ForzaStone Lightweight Stone Panels for Showers

Steve Shinn, owner of Homework Remodels, in Phoenix, was looking for shower options to allow him to complete bath projects more efficiently. His research led him to ForzaStone, a stone panel product. “Putting up a few panels is going to take way less time than hundreds of tiles,” he says.

A few past clients had opted for stone slab showers, but these were about four times the cost of ForzaStone, Shinn estimates — Forza­Stone panel installation costs about the same as a porcelain or stone tile shower. “ForzaStone didn’t give me a cheaper option,” Shinn says, “but I can offer clients a comparable shower and have my own production people do the work” — a plus in a tough economy where Shinn was seeking ways to use fewer subs and keep his core crews busy.

Mighty Light

The panels are comprised of a 5 millimeter layer of stone and a 4 millimeter backer made of recycled plastic ply laminate, between two layers of metal alloy. At 3 pounds per square foot, says Jarrod Streng, Forza­Stone co-president and co-founder, the panels are 85% lighter than 3-centimeter-thick slabs of stone.

Since he began offering ForzaStone, about 50% of Shinn’s clients choose it for a shower, in contrast to the past, when 66% chose a stone tile and 33% opted for porcelain or ceramic tile. The lack of grout lines “brings real value to the table,” Shinn says.

His crews use a circular wet saw with a guide for long, straight cuts, and a diamond wheel grinder for small cuts. They waterproof the enclosure just as they would for tile showers, use a polyurethane adhesive to attach the panels, and finish the seams with silicone sealant. A 72-inch-by-60-inch panel fits the back wall of a tub surround, and crews can cut a second panel in half for the side walls. “Our offerings minimize waste and simplify our inventory, which [in turn] helps us deliver better cost to the marketplace,” Streng says. —Nina Patel, senior editor, REMODELING. 

ForzaStone Fact Sheet

• Standard sizes in inches: 96x60, 72x60, 96x40, and 96x50. Custom sizes available.
• Selections include several shades of travertine and marble.
• The installation price is 20% more than stone tile and 50% less than 2-centimeter-thick stone slabs, ForzaStone’s co-founder Jarrod Streng says.
• Panels are pre-sealed, but the manufacturer recommends sealing after installation due to on-site cuts.
• Available through distributors in some regions or by mail order from the company.
• Matching accessories include floor tile, niches , pencil trim, and silicone sealant.