I don't have any information about Swanstone, but I would be interested in hearing why you would not use tile again, as I am planning to do a tile shower.

I am replacing a shower/tub combo with a Swanstone shower (hopefully installation in 2 weeks). I have swanstone counter/sinks in my bathrooms and a swanstone sink in my kitchen. I love the stuff. Easy to clean - low maintenance.

Yes - while there is a lot of beautiful tile out there - I never want to clean grout again! JMO.

Bonnie

We redid a shower in Swanstone and loved it. Easy to install, easy to clean, and water-tight.

Be sure you are referring to real Swanstone solid surfacing - they also offer a cheaper alternative called Veritek.

Swanstone solid surfacing is an excellent product. I've owned their bathroom vanities with integral sinks since 1990, and kitchen countertops/sink since 2003. Non-porous and easy to clean.

Thank you jKom51 I will do.

I am happy to add my kudos to Swanstone shower walls. Better than sliced bread, better than???===I will never, never have to clean dark, moldy grout again. It is in a 4 yr old bath and a 1 yr old bath.
One caveat- if you plan on installing a glass shower door, be sure to buy the walls without the border/lip- the glass may not fit. But Swanstone also comes in a flat panel, which- is also much cheaper.
I have pretty glass tile and mediterranean tile above and on the room walls to satisfy my tile needs. Swanstone in the shower/bath and tile on the walls. Perfect!

I have had Swanstone in my shower and vanity top with integrated sink for over 10 years and it looks just as good now as when it was put in. Water tight and indestructible.

I suspect this is the product that tops the three bathroom vanities in my house (I didn't build it). I love that it's integrated and couldn't be easier to clean. No groove for any grime to settle in. A couple years ago my husband thought he'd make a tile countertop for the master bath. I said WHY? He thought he'd do it to update the look and I said uh-uh. This surface is the easiest to wipe clean. I don't need any grout in my house!

Thanks to Westsider40 for your post. I am strongly considering Swanstone in the shower because I, too, despise cleaning grout. I think we are going to go with it. Would love to see a picture of your bathroom. If you are able to post one, it would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for ideas and would love to see the overall look of your bathroom. I love the look of glass tile! By the way, do you have Swanstone sink/countertops as well? Thanks, Susan

How can I make sure the shower base I order is Swanstone and not Veritek? I've found plenty of bases that SAY they're Swanstone, but are the same price as ones that admit they're Veritek.

weedyacres- ar the shower walls a solid piece? they look like tile and I am confused. OR are you just refererring to the shower base?
It does not take much to confuse me, so go easy on me.

The Swanstone walls are solid. Might be the reflection that makes it looks like tiles a little. They do make decorative solid walls though, if you don't like the plain.

I'm having mine installed next week - not going for the decorative though.

Bonnie

Here is a link that might be useful: Swanstone decorative shower walls

Yes, they're solid panels, and we also put a 3" wide trim piece around the top and sides and a strip of cove molding in the corner.

Dear Susan631, Sorry. I spend time, mostly, on the kitchen forum since I finished my last bath a year or so ago. Further, I don't know how to post pics nor even correctly use a digital camera. I can talk, though.

Four years ago, I did a gut reno of the small, 5'x8' or 9', hall bath, the bath which would be used for 3 of our 4 bedrooms. The last kid at home is now 17 and it is her private bath. No sharing.
I used bright white, plain, flat (borderless, no rim) swanstone for the walls of her shower/tub and a white Americast tub. Plain white shower curtain. No glass. In my mind, the remote possibility existed that a teen might have a fit in the shower(teens have fits), or even fitless, could slip, and safety was paramount. She sadly said goodbye to her curtain of many colors, fishies, etc.

Hansgrohe and Grohe wallbar, shower and tub chrome stuff. A three tier, expensive, Ginger chrome corner shelving unit installed thru the swanstone walls. 3 KM Kenyon cabinets, warm, rosy,lt to med brown with chrome modern bar pulls-one 42"vanity, one corner cab and a perhaps 36" tall cab over the Toto. White seamless Avonite counter and sink. Sunbeam wall mount hair dryer. Huge recessed one door beveled mirror med cab bordered on all 4 sides by 3 rows of one inch cobalt glass tile. Enough storage for any teen or three teens.
I found gorgeous shiny, bright white, rough edge, perhaps 6x6 or 8x8 field tiles for the walls and above the shower area -trimmed with cobalt blue ceramic chair rail, small cobalt glass tile, cobalt liners, and an unusual, wavy patterned, listello of cobalt, brown (exact cabinet match) and white. This decorative border of dimensional(bulgy) chair rail, approx 6 inches of small flat glass(cheap),tri-colored listello in a wavy pattern and smallish liners went across the wall opposite the vanity, about 4 feet high. Also, there, a 4 hook chrome bar. The chair rail went up the wall and above, whole tile business went across the shower wall, above the white field tile. White grout, 1/2 inch spacers.
Ordinary white non shiny 8x8 cer tile floor from hd.
As a 'family' bath, I think it is interesting, timeless, appropriate for each gender and every age.
The coolest factor, now discontinued, is the Hans or Grohe, Axor, lav faucet which swivels to become a drinking fountain!! No cups. Should be clutter free-but that's another story. I hope you read this delayed post. Good luck. Bev

