Reader Christina writes with a second supplier for terrazzo shower bases — Stern Williams. These are terrific for mid-century homes, I see them all the time in time capsules. One tip: Think carefully about the size of shower pan you get. The Stern Williams rectangle is 32″ wide, the Crane/Fiats are 36″ wide. 32″ is going to be good if you are tight for space, but that’s not much elbow room for a 5’8″ amazon like me. 36″ would be better, I believe, *if* you have the room for it.
FYI, two of my bathroom have Swanstone shower pans that are 34″ wide — as much as we could squeeze in. Honestly, I am not sure which way I would have gone if I had known of the terrazzo options. In other bathroom, I simply don’t believe there was room for 36″. The other – it would have been tight and meant a narrower enclosure for the toilet. This particular decision would have caused me anguish: More room in the main part of the usually already small postwar bathroom, or more room in the shower? Such is the retro renovator’s life, alas.
Snaps to Christina, who writes:
I have an original 1962 terrazzo shower base downstairs and I love it! I’m turning my upstairs master bath tub into a shower-only and I’ll be getting a new terrazzo base for that shower. After much research, I’m getting one made by Stern Williams, ordered via Ferguson. It’s super-heavy, but even with shipping the cost is comparable to Swanstone. So, the only downside is reinforcing the floor enough to handle its weight. I’ll get photos of each to you at some point. Great site – thanks for doing this!
susan thayer says
I am redoing my 1964 bathroom and plan to keep the terrrazzo shower pan. How can I clean off the old grout and caulking to put in the new tile and shower door? We hope to leave the pan in place, so that may limit cleaning options.
After cleaning, do we need to seal the terrazzo?
pam kueber says
Susan, this is not a DIY or fixit site — so consult with pro’s. That said, if you search Terrazzo or the FAQs, I recall posting a link to some online info on this… not sure, though.
Jane (aka Elvis) says
Nice! Thanks, Christine and Pam. I have always loved terrazzo and see these as the perfect base when we re-do our master bath shower. I think we just barely have room for the Crane/Fiat with its clipped corner. That’s the shape we have now. (Pam, even us shorties have a problem with the size, but there’s no more room in our tight bathroom.)