Tiling bathtub walls help - tub flange too far.

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Andrew Berg

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Hi:
I am in the process of tiling my bathtub walls (~1950's house, original tub). I've brought the walls to studs, and was about to put up tile backer, when I fully realized one side (right side) of the tub is about 3/4" away from the tub flange. The other side, and the back are butting up almost against the studs.

Image Here: http://i.imgur.com/VgxXUia.jpg

The wall used to have drywall, and a plastic tub surround.

The issue this creates is that the wall with the extra distance butts up against existing drywall (top, to the side), so if I shim this to get the tile backer closer to the tubs flange, I am going to have at least a 1/2" of tile backer protruding out next to drywall.

Been looking around, but cannot seem find what others have done (other than the, I guess, obvious one of replacing all the drywall; which I want to avoid :) ). Tub isn't moving either.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 

Reach4

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That sure is not what I expected to see in the picture. What dimension in the picture is the 3/4 inch you mentioned?
VgxXUia.jpg
 

Andrew Berg

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Sorry, apparently I failed at typing this earlier today :)

Better description: The tub on one side is 3/4" from the studs -- as seen in the picture with the gap in the corner. The other two sides are almost flush with the tub, as see at the top of the picture. If I put the tilebacker on the right side wall, it doesn't reach the tub. So, I would have to shim it to get it closer to the tub. However, this creates an uneven transition to the Drywall that is on the same wall. I really don't want to replace an almost entire walls worth of drywall to fix it. So, really asking what are some other options.
 

Reach4

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It seems obvious now, but I previously did not realize that was a top view.
 

Cacher_Chick

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How did the old surround mask this? You could transition the thickness variation with a column of thicker tile, marble, or some other solid surface material. Depending on your thickness variation, you might look at another layer of drywall of suitable thickness to bring the entire wall out to the same level. Drywall is cheap.
 

hj

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slide the tub so the gap is the same at both ends, then bring the backer board down on to the rim. Then the tile will come down to the tub when you install it.
 

Terry

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It looks like you will be shimming one wall. If you shim that wall, you may want to put a trim piece that you can tile to where it meets the other surface.
Othewise like you mention, you would have to shim the rest of the wall.
Moving the entire tub would be more work, and then you would need to shim both sides.

With a table saw, you can rip the shimming any size you want.
 

hj

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quote; Moving the entire tub would be more work, and then you would need to shim both sides.

I think there would be enough "slack" to lever it over that much, and the wall board would then cover BOTH gaps. In the old days, the tub recess WAS made about 3/4" oversize, and we never had a problem needing "shimming".
 
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