My molded shower stall is hard to clean-- it has yellowish stains despite our water softener and iron filter! It is about 10 years old and is made of " viikrell" ( Strerling /Kohler's product). Maybe newer ones and other types are better. I hate cleaning old -fashioned grout , too, but there are newer types of grout that are easier to clean. Mapei has "Flex color CQ" which i used on my backsplash and it never needs sealing and it doesn't stain! I love it! It is not a cement - based grout - I think it is made of silicone and acrylic with coated quartz crystals instead of sand! Epoxy grouts are also supposed to be easier to keep clean, though harder to install.

i was just reading a blog post yesterday where the designer spec'ed a high end, molded shower pan for her own bathroom and slso showed a photo of that company's molded shower surrounds that looked like marble! It was on Maria Killam's popular blog "Color Me Happy" from yesterday or the day before.Hope this helps!

I just saw the thread on kohler choreograph and was interested in that. I hope it's not the same as your experience with it - the material is i believe still the same! The surround in our shower is likely acrylic, and not high end by any means but it's a more matte finish than most I have seen and it cleans so easily with a wipe down. It's about 6 years old and looks new.

I think part of the cleaning difficulty with acrylics and fiberglass is that you can't use anything abrasive on them usually. Can you use an abrasive ( like soft scrub or comet) on the matte finish ones? Perhaps it depends on your water, soap usage, and how often you clean it, etc. I probably only clean it once a month-- and everyone in the family likes this shower so we have 4 people using it everyday! Maybe I should post another thread question here about how to remove stains from this vicrell stuff!

Get what you want! I want a one piece shower for my remodel. One thing to consider is whether it will fit through doors in your house :/

Swanstone also makes surrounds. And if you wanted to get fancy you could have one fabricated out of Corian .

You might consider using a larger format tile for fewer grout lines and squeegee it after every use. I'd also skip the expense and cleaning of glass doors and use a shower curtain.

We are definitely using a shower curtain - this is the only full bath in he house we are buying and we have a toddler who we need to bathe- I hate glass doors on tubs for baths.

i use a magic eraser on the surround in our current home, I never use anything more abrasive.

I don't wish to squeegee after every shower, I barely get a few minutes to shower as it is with our 11 month old!

You may want to check out Aker Maax Products. You'll no doubt have to get into a plumbing supply house. Years ago their product were a cost effective way to remodel along with being a decent product. They have 3 and 4 piece tub/shower combos, so doorways shouldn't be an issue. They're the next best thing to the one piece units.

Aker Maax