Yes. I am doing this. well the shower itself is an acrylic pan and walls. But the remaining floor is concrete. Not done yet though.

Yes we did. We built on a slab with radiant floor heat.

One shower is slightly rough and is not slippery. It is not uncomfortable at all to bare feet

Outside of the shower we haven’t had any issues with floors being slippery either and they are a smooth to the touch finish

Oh wow! I was expecting to get boo’d off the board lol. I’m glad I’m not crazy for thinking of this.

Does anybody have any pictures?

Concrete is a sponge. You still have to have a proper waterproofing system, with the concrete as an applied microtopping. It’s one of the most expensive choices that exist because of the details and the high skills levels needed by all of the trades involved. It all has to be designed correctly, or that moisture will wick through the concrete and into the rest of your house, rotting it out.

I’ve heard that about concrete. I believe it, but if that’s the case how do sidewalks and driveways survive?

Sidewalks and driveways survive because no one CARES how wet they get or how nasty they start to look. Or how they soak up materials (aka stain). Concrete products are awesome...so long as they have the correct toppings and sealants. Like epoxy.

An epoxy coating can both seal the concrete AND add grip...in fact there are many additives your concrete specialist can add to increase the slip rating (by decreasing the chance of slipping). All of these things can be done.

But remember: concrete flooring specialists are used to LARGE areas to work. Their tools and their machines are all built for 1000sf of space, not 6sf worth of shower stall floor. Their batches are mixed for LARGE jobs. To get a professional to come in a deal with a very small square footage such as a shower (and or bathroom) you will be paying a premium on a premium product.

There is no reason this can't be done...in fact it is a great idea. Many public showers (like high-school showers or pool showers) are epoxy coatings over concrete. But be aware of what you are about to get into. You will pay a premium for the service of a specialist. And you will then pay a premium on that premium for such a small project.

Hi SJ-

Ok, I see. That makes a lot of sense. So basically for that price I might as well get an expensive fancy tile anyway since it will cost the same. And I hate to pay a lot of money for something as cheap as concrete too- that would bother me.

And by the way...epoxy Not a requirement...it just makes the concrete look like plastic...for a smaller project like yours finding someone knowledgeable is the hardest part..

If you want the concrete floors I would find out actual costs before scrapping the idea.

I believe our home is 1440 sq ft. or maybe 1462 with a concrete porch on 2 sides so small compared to a lot of new builds. We hired a pro crew that did commercial work and did houses and buildings after their regular jobs. It would have cost us about twice as much had we gone through the builder.

Do you have a contractor you work with regularly?

Hi! That floor really does look gorgeous Rita. Did a lot of people try to talk you out of it? That’s kind of my favorite part of styling things my own way- proving people wrong! Lol. How does your bathroom floor hold up?

Ejoe we have one that we know that we will be doing our addition. I should have a fair amount of flexibility because of that (I hope!). I have a little renovated cape- it’s probably about similar to the size of your home

Corinne Masterson

I responded to your other thread about looking for concrete-looking tiles. The Emser Hangar and Emser Uptown were not expensive at all! I got 12 x 24 Emser Uptown Sugar Hill for my shower walls and ceiling (steamer), and bigger tiles are usually less expensive. I got a 2" x 2" for the floor, and those tend to be more expensive, but it's a small area. For my Dad's house I got Hangar Sand 12" x 24" for the bathrooms floors, and a darker Hangar color for 2" x 2" shower floor.

The tile cost is one thing, but skill, experience and pro-labor is another. My tile pro is so fantastic, he build my steamer, installed a very $$$$ entire linear mosaic wall, plus the 12 x 24 field tile walls and ceiling in my master; and believe me, I am not worried about waterproofing problems with him. AND he was able to make all the super-cheap Home Depot tile look like a million bucks in my 3 upstairs bathrooms he remodeled. The pro that you hire for the installation is more important than the tile you choose IMO.

Cheap tile + cheap installer = a disaster of waterproofing problems, lippage, horrible layout, yucky and uneven grout lines, sliver cuts; don't do it!!

Cheap tile + excellent/expensive installer = great for any bathroom: upstairs/ kids /guest /rentals /master: If the tile you like just so happens to be cheap, such as from HD or Lowes that's fine. An excellent installer will make it look wonderful! Seriously, my awesome installer was totally fine with HD tile for all our upstairs kids'/guests' bathrooms, and it all looks beautiful. And again, no worries about waterproofing when you hire an experienced pro and pay them for their skill and expertise.

Expensive tile + cheap installer = so sad; you buy this lovely, beauitful, expensive tile, and then a hack installer ruins it and you get a disaster of waterproofing problems, lippage, horrible layout, yucky and uneven grout lines, sliver cuts; don't do it!!

Expensive tile + excellent/expensive installer = the best of both worlds. We bought a very expensive mixed glass/marble/porcelain mosic for an entire wall of our master shower and the tile pro I hired did an excellent job installing it. There were some issues with the tile I selected, but in the hands of a real pro, it can all be handled.

