American Shower & Bath Round Shower Enclosure Kit (Version B) Review

There aren't many products out there that really drive me crazy, but the Round Shower Enclosure Kit (Version B) from American Shower & Bath really does.  We were planning on redoing our main, upstairs bathroom which only has room for a stand up shower and we wanted to replace the hexagonal enclosure that we had because it always seemed to leak out of one of the joints.  So when we came across this round shower enclosure kit at Home Depot, we thought we had found what we were looking for.

Sure, standing in the sample at the store it wasn't the greatest shower, but it had enough room for us, it had space to put shampoo and soap on the shelves and it looked like it wouldn't leak because there really weren't any seams to speak of.  Plus it was priced right - just over $400 for the entire kit, which included the doors, walls and base.

So we gutted the bathroom and went ahead and installed the shower enclosure.  My first sense of "this isn't quite right" came when we opened the box and I realized that the base of the shower unit was a hollow plastic piece that had blocks of styrofoam in it to provide support.  It wasn't exactly the strongest looking thing and when we stood on it, you could feel some of the flex from the compression of the styrofoam and the natural flex of the plastic.

However, it seemed to work and so we finished installing the unit.  It worked great for about 2 months until my partner was showering one more and he heard a "crack" as he stepped around while showering.  He looked down and saw a crack along the base where it starts to curve up that was about 5 to 6 inches long.

He got out and I checked it out and sure enough - the base of the shower enclosure had cracked.  There was enough flex in the base to allow it to move up and down until finally the plastic gave way.  That cracked opened right into the bathroom floor so it's not like a crack you can just ignore.

I went to Home Depot where I bought the unit and they told me they couldn't do anything since I had already installed it.  Then I called American Shower & Bath and within a minute of saying "the base cracked" they were asking if I had my receipt and were telling me how to fax it to them to request a replacement.

I'll admit that process went easily, but I think it's because they expect this to happen since I wasn't even questioned about it.  They were just like "we'll send you out a new unit."

That's fine and dandy, however to install this unit you have to glue the shower walls to the walls of the bathroom.  So when we go to replace the broken base (we'll have to take everything out), we'll have to pretty much re-gut that portion of the bathroom since taking out the shower will likely destroy most of the sheetrock in that area.  That means while I have a free replacement shower, I'll be on the hook for the costs of all the necessary remodeling in the bathroom that was just remodeled!

In the meantime I was able to take some silicone sealant and seal the crack so that we can continue using the shower until we have the time (and money) to replace everything.  The crack still flexes but the silicone so far as provided a flexible seal that's kept it shut.

My Take

I honestly can't recommend this shower.  After seeing how it's constructed and the short period of time it lasted with what I would consider regular use, this unit isn't something that should be installed in anyone's home unless they are expecting it to fail.

I'm not sure what's going to happen when we replace the unit, however I'm going to try to figure out a way to reinforce the base so that at least it doesn't flex - perhaps filling the underside with plaster or something to provide some rigid support when we flip it over and install it.

Overall, I'd avoid this shower.  There's a reason it's relatively inexpensive and that's because it's not likely to last very long.