Question about tile for tub surround

[johnzilla]

Hi –

I’m pretty handy, and am planning to remodel my bathroom.

I’ve laid tile on floors before, no problem, but have never done wall tile, especially over cement backerboard.

My tub currently has a junky multi-piece surround, some sort of plastic, where the wall panels have a seam where they join together.

I intend to rip that out down to the studs, put in backerboard, and then tile.

My question: what do you do about the seam between the backerboard and the rest of the drywall in the bathroom?

I’ve looked at as many articles as I can on the net, but nobody seems to cover this crucial (in my opinion) part of installing wall tile.

I know how to do the seams between pieces of backerboard, and alos regular drywall seams, but what about the seam between backerboard and drywall?

Also, what do you do with the tile there? Install a bullnose? I’m assuming there needs to be some sort of finished edge right there…does the edge of the tile match up with the edge of the backerboard, or should I let it overlap onto the regular drywall if doing so will mean using a full tile instead of a cut?

Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

John

[Giddaymate]

Hi John,
Here are some ideas for you to have a think about instead of using backerboard.

But back the same type of drywall and join and seam the normal way. Then paint a water proof membrane on it.

or

Use a moisture resistant drywall panel “greenboard” (which is perfect for wet areas) and join the normal way.

or

If you’re already ripping down to the studs in that section, why not go all the way and replace the entire wall with one of the two options above.

At least that way you don’t have to worry about cracks showing up where you joined backer board to drywall.

http://www.hometips.com/content/tilewalls_intro.html

regards from Noelene

[Author]

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