Quartz etc., and acrylic pan

[BurtEggley]

Anyone put quartz, stone, Corian, Caesarstone etc onto a well made acrylic type shower pan? Talking 600 lbs total spread out over the pan tiling flanges.

 

[PCustoms]

My understanding is thats what the flange is made for. Also the "panels" are adhered to the wall, correct? So not all the weight is on the pan...



Related question, who makes a good pan? Need to redo mine this summer

 

[mike93lx]

Are these pieces installed differently than tile? If not, there should be no weight on the pan outside of initially placing it.

 

[BurtEggley]

They glue the 3/4" to 1" thick slabs to the wall with an adhesive that takes about 24 hours to set up - although you can smell it for months. Corian Quartz is 10 lb per sq ft, some other quartz are double that. Many people use the 1/4" thick fiberglass or plastic walls. Corian Solid Surface is thinner than Corian Quartz, and softer, but it is about 1/2 the weight. The big box stores sell some other acrylic brands for shower walls. I should have spec'd the Corian Solid Surface but the place that did our counters does not sell it so they did not mention the weight issue until late in the process. If I back out now I own 3 1/2 slabs of Corian Quartz that cost me considerable to buy.

There are quite a few different pans. What you use choose depends what you want to use for the walls. My advise would be to choose the walls first because if you use something heavy, you may want a more robust pan like wood with hot mop or Kerdi etc over it. Our pan was made by Florestone. Swanstone also makes them, as do many other manufacturers. We are happy with our Florestone pan but we are being told it may not be happy with the weight from the Corian. I am not a bathroom remodeler so I don't fully know. I will say that the shop we are using asked several other people they know who do this type work what they thought about Corian on an acrylic pan, and they got various answers that were from, "OMG, don't take that job. It will cost you nothing but grief" - or - "You'll be sorry" - or - "We do it all the time and have never had any issues with it" -or- "Here is a photo of one we recently did like that, the owners love it and no problems." Sounds like a Amazon, or Big Box Store review of a product. Whom do you trust, so I was wondering if anyone here had been thru it an acrylic pan and a heavy slab of Corian Quartz, Caesarstone, MSI etc..

As a footnote, and not trying to offer anything but advice to consider, my suggestion is to check with your local code officials before you commit to any changes or pans to be sure you are not triggering something else you might not want to do.

 

[gregs]

I wonder if they could attach a ledge under the pan continuously around the edge to add additional support and not have the load resting on the flange only for support. Wood or aluminum angle bracing the flange from underneath.

 

[KenC]

I have a low profile (1 1/4") threshold acrylic pan. From Lowes, The Onyx Collection brand, it is solid, there are no voids anywhere so loading is not an issue. But, darn, that thing is heavy! Must be completely supported though as it will flex under constant load.

Very good pan BTW. I've done and had tile over PVC, lead, Redguard on concrete etc. If I buy another it will be like this one. The high tech systems, like Schulter, are nice but don't really have any advantage in my use. Much faster than mud but slower that a prefab.

 

[BurtEggley]

thank you all.

I considered an aluminum bracket but I think that would push the wall out and they are sort of a do it the same way each time kind of people. They basically want to build a 50 year shower and something like this throws them

will give the The Onyx Collection a look.

 

[reader2580]

Instructions for shower bases usually indicate to keep the wall material up off the base for drainage.

 

[BurtEggley]

Instructions for shower bases usually indicate to keep the wall material up off the base for drainage.

yes, thank you

 

[Beemer]

Odd that no one ever seems to consider what the floor structure is designed to support, nor rather not to.

 

[BurtEggley]

The acrylic pan is concreted in onto a 4" concrete slab. There is no concern there.

 

[sailor_lou]

Also check out MTI shower pans:

Custom Shower Bases & Pans | High-Quality Shower Solutions

Shop custom-made shower bases and pans for a perfect fit. MTI Baths offers durable, custom shower bases designed to enhance any bathroom space. Check today!

mtibaths.com

 

[BurtEggley]

Also check out MTI shower pans:

Custom Shower Bases & Pans | High-Quality Shower Solutions

Shop custom-made shower bases and pans for a perfect fit. MTI Baths offers durable, custom shower bases designed to enhance any bathroom space. Check today!

mtibaths.com

thank you. I looked at their site and only saw an acrylic unit in our size. Could not find their ratings so just guessing it is designed to the same ANSI ratings as ours. Since the tests are not destructive, one only knows that the minimal ANSI tests have been made, and not the actual point at which it fails.

 

[BurtEggley]

thought I would close this out. The Corian was installed today. We used shims that will come out in a few days so there is no load on the pan.

 

[PCustoms]

thought I would close this out. The Corian was installed today. We used shims that will come out in a few days so there is no load on the pan.

That's not a shower pan....

Looks nice though

 

[BurtEggley]

That's not a shower pan....

Looks nice though

The shower pan is in the right hand photo with all the shims. They will come out and the weight will be on the wall. It will have grab bars, and a shower door that is screwed to the wall thru the Corian, so they will help anchor it mechanically. I think the original post was whether the 620 lbs of Corian Quartz would crush the pan or not.

 

[BurtEggley]

All photos beginning to end more or less, we are only awaiting a new shower door frame. The steps taken were:

removal of doors and old FRP in guest and master
minor movement of wires to make room for blocking
adding 2x8 blocking
DensShield and blending texture coat
Installation of Corian, shimming in master to protect acrylic pan
Plumbing reinstall
Caulking Corian and removal of shims in master so pan carries no 620 lb load of Corian
misc

We are temp using shower curtain until new shower door frame is installed. Then paintings etc can be put back up.

 

[BurtEggley]

master:

 

[BurtEggley]

 

[Stuart in MN]

I like the idea of using a solid surface material in the tub or shower, instead of tile - no joints to collect dirt and soap scum, so it will be easier to keep clean.