wall above tile

My ceramic tile in my tub surround goes up five feet in our shower, we are taking it all down and replacing with backer board and new tile, but what about the three feet of wall above the tile area that matches up to the ceiling, does that also have to come down?

Thanks in advance

 

It should.

Why spend all this money and not get rid of the existing drywall everywhere in the shower area.

 

Thank You would the whole area even above the tiled be done in the backer board? The wall area above my tile is a textured type of drywall and painted if that is done in backerboard would i just paint it? Fellow doing the work says he can take all the board out but i would have to have someone else come in to make the seam where the wall will join the ceiling.The plummer wants to raise my shower head so i would like to have the whole area protected . Having a disagreement now worker wants to just use green board ( it is code, but still a quality issue) since i am paying for materials i would like to have the hardy backer seems like thats the best one to use.

 

I guess I was thinking that tile would go to the ceiling if the wallboard was replaced with cement board. Must have had a brain-lapse. I just never liked to see painted drywall above a shower surround but that's just me.

I can tell you that the greenboard is a bad idea. In fact just this year greenboard in a shower (wet area) has been disallowed in the newest building codes it just hasn't had time to hit the streets yet.

If you have been living with a painted wall all these years I guess it can't hurt to continue.

 

I would love to have the tile go all the way to the ceilng but the rest of the bathroom walls are done in tile and they only go up about 5 feet so the shower would really stick out if that area was all the way up, i had thought about doing it.

 

I would disagree.

I think in every high-end bathroom I have done during the past seven years there has been a wainscot at about 48 inches but the tub surround/shower wall tile goes all the way to the ceiling.

Oh well, to each his own.

 

whats a wainscot? If any body has a picture of a tub area with the tile all the way to the ceiling please send it to me. I know it looks good i looked at several model homes and they all only had tile halfway and the upper area is drywall.Thats why i decided on doing it that way guess we do things different out here in the west.
Thanks

 

Wainscot is a decorative wallcovering that covers only a partial wall.

YOU have a wainscot now.

As far as seeing tile that does not go up to the ceiling in the Model Homes you have seen? Think about this!

Model Homes? Abreviated tile installations?
Model Homes? Abreviated tile installations?

Get the picture?