Most of the engineered quartz manufacturers already have a thinner version of their products for use in just this manner, i.e. to have a seamless solid surface and minimal to no grout. This look tends to be more modern/contemporary than many people like for their more traditional homes, so you'd have to be pretty specific about how you choose to target your market. I'd recommend going to the Kitchen and Bath industry show and/or the big builder's show (they are often done at the same time in the same location) to get a better read on what's already out there.

I am really looking for the DIY solutions, I am not interested by the high slate huge slates.

I am looking for end users of the solutions such as Choreographer from Kohler, the Jetcot from Foremost or even the Norwegian Fibo system.

I already tested and analysed any of them, and I don't find them as convenient as they are supposed to be.

If it's easy to get technical information, I have a hard time to find feedback from customers. I really want to know their experience with the installation (if the large panels were easy to carry in the bathroom, if cutting the panels is easy, how did they prepare the walls, did mistakes happen, etc...)

The people who use this forum tend to use either a true solid surface like Corian or Swanstone, or sometimes the Marbleite or Onyx Collection (both of which are installed by their own crews) if they do not use tile. Try doing a search at the top of the page and you will see how few conversations are held about DIY laminate or even fiberglass shower panels. More people here use the engineered quartz than use them. A few have used Kohler Choreograph, and you can search for one thread called "Kohler Choreograph?" to see most of them.

The few of us who do discuss these non-tile showers tend to steer people toward the true solid surface shower that has the same material through-and-through and that can be sanded or buffed if needed.

When we were young and without much money, we did both shower panels and tile DIY. Unless you are using the cheap acrylic/fiberglass panels, DIY is not that much easier. If you are doing something higher end (in other words, I would not use acrylic fiberglass now), the DIY is not that much easier. The panels are heavy and less forgiving if you make an error. Also, they were not super Forgiving with walls being out of square. There are posts on this site about difficulty with DIY of Koehler choreograph. Tile is time-consuming and labor intensive, but you can spend a ton of time on it until you get it right. I recently renovated a hall bath with onyx tub surround, but we paid people to do that because those panels are kind of a pain to DIY.

And Kohler Choreograph has been discontinued because they could not get consistent good quality. Kohler is replacing it with another product. Someone had a post just recently on this. It may be on the thread I referred to above.

Thank you Nancy and Smit

It confirms what I thought, these systems are not necessarily as easy to install as promoted.

A slight mistake in taking the dimension can ruin the whole product, whether it's installed by a professional or not, it just transfers the responsibility from you to the contractor.

The main feature of these systems seems to be the ease of care, no grout to clean. But nothing much beside that.

I am still curious about more installation experiences, successful or not, done by a contractor or the end user himself.

I would like to know if the product ages well (fade of color, stains, etc...)

I also would like to know if people tried the Utile system from Maax.

Neolith: https://www.neolith.com/en/applications/bathrooms/

Super large format tile is completely un DIYable. And just as expensive as as stone slabs.

Choreograph is still featured on Kohler’s website and I was told by a plumbing supply showroom that it’s not being discontinued. Since this conflicts with other sources posted on this site, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Kohler’s new product is called LuxStone, but it’s only available through Kohler-approved contractors. It’s more expensive and definitely not DIY.

Here’s a link to the thread that Nancy mentioned. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3420698/kohler-choreograph#n=227

Another on Onyx:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2812694/anyone-not-like-onyx-showers#n=91

I think what scares off some non-expert DIY folks is the fine detail work like how does one scribe a wall panel for a non-square wall, what do you use to trim edges, how to cut smoothly, and the chance of nicking an edge when you cut. Then there is shimming studs to give you a flat surface. These are skills and you need to be good at them before attempting a shower install on $2500 walls. So we hire contractors. Often, with solid wall panels, you can’t find anyone who has installed them. You hire someone who at least has those skills you lack, then hope for the best.

Thank you for your comments.

Based on what I read, it seems that a solid surface wall is the best solution. It is easy to repair if something goes wrong through the year. It exist a lot of specialist able to work with it. And it's naturally waterproof and non-porous.

We already distributing products in solid surface so we know well this material. A wall in this material should complete perfectly our catalogue.

We already explored this solution, but the price of the mould was much too high.

Also, when we were looking for different solutions, we were always skeptical about using one big panel to cover a wall, and this for several reasons:

- If you cut your panel poorly, you can just scrap it and buy a new one. Not forgiving at all. If you break a tile, you have a wall box of other tiles.

- Nancy, you mention waterproofing, but all these systems require special caulking or waterproofing method. A specific method has to be followed, and this is different for any system. Sometimes they require a lot of precautions, more than tiles.

- Contractor able to install these system are very rare. And because of special waterproofing and installation, the manual as to be followed closely. A lot of contractor will rely on their experience and just skimmed the manual, missing important installation steps.

