Cultured marble price question

[Bienes Raices]

I started a thread about replacing the bathroom tiles and then someone else started one about their cultured marble installation (unfortunately I was not able to find that thread again.

I was quoted $1800 by a company here in Orlando to do the cultured marble (in a shower--no tub). I was under the impression that the price range should be $500-$700 for this. I am clarifying with the company what kind of materials they are using, but is there some type of material I should be specifying in the quotes so that I don't get these very high estimates? (obviously I'm not going to pay that much to do this in a rental). Thanks.

[Mark H.]

Originally posted by Bienes Raices:

If I get new 4X4 tiles to replace the deflecting ones, and fix the water intrusion problem on the sill, won't the new shower tile last for a long time? Mildew on the grout is annoying but can't that be removed with products if it appears (and possibly charged to the tenant if they were guilty of neglect)?

If you've got tiles popping out, the backer is likely drywall. The cement board is unlikely to behave that way. So, assuming there's drywall behind the tile, the wet area will be larger than just a tile or two. If you had one loose tile, you would pull off the adjacent tiles as well, until you got back to "solid" drywall. Assuming you hit good solid board before you hit a stud, you could stick in pieces of 1 x2" to support the drywall patch. Then stick down some tile, grout the next day & hope for the best.

If its tile over drywall, without some sort of water management system (Kerdi or schluter), it's days are numbered. Grout isn't waterproof, so water will be getting behind the tiles eventually.