Dear Susan, I'll describe the Swanstone in our one year old master (Ha- also 5'X8'or 9')bath. White bright SW surrounding the white Americast tub. Above the swanstone, I used clear, seafoamish, turqoise-ish, light greenish, can't think of exact color word, one inch glass tiles on the three walls above the tub area. I used the same one inch tiles on the vanity wall,continuing down to the border just above the counter. The border consisted of the same color tiles, however, 1"x2"subways, and 4x4's, all the same color glass. Got the tile in Chicago for approx $8 s.f.-Got lucky. Granite counter with shades of turquoise,dark and light yellow greens, white streaks, lots of movement. White china undermount. Modern chrome everything including soap dispenser and faucet.
Very anti clutter. Tip out tray in vanity for toothbrushes and paste. Confess that elec toothbrush is on counter. Pretty marquetry box containing hairbrushes/combs is the only other thing on the granite counter. Wall mount blow dryer. Heated floor-dedicated elec line and a separate dedicated elec line for heavy duty heater/dehumidifer/no lite ceiling thing. Toto washlet. Washlet remote control, flat soap dish, bar soap, tp holder, a 3 hook bar are all affixed to side of vanity next to the toilet. White shower curtain.
No grout to clean-no glass to squeegee anymore-gave away our pricey but pita glass enclosure. Every month or two, shower curtain goes in washer. No clutter-no decorations. No duckys, flowers, stuff for me. Great for others. I call it my self cleaning room.
Had I not been so burned out at the end, I would have used a colored grout to highlight the subways and 4" tiles. Oh well. I am happy.

We have a Swanstone shower base. It's very comfortable to stand on (not cold & not slippery) and very easy to care for. I think that tile is more attractive but if I had to do it all over again, I would pick Swanstone, hands down, because of the cleaning factor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shower pan

I find myself dithering on this for our shower. I don't really like the look of the cove corner inserts or the trim pieces around the edge. Can Swanstone be fused in the corners so that the extra pieces are not needed?

>>I don't really like the look of the cove corner inserts or the trim pieces around the edge. Can Swanstone be fused in the corners so that the extra pieces are not needed?In a word - no.

It's a solid piece, cast in a mold. The whole idea of using any solid showerpan, whether solid surface or cast iron, fiberglass or acrylic, is that the corners and borders of tile are very often where most improper prep and leakage occurs. Using a solid showerpan with coved corners and a high rim, eliminates that problem.

If you have someone like Bill V. who properly slopes a shower floor and preps the right way, you should have no problems with a tiled shower floor which seems to be the look you really want.

OTOH, those of us who use solid showerpans do so precisely because professionals like Bill V. are so darn hard to find!

I've voted before that we try to clone him, but we just can't get those government scientists to agree he's a national treasure, LOL.

Actually, it was the vertical coved corner pieces that I wasn't crazy about.

The pan looks great to me, and I'm ordering some samples of white, bisque, and bone to see which would be best with our chosen tile.

However, if we go with Swanstone walls, we will get the aggregate color (winter wheat) walls and base.

urspider, what is the color of that Swanstone shower base? It looks great.

Hi...I realize this thread is over 4 years old, but I too am embarking on a Swanstone purchase and wondered how things were holding up for those who put in Swanstone shower surrounds.
I am thinking of going with the white decorative beadboard panels for our shower and glass doors. I wonder how the beadboard stays clean with the grooves, but everyone says Swanstone is so easy to clean.
Thoughts?
Thanks

We put in a Swanstone shower 18 years ago after our tile shower failed. It looks like new. As someone else said, tile will probably look better, but Swanstone is so easy to clean that it definitely makes sense for some people.

Also want to know about cleaning for beadboard decorative panel cleaning

@boltons did you go with it? Any pics? Whats been the experience with cleaning the grooves?

Any grooves or recessed or the like will take extra attention to detail when cleaning. That’s where the nasty stuff grows. It’s not the smartest thing to put grooves inside a shower if you want the less maintenance that solid surface promises. You just cost yourself more work than tile would be.

I will second Live Wire Oak's opinion. I have a Transolid (like Swanstone) shower base that has grooves in it to provide traction. I never have to do anything to the Transold walls because we squeegee them after we shower, but the shower floor does get pink slime growing in the cracks. So I take out my Force of Nature electrolysed water and give it a spray and let it sit then a scrub and rinse and we are good for another couple of months. If I just sprayed it every week, it would probably be fine and never grow mildew.