- The storage and delivery of a panel that big is very complicated. They often have to lay flat to avoid bending. So a pallet needs to be done just for one or two panels. At a company scale, this is a big waste of space and money. Because of that, you need a wide truck to deliver to the customer. Beside the fact that by adding all this it will cost as much in delivery fees than the product itself, the customer as to be able to fit the truck and the panel to his home. Sometimes, the contractor can't come install the panels several days after receiving the panels. The customer has to store safely a pallet of huge panels. Not everybody can do that, especially we talk about downtown apartments or condos.

It brings me to think about a scaled down Corian system.

What do you think of having large solid surface tiles, but still easy to manipulate by one person (let's say 3' x 3'). And these tiles features an interlocking system (like the male/female grooves of the Corian system). For the installation you just pile them up. The silicon can be put into the grooves, so we don't have to do the maintenance of it. And it is easy for us to develop hardware and profile than can help the installation and waterproofing the system.

I think by bringing down the size of a Corian panel, we can have the best of both tiles and big panels: seemless, no grout, easy to repair, easy to manipulate, less specific manipulations

Let me know what you think of this concept

I purchased my current home which had cultured marble panels installed in the 32 x 60 shower stall. Though I prefer the appearance of tile, the seamless format is much easier to maintain. You don't have to create a laminated panel. Any acrylic or non absorbent material will work if it's sealed correctly

Parker Lewis, I like your solution. My Transolid shower uses the interlocking panels on the back wall. There is a seam running horizontally halfway to the molding where the upper wall extension is. The base also has the usual lip to ensure that the wall panels do not allow water through. I do not understand why Houzz is suddenly putting the photos on their sides, they are the same ones I have been posting all year. You can barely discern the horizontal seam above the hand rail, the pattern of gray streaks gives it away.

Transolid sells the standard height basic shower walls. Side walls are one piece each and the back wall is two, with that horizontal seam. They come with corner molding that has an intricate shape on the end so that they interlock. If you want the walls to continue to the ceiling, you buy the kit of three wall pieces with the three molding pieces. I also wanted the ceiling panel. I had to buy a 36 x 96 inch sheet for this. Bath1 sent me the wrong molding for the ceiling-to-wall seams and I think we also had to get another shipment for the correct front molding to match the side moldings that are 1/4" x 3" rectangular pieces. They also initially sold me an unnecessary second sheet for the ceiling, not understanding that I needed the 3" edge molding instead. The ceiling sheets were not put on a pallet and one of them was damaged, shipped loose. Luckily, I did not need it. So now I have an extra full sheet of material down in my basement that has damage on two edges.

Luckily, my contractor had lots of other things to do so we could afford to wait for these shipments. They took only a day or two, since they are in the next state over. I imagine that Bath1 barely made profit in the end, since I think they sent three extra shipment of long, skinny molding pieces that must have cost a fortune to ship express. Their saleswoman did not accurately estimate what pieces I needed to achieve my fully covered wall and ceiling design.

I have more thoughts on your ideas, and will be back later to discuss them, I need to go now. It also looks like my first picture may not post (it is grayed out, still.)

I was right and my first shower pic did not load, so here is a different one.

And here is a picture of the floor and back wall, showing the one visible caulk seam in my shower.

You can see the seam between the upper and lower back wall panels just above the handrail. The difference in color and the cut-off of the faux marble veins makes it show up. You may also be able to see the white faux grout lines that Transolid is putting in to make it look like tiles. The “grout lines” go through the solid surface material and are not discernable by touch. I don’t like the grout look with the faux marble panels, since the faux veins carry over tile-to-tile, which a true tile would not have. Kind of defeats the purpose, for me. Other color patterns do look great with the faux grout, though.

I agree with you that a lot of people, contractors especially, do not want to read and follow instructions. I have run into this when hiring handymen. I am very lucky, however, to have a contractor who reads instructions, watches videos, takes certification classes, and who will problem-solve with me as I plan. He is interested in my ideas and will tell me when I am too pie-in-the sky, which makes him an excellent collaborator. I am careful to not take his time lightly, and try to fully understand an issue before discussing it with him, narrowing my discussion down to precise information and questions I need him to answer. I waited three or four years for him to be free to do my bathrooms and widen my doorways.

Most situations where someone needs a handicapped accessible shower do not have that time luxury, so if you do your new style of shower walls, please include at least one deep shower. I had looked at all possibilities while waiting for my contractor and only found Transolid in the last year, from a video on YouTube for a shower floor with trench drain. I had been planning on using Swanstone, but was not at all happy with their narrower handicap-accessible shower floors. I believe their largest is 34” deep. My Transolid starts at 37.75” before the ¼ wall goes in. Three and ¾ inches is significant when trying to turn a shower chair.

