Tub surround backer
#1
Tub surround backer
This is probably a very dumb question, but I've never installed tile before, and I don't want it to fall on my head later! My husband and I have just put a new bathtub in our basement bathroom. The drywaller blithely put up ordinary drywall around the tub, and said that, as long as we sealed the grout between our tiles, this would not be a problem. The tiles we want to use are 3x3 shiny glazed tiles and we're installing them from the (low) ceiling right down to the tub (and the floor, on either side of the tub). Is the drywaller correct about the sealant? Neither my husband nor I is particularly drywall-savvy, and neither of us wants to contemplate taking it down and having to put up (and tape!) something different. We're hoping to save a few dollars by doing the tiling ourselves, and I think I'd enjoy doing it, assuming it's not going to fall down again in a few months.
I'd be glad of some advice. Thanks!
I'd be glad of some advice. Thanks!
#2
Tub surround
If installing tile as tub surround, then concrete underlayment board should be used. Regular drywall will eventually succumb to water and your tile installation will come to naught.
#3
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Canton Ohio
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Take down the drywall in the surround area, put up some 8 mill plastic sheeting then cement board. Apply the tile with thinset, not premixed, not mastic, your head will thank you in a few years when the tile are not falling on it.
#4
Backer board
The concrete underlayment board (CUB), or cement board, is marketed under various names. If you tell the retailer what you are looking for, he/she can point you in the right direction. You need a water proof underlayment.