I really cannot offer any advice - I am interested in your question and above all - wish you very best wishes & good luck for the future.

A properly tiled shower should not leak. However, the key is "properly". If you have confidence in your contractor/tiler, you shouldn't have any problems.

I've often suggested we clone Bill V., but those gene engrs just aren't listening, darn it!

Hi myrna, and welcome to our daily form of insanity! :-)

Whoever told you that must have had a bad experience with a tile shower put together by a "shoemaker". If the shower is installed right, you won't have any leakage problems. Hopefully, I'm not jinxing myself here, but as of this july, I'll have been in the trade for 29 years, and I've yet to have a single shower leak, and that's both residential, as well as locker room and steam room showers. If you're in Dallas, I can give you the name and contact info of a top notch custom contractor down there.

jkom51-- trust me, this world ain't ready for two of me!! :-)

Thank you everyone for advice. Bill, I moved from Dallas to Kemah. So the current house damaged by Ike is in Kemah, TX. It is south of Houston. Do you know any one in this area? I would really appreciate some help.
Thanks

The only tile guy I know in Houston is John Bridge. He DOES take projects from time to time, but for the most part, he's pretty much retired. You might go to his website and contact him, though-- the worst that could happen is he says no. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

Sorry about your flooding. I'm in Clear Lake, planning to redo an old tile shower in the master bath, and wrote to John Bridge. Surprisingly, he replied! He's pretty much retired and selective in jobs he takes...didn't volunteer to do mine, alas. People on this forum seem to believe in the Kerdi shower system, which John wrote a book about, but there is only one Kerdi-certified installer in the Houston area (Ford Carpet and Flooring in the 290 area NW). There also is one in Beaumont. I'm still trying to decide if Kerdi is necessary. People who posted here don't seem to think so. I hopped on today to see if I can find some people who have had Kerdi showers long enough to know if they're better. I've never seen one and don't know exactly how they look around the sealed edges.

I don't know if this helps, but we did a cultured marble shower pan and tiled the walls. I used white subway, so it looks pretty inconspicuous(sp?) together.

stephanie93, did you buy your marble shower pan locally or order online? Do you have any pics? I would love to see it.

sc kathyc, sorry for the delay in responding. I purchased my shower pan from Micalline Products. They are a local company here in Columbia, SC. I will try to get some pics for you ASAP. We are actually supposed to have 1-3 inches of snow today--a rarity as you can imagine. All will be gone by Tuesday, so I will do my best to get pictures to you then.

Went to take pictures and shower is covered in plastic by painters. please let me know if you still need photos and I will get them as soon as they are out of there.

would like follow up to this discussion
we have older home in DFW area--getting ready to put it on the market
shower and master bath need work
shower is tiled but 25+ yrs old and probably sheetrock vs cement backed walls--could have some nasty stuff when it is torn out (as our contractor warned us--said he never regrouts older showers when doing remodeling--because most of them just have sheetrock and bad shower pans--but always goes down to the studs)

counter tops and tub are cultured marble--
my husband thought to put in granite countertops and new fiberglass tub w/tile top and new tile shower

our contractor gave us a fairly reasonable price except it does not include sinks, fixtures and the tile would be pretty basic...

we had someone come measure for new cultured marble countertops and tub and also a cultured marble shower stall because most homes in our area have not upgraded their baths ...

the cultured marble guy said that because the shower door is more narrow and there is a stepdown into the shower that they would probably have to cut the wall pieces and have a join/grout line vs having them the full length of the tiled walls

I asked about having a tile insert line--like 6 x 6 glass mosaic sheets--which he said could be done...

anyone have pictures of shower like that or have you done something like that yourself

cultured marble is the queen...but like an englishwoman, it ages poorly...there are many synthetics out there that look and feel like the real thing, and they last forever.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shower Trailer Rental