My shower came in three pallets! Plus the two loose 36 x 96 panels. One pallet was the shower, a second was the wall extension to take it to the ceiling, and the last was an upright bin holding some trim in cardboard tubes. It may have originally held my large panels for the ceiling. It took most of my 2-car garage, and I was lucky to order it just a few months before installation. I had to hire Big Guy for Hire to come and open the pallets and review the pieces with me and carry them to stack them in the empty bedroom next to the bathroom so that the contractors would have the garage free to work in. Still, I missed the fact that the trim for the ceiling/wall corners was wrong and it was not until my contractor went through those piles that we knew we needed to contact the seller. They first sent half-round trim, when I needed corner trim. They ended up sending me a set of corner trim from a shower wall kit, then had to send a third shipment of the front 3" rectangular edge. So it was hard for the saleslady to figure out what trim pieces to send me. Her communication with the warehouse was part of the problem, I would guess. If she had sketched it out for them, or if their computer ordering system was better, it would have only required one extra shipment. So that gives an idea of how well (or not) this is working over at Bath1.com. Their stock of Transolid showers and floors seems lower when I look at their site, looking for things to tell others about in these conversations on this forum, so I wonder if they are even going to be carrying Transolid into the future. Again, the problem was because I wanted to cover the ceiling, something they did not have a "kit" for in their stock. I tell you all these details because they may help inform your thinking as you plan your product. Logistical issues could do you in, as you point out. The market really does need a high-quality wall product that can be packed to ship, that is waterproof, and that is DIY friendly. I am not sure there is a way to idiot-proof installation, though!

I have reason to believe, from comments on their YouTube videos, that Transolid has been around a while, but have been focusing on the institutional market and are new-ish to homeowners. I do not need a wheelchair at this time, but could with any injury because of a genetic defect in my tendons and ligaments.

I forgot to add my usual comment that if you want to see the entire photo, click on it to enlarge it.

It's funny to see that even with satisfied customers, like you Nancy, we can find flaws in the system, and not everything went as smooth as the marketing want us to believe.

It is never mentioned anywhere that you will need to store flat several pallet somewhere to wait for your contractor. You were lucky to have a big garage for this.

The trim issue you put on bad logistic, I would like to share the responsibility with the designers of the system. As soon as you start to multiply the trims and profiles, you also multiply mistakes and confusion.

I have Maax Utile (tub surround) in my family bathroom and Swanstone (shower base installed, walls pending) in our master. I can't offer much in the way of detail or technical info but if you have specifics Q's about either I'd be happy to try to help. Nancy in Michhas been a major source of useful info for me on this subject (thank you Nancy)

Aw, thank Waltonglade, I had to learn everything through lots and lots of reading and I always had more questions than were answered. So I simply try to be accurate and thorough in talking about these products.

HI Parker - I am looking at using the Foremost panels in a shower and wondering what you found when you did your renovation??

Did anybody here use the Fibo waterproof laminate panels (https://fibosystemusa.com)? I am having a hard time finding out how to even buy them!

@Los Feliz Girl If you’re in the U.S., they’re new here and not in wide distribution. Perhaps contact the firm mentioned in this article.

https://www.prweb.com/releases/fibo_wall_panels_available_in_u_s_through_innovate_building_solutions/prweb16029345.htm

Thank you.

Parker Lewis: I very much like your interlocking 3' x 3' Corian type panel. I am currently trying to decide between the Maax Utile wall panel system and a Dumawall interlocking PVC tile system for bathtub surrounds in two different bathrooms. The Maax Utile system feels solid and looks great (Lowe's display) but is reportedly very heavy, and maybe not so much DIY. But, I'm not too impressed with the selection of colors in the Dumawall system. Looking for DIY alternatives.

Did you ever get good feedback on Fibo or Wetwall laminate panels? I'm in the throes of research and decision-making now and still have a hard time finding end-users and DIYers' feedback.

I know I'm late to this discussion. I emailed Fibo USA and they quickly responded connecting me to a distributor that covers my area (California). Innovate Building Solutions also seem like a great resource but they have not returned my calls. I assume California is possibly too far away for them.

Hello Wendy Winters. Did you ever install the Fibo product or anything else? I'd like to get your opinion. Thanks.

I installed the Fibo wall panels in our primary reno last summer. Bought from innovative building solutions. Pros and cons for sure. It mostly worked as advertised, although one panel wouldn't 'lock' into place no matter what I did so we ended up screwing it in place- not ideal but no other options. 

 I'd love more products like this - none is available in the US (of high quality).

Hey Louise … do you mind to post a picture? How do you like it so far? Easy to clean?

@LouiseLandry How did you like working with Innovative Building Solutions? I am looking for a solid surface solution for my master shower and guest bath walls and floors as to avoid the grout issue that comes with tile.