim Koepke]

No matter how well my work would be, my wife will always find something.

If it is the installers fault, she can't blame me.

The price of comfort is often worth it.

jtk

[Ron Selzer]

"No matter how well my work would be, my wife will always find something.

If it is the installers fault, she can't blame me.

The price of comfort is often worth it"

that describes my first and second wives, current wife is happy with anything I do. She prefers me to be home working on something in the shop or relaxing with her. Amazing the amount of furniture that gets built now.

[Thomas McCurnin]

If this is going to be where the baby will be bathed etc, I think I'd hire this out in a NY second.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Not sure where to post, move If necessary.

It’s going over a tub and it don’t think it would be hard. It looks pretty square where it hits the top of the tub and comes down to the floor.

I'd pay more attention to what is behind the finished surface that its cosmetic appearance. Would you and the installer use the same underlayment, installed in the same way? - use the same number of coats of RedGuard over it?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

The devil is in the details on these projects. IF everything is square and cut properly, and planned correctly, the half day install is maybe possible. If however there is a slight problem you'll turn that half day into weeks very quickly. Hire it. BTW, I do install these from time to time, I would not recommend using a $400 product sourced here. Perhaps your $400 product is what I have to pay $1200 for, but if not it's cheap crap. Also, the proper adhesives for solid surface inserts take at least 24hrs to cure and there ought to be bracing in there to make sure all stays in place for that long.

I suspect you've looked into FRP, which is not cultured marble. It's junk, run. If it is a true cultured panel that big it'll be a bearcat to install because of weight and fragility, don't even think of doing that yourself. Solid surface companies sell wet walls, they are acrylic, not cultured marble. Reputable brands of this are good products. However, the panels are very heavy, can break pretty easily and a first time DIY guy will guaranteed spend a full day on shower valve cutouts and still have a good chance of a screw up requiring a new panel.

With a baby in the mix, your wife will much appreciate you hiring this job out.