Well, as it turns out, a curbless shower is out of budget for us. We don't need that kind of accessibility at this point and may never need it. So we are looking for other options--preferably with a low curb to help with accessibility as much as possible within our budget.

We are completely remodeling the bathroom and the new shower space is 36 x 74. This shower will see heavy use as it is in our kids' (and the hall/guest) bathroom. Easy to clean and durable are high priorities. Cost is definitely a consideration.

I find tile challenging to keep clean on floors so it would not be my first choice for the shower floor (one upside to not going curbless as tile seemed the best option for that).

Kohler makes a cast iron shower base in 36 x 60. So we could build in a tiny closet of some kind (more storage is always good) or a bench of some kind on the end to use up the extra 14 inches. I do like cast iron for its durability and I think it suits our old house.

Or we could go with a custom shower base out of cultured marble, corian, corian-like, or onyx. I think we would be able to get a lower curb going with one of these as compared to the cast iron. I have never had these materials so I'm not very familiar with how well they hold up, how easy they are to clean or how much they cost--especially in a custom size.

I know it is possible to do shower bases out of granite and soapstone, but I'm assuming those would require some additional bracing under the floor? And would be expensive to start with?

Any thoughts on any of these options or more options to consider would be much appreciated!