I think it sounds like a great idea if it can be maneuvered into the space and placed properly. That big of a slab will be very heavy and could be a challenge to get placed and leveled if you only have access to, say, one side of the shower space. However, if your contractor can do it, then go for it. My only other thought is that you don't mention what kind of stone it is: just make sure that it isn't something that could stain over time due to porosity, absorption of minerals, etc.

Is this a curbless shower where you don't need a slope to a center drain? And even with a leathered finish, I think it would be slippery when wet. But maybe there would some way to add more texture to the stone for added slip resistance.

Thanks!

I feel unsure of the kind of stone. I have a picture and a name somewhere, but stone yards are so bad about naming things properly that I would want a sample to test before committing.

No, not a curbless shower--that is sadly out of budget. But a linear drain so the floor can slope in one direction to the end of the shower.

How much is the slab? I just got a custom Corian shower base with a cove upgrade and a notch clipped out of one side to fit around an obstruction in a level 3 pattern and I thought the price was reasonable.

This particular slab remnant is $275. According to dh it would be big enough to do the shower floor and the vanity top. I have not seen it. It seems like it might be on the dark side for keeping it looking decent, but it's hard to say without seeing it in person--as well as not being able to tell whether it is really suitable for this application without a sample. Our contractor seemed to think we would be able to find a variety of remnants at this size and under $500.

Does that sound less expensive than custom corian?

Thanks!

Great price, and it looks like the surface will be just fine in terms of minimal slipperiness.

I don't know that you can tell slipperiness by looks alone, though I agree it looks like it would have some traction.We used some 24 inch square tiles with a good coefficient of friction and they are not slippery when wet. I had read that it is essential to have small tiles in the shower for something for your feet to grab onto, but it isn't true if you get the right surface. Can you spray it with soapy water and stand on it? Or even run your hand along it when wet?

lori-
I agree that it is hard to tell about slipperiness when you are dealing with a uniformly flat surface like tile, which is why most tiles have a coefficient of friction (COF) rating, and you should have something with a COF > than 0.60 for safety. On my last tile install I used extremely slick 18" square, porcelain tiles on the walls and ceiling, but they were just a bit too slippery (COF = 0.50) to safely use on the floor, so I went with the same look, but in a 2"x2" size for the floor so there were plenty of grout lines In the case of the photo above, there is such a significant irregularity of the surface that it will provide a high level of traction even when soapy.

Thanks everyone! I think I need to see it in person and try to get a sample to test for stain resistance, slipperiness, etc. Dh tells me it was identified to him as slate.

Good luck! I think it's a fantastic idea and you should try to get past all the hurdles. I find that very often going "outside the envelope" is anathema to most people especially those in the home craft world. But you sound like you have a contractor that's willing to go the extra mile to do something not so common. Good luck! Post pics once it's finished!

We have a slab shower base although it is only approx. 40x48 so a bit smaller than yours. Ours is made out of the same granite as our vanity top. The shower base is honed and has very small grooves cut in it so it is not slippery at all. It is fabricated wiith the correct amount of slope. It has a very low threshold. The base is guaranteed to never leak. We love the way it looks and no grout lines.

Because of the low threshold our plumber insisted we have two drains ( to removethe water faster) even though the fabricator insisted they have never had a problem with just a single drain.

If you look carefully you can see what looks like lines about a 1/2 inch part going around the stone. Thes are actually very small groves that make the stone slip resistant. Perhaps your fabricator can do that for your shower base.

Thank you so much! Love the pictures. How is yours to keep clean? (I'm a lazy housekeeper.)

Crl, our granite shower base is a breeze to keep clean. I have heard some say that black stone shows water spots but that may be for shiny black stones not honed. We have had our granite shower base for about 6 years.

Just I case you are interested here is a cross section of how our shower basin was fabricated. It may not look like it from the cross section schematic below but it is single piece of stone. The holes for the drains were precut at the fabricators shop before it was brought to the house for installation

Good luck with your project.

crl-
If it's slate, I think you don't have any worries. Slate has a very low absorption rate and therefore is very stain resistant. I previously lived in a house for 30 years with a slate entry area and hallway and we never had any stains despite kids, pets, water on it from walking in from the Seattle rain, and our failure to ever put any protective coating on it. In addition, slate has a coeficient of friction (COF), when wet, in the 0.60-0.80 range. Anything that is at least 0.60 is considered suitably slip resistant for a wet environment. In addition, the more textured a surface is, the higher the COF.

Given what your material is and what its texture looks like, I think you can skip the slipperiness test. Although slates can vary somewhat, below is a link to one kind of common slte that shows the COF.

Slate specs

Thank you!

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