Once the panels and tub are properly sealed to the walls, there should be no issue.

We put in flexstone/sentrel. The panels themselves are plastic with no odor. If you go to their web site they will send you 3 free samples of color. If you order direct from the company you can get a kit and then add in the other items you want.

The adhesive they come with does have an odor but it seemed to dissipate quickly. However you should plan to wear an organic vapor respirator mask during application if you are sensitive to odors.

The included silicon caulk seemed to hold onto it's odor longer. But it eventually went away completely. Unfortunately I do not know how long it took. However I think any silicon caulk would probably have the same odor. Also want to wear an organic vapor respirator mask.

Acrylic panels are the best shower we have ever had. I love the seat and use it every day.

We bought the extra long panels to go to the ceiling. Also the enhanced niche, corner shelf and corner seat. My husband installed it himself and took the extra time to lay everything out so that there is good pattern matching between elements. We also installed a grab bar. It is a pretty easy DIY project as it is essentially cut and paste.

@mmmm12COzone5 , thank you! I’ll look into those wall panels. Did your husband do the shower pan himself? That is the only part I’m worried about doing!

@Patricia Colwell Consulting, I like the maax products. Thank you!

We actually started with a contractor but he was messing up the tile job. He walked out on the job so we took over and did the panels instead. Very glad it worked out the way it did as we are really happy with the panels.

He installed the pan. However my husband would have done a better job. It says to install it in mud and let it cure. This guy put the mud down, went to lunch and walked all over it an hour later, creating cavities in the mud. In the end it works just fine but makes crunching noise if you walk on it without the shower running. We picked it because we used this one in our previous shower and never had a problem with it. Also the drain is really simple to install. Even our contractor couldn't screw that up.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Swan-34-in-x-48-in-Solid-Surface-Single-Threshold-Center-Drain-Shower-Pan-in-White-SF03448MD-010/202508816

When he pulled the previous one he said it was just flat on the floor with no mud. That means the guys who built our previous shower just put it down with no mud. It survived that just fine but it is probably better to follow the instructions and put it in mud to cure.

The hard to digest part was he could have easily put it down in the mud the day before. He left about 1 p.m. after tearing everything out so there was time in the day to put it down. And then he mudded it in first thing in the morning. So it could have easily been done right by putting it down at the end of a day and letting it sit over night.

@mmmm12COzone5, wow, what a mess!! It’s not easy to find good kitchen and bath contractors. I like the wall panels, because it means no grout to clean. We‘ve had 4x4 white ceramic tiles in our last two bathrooms...so for the last 20 years. I would love to have a break from cleaning grout every weekend!

Lindsay,

Our other two bathrooms have tile. One was done about 5 years ago. This last year we were already fixing cracked grout and then we had to reseal it. It is pretty but not worth having to deal with grout.

Our upstairs one has the 4x4 white tiles from the 1990s. We need to reseal that grout also and of course it has to be scrubbed before that. Such a pain.

Any time we ever have to replace a shower in the future we are going with panels. When we first started looking I didn't find anything I liked but the flexstone/sentrel ones have great patterns available. They make so much more sense from a waterproof and maintenance perspective. The only thing we do regularly to it is to use the glass wiper blade you see hanging on the wall to wipe the water off the shower seat. We angled the shower seat according to the instructions but we prefer to wipe it off at the end of each shower.

Our shower isn't very big but that works really well for me. I can sit on the seat and the rainfall shower head sprays water in my lap. It is like sitting behind a waterfall. I also bought a cushy foam floor mat for the shower so it really is my spa shower.

I highly recommend getting a silicon caulk took off Amazon. They are cheap and let you do really professional caulk lines. We didn't do it at first so had to fix some of what we did. There are videos on-line that give tips on using them to get perfect silicon caulk lines. Three way corners are tricky but easier if you follow the instructions in the videos.

Just got it installed in my master bath and the smell is giving me a headache! I will wait a few days a see if it dissipates.