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Luxury Bath acrylic products use Microban which protects your shower area from bacteria, mildew, and mold for a lifetime.
When it comes to planning your bathroom remodel, tile and grout are usually the first materials that come to mind.
What most homeowners don’t realize, however, is tile and grout comes at a higher cost than just materials and labor; sanitary issues, the high cost of maintenance, and material degradation are all reasons to rethink your remodel.
Your Bathroom May be the Most Dangerous Room in Your House
The bathroom is the worst offender when it comes to slips and falls and household germs. In fact, the bathroom can expose members of your family to bacteria and microbes that double in number every 20 minutes, including e-coli, Ebola and other dangerous microbes.
Do you think your mold- and mildew-resistant surfaces keep these germs in check? Think again…
Duane Underwood, Owner of Luxury Bath in Vancouver, WA points out that even when you have a brand-new tub or shower installed by a typical remodeling company, you will be bathing in an unprotected system, because mold, mildew and bacteria can still grow on the surface. Luxury Bath products use Microban® which protects your shower area from bacteria, mildew, and mold for a lifetime.
Can You Afford to Replace Your Bathroom Every 3 Years?
What many homeowners may not realize is that grout is porous, which means it is susceptible to moisture which can cause serious damage over time.
According to Underwood, “When it comes to tile, the weak point is we live in the Northwest where we have extremes from 32 degrees to 100 degrees. When that happens, our houses expand and contract which allows the grout to separate. As the grout separates, moisture gets in between the tile and the grout…then you’re allowing mold and mildew to grow.”
“Also,” continues Underwood, “our shower pans are impervious to water penetration. When you have a tile floor pan, what happens is the shower pan is made of sand below, and they put tile on top of it…as that moves, the water filters through the grout and into the sand and that’s where the sand holds it…then it gets into the floor, and when it gets into the floor it creates dry rot, and at that point you come into major damage into your subfloor.”
The Typical Warranty for a Tiled Shower? Not Very Long…
Underwood explains, “The maximum warranty you can get on a tile shower is one year. On top of that, there are certain conditions that will accelerate the (degradation) process.
Being in the Northwest, if you don’t seal your grout every year, then it can break down within a few years. If you try to do as much maintenance as possible…on sealing your grout, resealing when it starts chipping away, then you can get 3-5 years out of it.”
Single-Bathroom Household? You Better Plan an Extended Hotel Stay Too
Another issue that can impact a family’s busy life, Duane points out, is the lengthy time needed for a typical grout and tile install, which can take 1 week, on average, to complete. This can severely impact the homeowners’ lives, especially for a family of 4 living in a home with only one bathroom.
So if you are planning a tile-and-grout remodel and you only have one bathroom, you will have to make long-term arrangements for accommodations, which can also add to the overall cost of your remodel.
An Alternative to a Tile Remodel: With Microban® Technology
The drawbacks of a tiled bathroom may make you want to “throw in the towel” on your remodeling plans, but Luxury Bath offers the solution to the uncleanliness, high-maintenance, and longevity issues associated with tile and grout. That’s where Luxury Bath and Microban® comes in.
What is Microban® and How Does it Keep Bathrooms Safe?
The answer is the use of silver (a natural microbe-repellant) infused into the acrylic itself.
According to Underwood, “With Microban® it’s silver-infused into the product during the manufacturing process. They integrate it with the actual acrylic, so it doesn’t wear out, and it doesn’t wear off. It’s 24-hour protection, giving you an added layer (of protection) from mold, mildew and bacteria.”
Plus unlike the 1-year warranty typical of a tiled shower, a Microban® offers a lifetime guarantee against mold, mildew and bacteria.
Are You Still Yearning for the Classic Tile Look? Luxury Bath Can Still Provide You With the Best of Both Worlds:
“Because we know and understand that people like to have the grout tile look,” says, Underwood, “we are the only company in North America that was awarded the contract to actually carve into the (Microban®-infused) acrylic product to give it that realistic roman block tile look without having any of the grout problems.”
Luxury Bath’s Microban® Acrylic Surrounds Can be Installed (on Average) in Just 2 Days
Not only does Luxury Bath install a product that is more sanitary, longer-lasting, and achieves the look of tile, but the installation process is comparably much more convenient as well.
Says Underwood, “With the installation of an acrylic wall-surround, that is a 2-day process, on average—one day we’re in, we dismantle the existing unit (tile, fiberglass, stone,) and the next day we install the new acrylic so they can use it the day after.”
Luxury Bath of Washington and Oregon is an industry leader in low-maintenance bathtub and shower surrounds. They are rated A+ with the BBB, and have earned the Prestigious Angie’s List for Outstanding Customer Service Award for two years in a row. For more information about Luxury Bath call (360) 693-2284. Visit LuxurybathNW.com. Make an appointment to see our showroom – 13714 NE 28th St., #1, Vancouver. Come by our booth at the Clark County Fair, Aug. 3-12.
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