I used epoxy without much fuss and I never used it before and only tiled once before in my life when I did my small kitchen backsplash area last year. So laticrete epoxy isn't that hard, honest. Once its done, your done, and you will have a durable grout. Have you considered urethane grout? It needs a 7 day cure time, without use, but other than that I've heard good reports. It is pre-mixed and the container can be recovered for use later; how long, I don't know. A high end tile shop in my locale uses it for their display floors because of the ease in use and the ability to cover and save. It is a Hydroment brand that they use. I have used the Hydroment thinset and have been very pleased with the product. They make the Ditra-Set that I used for my Ditra installation. Regarding Laticrete SpectraLock: What I did for my floor grout was mix a custom color with laticrete spectralock colors Platinum and Silver Shadow and some other grays. I did some small mixing with the small cartons of color you can get at Lowes, but I only purchased one tub of the epoxy. I prepped all my dry color combos and kept records. Then I mixed the epoxy and divided into small disposable containers mixing the dry into each. Ultimately, I came up with a 3part platinum and a 1part silver shadow that I used on my floor. I am very happy with it. I bought a large sized Laticrete kit of the Platinum online, that was linked through the Laticrete web site. I then bought a small carton of just the dry Silver Shadow color at Lowes and measured this SS amount, removed that same amount from the Platinum then added the SS. The large kit is equal to 4 small kits. So that was my 3:1 ratio. Of note the Laticrete Spectralock in the small cartons at Lowes is the "Spectralock Premium" and the large kit I got on line was the "Spectralock Premium Pro". The colorants are all the same, the epoxy, parts A&B are what differs. The Pro I think is a newer product and maybe has better application properties. As I said I ordered mine online, but you may be able to get the Pro version through special order at Lowes. Here is my finished grout, Silver Shadow on the left and Platinum on the right, My custom is the grout in the tile:

acrylic showers have thier place if you can live with it, it will be cheapest route. they do atleast dry out between showers, can be easily serviced. the only downfall of them is the wasted/lost space. In a average 32 acrylic the actual room inside is more like 28 1/2" and thats anywhere there is no shelf or handle, you loose another 9 inches in each corner, thats where they need the most support (for shipping) I am continuously asked about this question by my clients. Here is my opinion and why. I suggest the use of a poured cultured marble pan. we do the others but this is why. I do not like the way that the drain attaches to the liners in a wet-bed, I have been called back to 3 showers in the last 5 years where they have began to leak. none of the 3 were my fault, but all 3 had to have the floors removed, and rebuilt. all 3 was from the plumbers flange, 3 different plumbers were used by the homeowners. 2 leaked because the seal gave up on its own over time,(obviously they were not tight enough) plumbers had to pay me to redo. the 3rd I was paid by homeowner, because he admitted to plumber to using a toilet plunger to try and unclog the drain, that was full of hair. In doing so he blew out the seal, when the clog would not move. but there are more reasons than that. I have repeatedly been called in to redo showers here in the south (NC)because of mildew/mold. if you live in humid states rubber liners with wetbed is just not smart. it is just that a wetbed. Anyone can say what they want, seal it every year, or not the floor of a tile shower takes days/weeks to dry out after a shower. this combined with the fact that the floor and every wall contracts with temperature guarantees you that in a tile shower the corners Will crack no matter how small. relevent to leakage, no thats why the walls are sealed before the tile, it is enevitable that water will enter behind the tile in some small amounts. and move down to the pan. True they make caulking in every color that they make grout in, and should absolutly be used. but this does not take away from he fact that there is no possible way to keep water from getting under the tile level on a tile bottom shower floor. liners are not there incase the tile fails, its a working part of the shower system. and in this system (the cracks around the corners) there is an eco-system that is perfect for mold and mildew to survive, and spore out into the rest of your home continuously. cultured marble bases removes this continuous dampness, as well as having a standard flange that can be easily changed/worked on in case of any cause. Cultured marble pans are flanged on top, come in stardard sizes up to 4x5 feet, then you could build a bench all the way around the outside of that for a party shower. If you use cultured walls as well, corners are siliconed in, as well as a second sealed corner trim strip. so leakage is an impossibility, so is moisture retention. Recesses, and shelving no problem, even adding them later. smooth single no seamed surfaces are easy to clean and no maintainance. I make money if I do the tile, when I do bathroom remodels, I use outside contractor if they want the cultured marble and I make nothing for that. Facts are facts, I want my clients to get what they want, and what they need is info to make thier own decisions. Other people have said clean and dry your shower after use, I say what are they thinking. I want a VERY low maintainance place to get clean, not a place where I have to do maintainance every night, I wont dry me and the shower after every use. There is still the water in the cracks that you simply cannot get to to dry, along the bottom of the wall to floor seam. if you use the cultured marble base , and tile walls, you will have no worries as well, the possible problem is in the tile floor base.

Thank you for posting that example! I was just checking in on this thread hoping to see an example of where I might locate it on a tub/shower wall in terms of height since I will want to access it while lying down as well as while standing. Not a big deal (obviously!!!) but I want it to look right and to function right. I'm sure he is going to lose it on me. I have found all of this quite stressful at a time when work is also quite stressful. Oh well. This, along with a couple of the bathroom rated command hooks for loofahs and we should be all good for storage sice none of my bottles are more than 13 inches tall. I was not thinking quite clearly yesterday when I went to the Tile Shop. I wonder if he will also charge me $200 for tiling the little one? I hope not. He really seems lacking in creativity and a desire to do anything beyond what he "has seen" or certainly to do what I want; first on today's agenda will be me telling him that we are going to find a way to recess a medicine cabinet in a structural wall (after all it does support only the roof, not another whole story). He told me yesterday it would be impossible to do so. I really think he usually just doesn't want to do the work or put in the effort and hopes I will just take him at his word if he seems unpleasant enough to deal with. What s smart strategy! It really is not reflected in his other AL reviews but maybe they just took it as him being a seasoned authority. I probably should remind him I am an Angie's list member.

I sent a longish response earlier - don't know why it didn't post. We used regular sanded CBP and added glitter to it: Hemway (Silver Holographic) Glitter Grout Tile Additive 100g for Tiles Bathroom Wet Room Kitchen | Easy to use - Add/Mix with Epoxy Resin or Cement Based Grout | Temperature Resistant. It worked great and we still love it after 18 months of heavy use. In the past we used the Bostik Dimension Diamond Pre-Mixed Glass-Filled Grout. It is expensive and the results were - meh. If it is the same tile, try to lay it out on the floor beforehand. It is about 1/3 the price of similar tile, but the sheets don't line up well. We ended up having to push in individual bubbles to plug the gaps. The other thing we learned: Don't cut the bubbles to make the sheets flush against the walls. It looks better to just have the grout fill the gaps.