Rental property showers - glue up, modular, or tile?

Question

I just bought my first home which also happens to be a multifamily rental property. I am renovating the unit I will be living in and house hacking and didn't know what kind of shower walls to install above the tub.

1. Should I go cheap with a glue up shower wall and what are the pros and cons of that?

2. Should I go middle of the road with the fiberglass modular walls that interlock and screw to the studs? Pros and cons?

3. Should I tile the shower walls? Pros and cons?

Lynn McGeein · Answer

Mid-range rentals, tub surround is much easier to clean at turnovers than nasty grout if renter doesn't use exhaust fan or clean. I prefer tile bathroom floors and tile at least halfway up the wall behind toilet for ease of cleaning at turnovers as well.

Frank Procopio · Answer

I always like to go with tile I think it looks better and it's really not that much more than a tub surround.

Steven Foster Wilson · Answer

@Matt Faircloth

If area is good, consider doing tile, its more expensive (high end renter may expect more). Also Consider how the rest of the house is, is the kitchen outdated? Updating the bathroom may have no effect to increase rent then.

if area is bad, shower insert will do well (Low end renters want a lot but can't afford it)

David Barnett · Answer

As others have mentioned, it really depends on the quality of the neighborhood. It also depends on what is around the tub surround. In one of my properties, there was a window right in the middle of the tub, making it necessary to tile it. This property is more in the C to low C type neighborhood, so I didn't put in anything fancy. We put in standard white subway tiles.

Pat L. · Answer

We tile it ourselves because it sells & rents quickly. Admittedly we only use porcelain as we found the 49cent ceramic tile from HD or Lowes is fragile & rarely geometrically consistent. Tile is more expensive than the fibre-glass/plastic surround that just glue to drywall, because we use backer board to suds.

Now in the past for <C-class rentals we were guilty of just gluing up sheet linoleum as a stall surround & they worked great. A couple of years later for a new tenant we'd rip it out put in another. In fact one is still up after 8 years!!!

Here's the cheap 49cent/sq ft ceramic...

Here's $1/sq ft procelien

Jim S. · Answer

What ever you do. Do NOT go the cheapest insert. To easy for renters to break.

Matt P. · Answer

@Matthew Wetmore What do the places around you have? Check some online adds for other rentals. A lot of it depends on the price point of your rental. You planning to do it yourself or have someone install the shower walls?

Rental property showers - glue up, modular, or tile?

Rental property showers - glue up, modular, or tile?

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