The other quote on your counter is probably plastic. Here is the honest math.
If you have shopped a tub surround in Berlin, you have met the acrylic pitch: a plastic liner glued over your old walls in one day. It costs roughly what tile costs — $1,500 to $3,000 — and lasts five to ten years before it yellows, flexes and traps moisture behind it. Tile costs the same or slightly more, lasts decades, and can be repaired tile-by-tile instead of replaced as a unit. One of these is a renovation. The other is a cover-up with a payment plan.
Berlin landlords ask us this constantly: Berlin's most common call: a fiberglass surround gone yellow and chalky around a perfectly good tub — re-tile the walls, keep the tub. Our answer is consistent — if you will own the bath more than five years, tile costs less per year and rents better every one of them.
Surround tile we set most in Berlin — each suits different baths and budgets.
Dense, wipeable, the value default.
Calm modern walls, fewer joints.
Plumbing-wall art that costs little.
Pattern, grip and vintage charm.