Bath tub help

[johnathan]

Just bought a house with a bathroon that was in the process of rebuild. All plumbing and drainage pipes are installed, with a new tub. The previous owner put in a new tub with hardibacker all around with all edges covered with tape and thin set. I thought I was all set for tiling. Unfortunately he did not come all the way down covering the tub lip. He stopped hardibacker about 1/2 inch above tub lip. What do you suggest?

 

[Jadnashua]

Did he install a vapor barrier behind the Hardiebacker? Functionally, a gap above the tub tiling flange is not a major problem, if at all. If at least 50% of the tile you are using will be attached to the CBU, you should be fine. But, the vapor barrier should be behind the cbu and come down and overlap the tiling flange.

If you want to waterproof the surface, then there are other ways to finish things up, and then, when using a surface waterproofing, you would not want a vapor barrier behind it.