I am about to start a small bathroom repair job at my sister's house. She has ceramic tile in the shower that is falling off and taking the existing backing down with it. The tile goes from top of tub to the ceiling and I plan on demolishing the entire back wall of the shower and the two ends as well to make sure I get rid of any wet tile backer. I am taking it down to the studs.

She wants to replace it with one of those plastic inserts that glues to the wall. I've installed a couple of these in the past but have always installed them over the existing tile.

So, what I am wondering is if anyone has any advice on how best to prep the walls to put the insert in. One guy at Lowe's said put up the concrete backer board, another told me to put up green board and prime it. What do you experts think will work best? I hate the thought of going through all this work and have it not stick....

Thanks

 

Use the concrete backer. Its much better than the green sheetrock

 

2cnd this, done it both ways, the green board will not last.

 

So, can I glue it directly to the concrete board or does it need any other prep?

 

I applied the glue recommended by fiberglass mfg. right to the board.

 

Yep just glue to the cement board. It will not rot if it gets wet & the green board will.

 

No expert, but, a on customer's house I put up cement board, sealed seams and nail heads, some slight sanding so everything is flush. Use whatever they recommend for the insert/surround. If you are putting in a moulding at the top, make sure to mark the center studs on the ceiling under the moulding for the trim nails. Center punch and fill the hole, even if you only use clear.

When putting the cement backer board on, lay it onto a bead of GE Silicon II meant for bathrooms and lay the edges over a bead too. Don't butt the boards edge to edge. It does not hurt to insulate the exterior wall and if the bathroom is against a wall of another bedroom, the insulation between rooms will cut down on noises. I would use pipe insulation in my own house, but, none to fill around the empty spaces. Try to install split foam so it can easily be pulled off from underneath in case you have to put a torch to the pipe and secure it with easy to cut zip ties from underneath.

When installing the insert I like to set it down on a bead of caulk and have one on the ceiling edge too. You have to be careful because on some of these inserts smearing the silicon along a bead can wreck the finish.

I hate those metal rings around the shower head, so, while the head is off it is nice to install something plastic, easy to clean, decorative, and seal all the edges well. Then install a water conserving head and spray hose, women really like the hose feature.

Look for an insert with just more then a soap dish. Something with multiple shelves and a built in support shelf/rail is worth the extra money, imho.

 

Ray,
If the "insert" does not reach the ceiling I would use a product like Densshield. Georgia-Pacific DensShield Tile Backer

Nothing to support the growth of mold, fiberglass facings, AND you can tape and paint it.
Tips:
It is itchy, wear long sleeves and a respirator.
Use a setting type of joint compound like Durabond Easy Sand. It will not get soft if it does become moist. http://www.usg.com/navigate.do?resou...t_Compound.htm

I never had good luck getting exposed Wonderboard to tape cleanly into the ceiling, nor look good under paint.

 

i will recomend using the concrete board also. use it once and never do it again.

 

I also recommend the denssheild

Thats how I did my bathroom

 

Thanks for all the advice so far. The project took a different direction today when I realized that there is a window in the shower that makes an insert non-feasible. She wanted to get rid of the window but being a second floor and effin' cold out, I told her I'd retile it.

So, did the demo today and was able to get to dry, sound material at just under 3' above the tub line. For some reason the backer (gypsum) was double thickness but no sign of rot behind that. I was able to stagger the horizontal joint in the two layers of backer by about 3" so it should work out fine with the 3'x5' pieces of concrete backer that I got.

Tomorrow I will install the new Symmons valve and hopefully get the backer up on the back wall and the end wall around the fixture. By the end of the weekend I should have tile in place. Going better than I expected so far. As long as I don't burn her house down soldering in the valve, this should be a pretty good project.

Thanks again for the tips and ideas. Happy New Year all.

 

I'm glad you are not able to go with those glue on cheapo things, I very much dislike them! I am a big fan of full tile but in the right place the full surround tubs are good too.

 

[quote=Nitramjr;8299484]Thanks for all the advice so far. The project took a different direction today when I realized that there is a window in the shower that makes an insert non-feasible. She wanted to get rid of the window but being a second floor and effin' cold out, I told her I'd retile it.

I have seen inserts still installed with the window in there. You can now get full vinyl trims around the windows and not have to use any nails to put it in. Nice and sealed up and you still get a window.



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I hope you took some before and during pictures, and take some after shots as well.

 

I usually don't take pictures of my work unless it is for me. I probably should but never think of it.

I have the new Symmons valve installed and got the backer board up on the 5' wall of the shower (two thicknesses). Boy is that stuff hard to cut. Score and snap my ***. I left the other wall without backer board just in case one of my soldered joints decides to leak. So far, so good.

Next trip over I will finish the backer board and maybe start the tileing. Have to get a "close enough" on the tile since the stuff in there is discontinued. White is going to have to work. I'm not looking forward to all the cutting of tile since I don't have a wet-saw.

If I remember, I'll post a progress photo....