ISO Advice re: Numerous Corian Shower Installation Issues

4 years ago

@Joseph Corlett, LLC you commented on a prior post regarding our Corian shower design. Prior link on our shower design.

Given your deep knowledge and experience with Corian, I'm hoping you can advise us on what we should do about the numerous Corian shower installation issues below.

Attached are photos of the sample Corian shower & pan we viewed at the installer's showroom. We expected to see a similar seamless look between our shower walls and pan, but ours is anything but a seamless look. All we see are seams and what looks like a poor caulk job everywhere! We think our very expensive Corian shower looks TERRIBLE!!! :-(

Additionally, the installers didn’t create a slight slope along the flat shower pan edge so the shower glass fabricator warned the water inside our shower will sit on top of the shower pan and/or flow towards our floor tile.

We ordered our custom Pearl Gray pan from Grifform pans, but the measurements, shop drawing and shower pan order were handled by the company that fabricated and installed our Corian walls. We paid almost $6,000 for our shower pan which included a 35% rush fee.

We also paid an additional $15,000 (includes materials and labor) for our Glacier White walls with coved corners, large shower niche, and baseboard and Pearl Gray bench.

The installer had to cove our shower bench twice, because the gray we specified didn't work. When they tried to cove it to the white wall, the gray material got too thin so it looked like mildew trapped in clear caulk so they redid the coving in Glacier White to match the walls. However, that created a whole new issue resulting in a negative slope on the shower bench corner! I'm going to create a separate post on the sloping issue on our shower bench for you to review and comment.

We hired an installer who probably does more Corian installations in the entire Bay Area and is the only Corian installer we found who will fabricate and install coved corners. (We realize coving voids the warranty, but we HATE visible corners/seams!!) The company we hired came highly recommended by the west coast Corian distributor. They are the same company we used for our Corian shower surround a few years ago.

A foreman is returning to our home Thursday morning (Jan 13) to review our shower installation with us and our designer. I sent them the same photos included in this post. Suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!

Featured Answer

PRO

Joseph Corlett, LLC

4 years ago

"We expected to see a similar seamless look between our shower walls and pan, but ours is anything but a seamless look. All we see are seams and what looks like a poor caulk job everywhere! We think our very expensive Corian shower looks TERRIBLE!!! :-("

I agree; it does look terrible.

If you're going to cove corners, you hang the panels on french cleats so the walls can move somewhat independently of the panels. This also allows the panels to be very finely adjusted for a perfect caulk joint.

"The installer had to cove our shower bench twice, because the gray we specified didn't work. When they tried to cove it to the white wall, the gray material got too thin so it looked like mildew trapped in clear caulk so they redid the coving in Glacier White to match the walls."

They failed to rabbet the cove piece. Had they done so, it would not have become too thin. All coves get rabbets to avoid an elongated glue line which is what you got and appeared as mildew.

"Additionally, the installers didn’t create a slight slope along the flat shower pan edge so the shower glass fabricator warned the water inside our shower will sit on top of the shower pan and/or flow towards our floor tile."

The installers don't create that slope. That's created in the shop drawings sent to Grifform. The pan goes in level. It may not be too late to create this pitch.

I'm not aware of coving voiding a warranty.

You're really close to having a spectacular shower.

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Comments (13)

Julie K
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks you @Joseph Corlett, LLC! I don't know what most of what you said actually means (lol), but I'm going to cut and paste and send it to our installer before Thursday's meeting!
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Julie K
Original Author
4 years ago
@Joseph Corlett, LLC, can our shower walls be fixed without tearing out our shower walls and starting over? What specifically should we ask the installer to do at this point??
User
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
22K for just the Corian materials and install?? You could have had 2 great tiled showers with epoxy grout, from an expert, for that.
PRO
Mint tile Minneapolis
4 years ago
doubtful😂
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
"22K for just the Corian materials and install?? You could have had 2 great tiled showers with epoxy grout, from an expert, for that."

Hmmm...maybe, but you'd still have grout lines and the potential for mold and mildew. Not possible in a Corian shower.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
"@Joseph Corlett, LLC, can our shower walls be fixed without tearing out our shower walls and starting over? What specifically should we ask the installer to do at this point??"

It's probably a do-over, but unlike tile, Corian is completely recycleable on a do-over. I'd have to know the construction details to make an assessment and/or recommendations.

I'm a Certified Corian Installer/Fabricator, I installed over 30 showers in the women's dorm renovation at Bowling Green State University, 5 at the University of Toledo, I've built several residential showers without a callback and have authored an article on showers that appeared in Solidsurface Magazine decades ago.
Julie K thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
Have your installer call me please. 248-842-5693.
Julie K thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
Julie K
Original Author
4 years ago
@Joseph Corlett, LLC, thank you for your incredibly kind and generous offer to consult on our project! I can't thank you enough!!! I'll provide them with your comments on this thread and ask them to call you, but I have a feeling they won't take you up on your offer. :(

Meanwhile, here's a link to my post about our shower bench. Corian bench slope issue I'm also attaching a few more photos of our shower walls along with our signed shop drawings.

Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge, we truly appreciate it!!
Paula
2 months ago
@Julie K Did you get proper resolution?
PRO
Norwood Architects
2 months ago
I am wondering what happened as well.
Julie K
Original Author
2 months ago
@Paula and @Norwood Architects, it took quite a bit of time to resolve, but we finally got proper resolution and our shower walls and pan look fabulous! However, it required numerous conference/video calls with my designer, the owner of Grifform shower pan and their head of fabrication, and the owner of our Corian fabrication/installation shop and their lead installer.

For those contemplating going with a Grifform pan, it should be noted that there's only a thin line of caulk between the bottom of the Corian walls and the shower pan. Also, you'll probably have to apply new caulk as time goes on.

Also, about 18 months ago, I noticed a seam splitting just above the Corian shower pan on one of our coved corners approx 14" long. Unfortunately our Corian shop that had been in business for over 35 years had closed just a month prior. On the advice of a different Corian installer, I reached out to Dupont's warranty department to ask what we should do since the installer was no longer in business.

Corian requested our paperwork, pictures, and a video. After reviewing everything I submitted, they promptly arranged for the repair at no cost, and the individual they sent did an incredible job with the repair.
Paula
2 months ago
@Julie K Wow, that is terrific customer service! And a beautiful shower! I appreciate your answering with specifics. The shop that handled Corian here closed a few years back - decades of business but no one to take over. Really sad. I will reach out to Corian for info on installers/fabricators in my area. Thanks much!