The reason I didn't type "expensive installer," is because "excellent/expensive" is the better description. I had an expensive hack trash my bathroom. Expensive doesn't always mean excellent. That's another story...

When the basement was finished we had the existing old concrete slab acid-stained throughout, including the bathroom. Beautiful floor, but slippery when wet.

I love concrete floors & really wanted to use one of new “cement” tiles when renovating another bathroom recently, but was disappointed in the samples. They didn’t look like real concrete, they looked like porcelain simulated to look sort of like concrete.

While normally I wouldn't advise someone to consider resale, I do think that concrete shower floors would tend not to have much appeal to most buyers. I live in a condo in Hollywood which is pretty much ground zero for affluent hipsters and there are only a very few units which have remodeled with concrete.

Myrica has a good point... BUT... don’t we all have rugs on our bathroom floors to soak up splashed water?... I have a cotton rug behind my shower curtain that I lay down to soak up any water that drips when leaving the shower.. for decor and warmth I have a long thick rug that never gets wet ... if you have an ultra contemporary open baths (or kids!!)..where water splashes everywhere... you should definitely have non skid finishes on all of the floor.. personally I like cozy rugs on the bathroom floors...slippery or not

Stained concrete is certainly a option.

I really don’t think concrete is best for re-models.. too many challenges..due to the added thickness.. it works best in new builds and concrete slab construction...

AJ- now I’m nervous about getting a good installer! I’ll have to do a lot of homework.

Curious how the installer’s skills make that much of a difference in the overall look and waterproofnisity? I believe you, I just haven’t compared.

Helen & Rita those are good points! I’m glad you brought them up. I think I can put the concrete idea to bed safely

You need to read the nearly every single day “Help Disaster” posts on here. Don’t drink alcohol while you do it though. You’ll easily go through a whole bottle before you’re done. There are hundreds of hundreds, going back 20 years.

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Green design is right concrete absorbs water and the same water proofing is needed in the shower for either concrete floor of tile there is no comparison to the flooring for the rest of the house it is not exposed to water and lots of all the time.

You mean waterproofing PRIOR to installation of tile as well as during/after install?

Thanks Green- I actually will end up reading this whole thing- and then I’m going to be one of those people who gives way too much unsolicited advice to other people on the subject for the rest of my life lol. “Listen to ME! I read a book once!”

You mean waterproofing PRIOR to installation of tile as well as during/after install?

Yes, you have to build and waterproof the shower before a single tile is installed. Tile and grout are not waterproof, they are just the part that you see.

Not a pro here, but to educate myself (after a shower disaster, and in order to make a better hiring decision when searching for new pro to fix bathroom), I read the shower chapters of the TCNA handbook, read waterproofing threads on this forum and the John Bridge forum, and checked out DIY books from the library. I wasn't intending to DIY, but it was very helpful to learn what building a waterproof shower really requires. There's a lot of bad info out there, so don't go digging around in YouTube videos, with one exception - I watched Sal DiBlasi's videos. I think he has another site with more info on it, but I haven't gone on there lately. Doing some research before talking to contractors will help you make a better hiring decision.

You can order a downloadable version of the handbook for less than $40:

https://www.tcnatile.com/products-and-services/publications/218-english-publications/188-handbook.html

You can search for Sal's videos online:

Sal DiBlasi, Elite-tile Company, in the Boston North Shore area.

After you educate yourself, start interviewing contractors (not sure if you want a GC or if you are going to directly interview tile professionals). Ask this question: "How do you build a shower?"

For your entertainment here is a story that illustates how hard it can be to find an excellent tile pro, and how vulnerable people are to GCs' hiring decisions regarding subs. When you do find an experienced and qualified tile pro, understand that on average a correctly built and waterproofed shower will be several thousands of dollars. Don't skimp on this by hiring an unqualified person. The chances of a leaky shower is far too great a risk.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5725013/what-to-do-when-a-project-goes-completely-south#n=28

In my case, I hired a very expensive GC, who then hired a very cheap and unqualified tile installer. If you hire a GC, you need to find a way to ensure that he/she doesn't cheap out on the tile pro to increase their profit. I haven't found a way to do that yet. The only 2 projects where I had to hire a GC, they did this and it caused big problems. So, if you hire a GC, have an honest talk with them about who they are going to hire to build your shower. The tile pro is the most important sub that will be involved in your bathroom reno. The tile pro is the one who is in charge of building the whole shower. Sometimes a framer will frame the shower, but the tile po is ultimately responsible for the whole thing. Don't let a GC just tell you the person is qualified; you need to see that tile pro's prior work and ask them the question "How do you build a shower?" and here his answer for yourself.

Thank you AJCN for this! I will read (truly). I am fortunate in that I have time/energy to spare as I have a very flexible job and my husband and I are still “DINKS” (dual income no kids) for the time being