There have been some recent threads regarding this. Here's one...

Here is a link that might be useful: Solid surface shower

We did this in our shower in our last house. Very easy to work with (cuts with a saw), easy to install (glues to the wall), easy to clean, and looks good. Here's a photo of ours:

Swan corp recently (in the last few years) changed their name to swanstone, not to be confused with their product also called swanstone. They also make an acrylic product named veritek that is marketed under the swanstone name. This gets terrible reviews on this board, so make sure that what you want to order is the actual swanstone material, not just veritek from swanstone corp.

That said I'm a big fan of solid surfaces. Swanstone is nice, it feels about like corian does. You could probably find a kitchen counter installation somewhere so you can touch it - I believe one of the big box stores (HD or Lowes) carries swanstone and will at least have little samples. The material is the same thing, just fabricated into wall panels. I did see them installed (including their beadboard product, pretty nice!) at a local bath showroom and it was nice stuff, I just decided to go for tile as it was going to be pretty spendy for my large enclosed shower.

Thank you so much - it makes me feel better. We have a Silestone kitchen sink so I'm thinking it will be "similar" to that. And I'm definately looking at the solid surface not the veritek (which I realize is like the acrylic snap together kits) - purposely for the flat panels & ease of installation. (That's the "not kill each other" part). My "latest" design (all others keep getting vetoed) has the end wall opposite the tub/shower controls being glass block [it'll be open I'm tearing down the wall, unfortunately the toilet is on the other side so I want it lighter over there] - so I need something flat on the long tub wall to match up with the glass block.
It will work - won't it? (Or is this another veto?)
thanks all

Swanstone isn't similar to Silestone. It's similar to matte-finish Corian. Just so you know! I love Swanstone dearly, but it isn't a glossy surfacing material and some people don't like that.

I am also getting ready to replace my bathtub-shower combo with a Swanstone shower. I went to a local Swanstone showroom earlier today. I noticed that the Swanstone (not Veritek) showerpan has those non-slip bumps. Is that surface pretty easy to keep clean? I guess the non-slip is required by the plumbing code (at least here in California)

I'm getting a light-colored pattern (to match the existing Swanstone countops).

Bonnie

I have a swanstone shower with a pan that sounds like what you are talkin about. It is 30 years old and it is not looking very clean, lots of scum and dirt in the creases that don't clean out. It doesn't seem like it is swanstone material to me in the shower pan so maybe it has a cheaper shower pan used. We didn't build the house. As for the wall surface not being shiny, it cleans up beautifully which is worth its weight in gold as opposed to a shiny surface that cant' be scrubbed clean without loosing its sheen. I'm completely sold on swanstone.

We didn't have any problems keeping our shower pan looking clean. But then again, we had a cleaning service, so I can't vouch personally for the difficulty in doing so. :-)

Can swan stone handle hair dye - meaning it isn't terribly porous? I am not assuming direct application per say but I assume if dye is rinsed off in the shower, it isn't damaging the color of the swan stone.

I've had no problems with hair dye or anything else in my swanstone subway tile shower

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your experience with me!

Waited four months to get my shower walls because of the pandemic. Understandable. Finally got to install them. What total junk when I opened the box. Panels were scratched and dinged. Finished edge was pitted. Molding was cracked. Not one panel was square or the same length. For all the hype about this product I'll never recommend it