Tiled Bathtub Surround
Is your existing bathtub surround acrylic? Tiled but is damaged or falling apart? We can rebuild you a beautiful new tiled surround that willprotect your walls from water damage and add value to you beautiful home.
Tiled Bathtub Surround
Can’t stand the ugly old walls surrounding your bathtub and want to replace them? Is your old Acrylic discolored or just looks cheap? Ceramic tile surround is a good choice because it will withstand continued wet and damp conditions. It’s a tough and hardworking material that’s proven itself over the years. Today there’s a staggering selection of designs, shapes and sizes in ceramic wall tile that can handle the rainfall of water a busy tub receives and yet remain a tough, easy-to-clean surface. You can choose between wrapping the tiles up to the ceiling, extending tile up the walls at least 72 inches for protection or installing tile on all the bathroom walls.
You spend time in your bathroom every day, so why not make it beautiful? Installing tile around your shower or tub can spruce up your bathroom with a more sophisticated look and provide an opportunity to customize the space with your personal style. Choose a bold, colorful tile that will make a statement, or go for classic appeal with a white subway tile treatment.
The Process
DEMOLITION: The process starts out with a demolition of existing surround. The existing surround gets cut out, removed and hauled away. The walls are checked for any extensive water damage or structural weakening. If any mold or mildew is found it get treated with bleach and cleaned off. During the demolition of the surround not only do the old surround tiles or panels get removed but also the board behind that as we always install new cement board before installing new tile.
PLUMBING: Usually when the walls are opened up it is recommended to replace you tub valve/fixtures as that is the easiest time to reach to them. If dont later the plumbers will have to cut out a large hole in the wall to replace it ending up and additional cost for the work. This process is done by cutting out your existing tub fixtures/valve and installing new bathtub valve/fixtures provided by the client. We usually quote our replacement of standard single control tub valve so if you are planning on installing a multi valve system with a diverter valve please let us know ahead of time as that runs additional.
PREP: This is when new 1/2″ Durock Cement Board is installed on your bathtub surround. After all the cement board is installed all the seams get fiber tape with fiberglass reinforcing tape and skimmed with thinset mortar to ensure strong seams and corners that won’t crack in the near future. If you would like a recessed niche in you surround this would be the time to let us know.
Tile Installation: Tile will be measured as well as the areas to be tiled to calculate where it would be best to start the tiling from to ensure good size cuts will be made at each wall, ceiling and floor. This is the time that our service pros will usually confirm on the grout line size and tile pattern our clients want. Tile will be installed on the walls starting one tile up from the tub edge as we like to measure out the tight cuts down to the tub next day after the tile has dried and we can remove our level tile supports.
Grout Installation: Once all the tile is set and the thinset had a chance to dry the next process is installing the grout. Grout color will be chosen by the clients. Before the grout installation occurs our service pros will remove and existing thinset mortar from grout lines that might have protruded up during the tile installation. This is a very important step as if not removed the thinset will show through the grout. Once all the grout is installed we allow it to dry over for a hour before all the tile and grout gets wiped down again to remove any let over grout haze. At this point the shower is ready for silicone sealant.
Silicone Installation: After all the tile and grout is polished down from any left over grout haze, the next step is to install silicone sealant in all the tile corners which ensures no water penetrates corner grout as these are the areas most common known to get micro fractures that can absorb water and cause damage to the shower. Our pros will install mold resistant 100% silicone sealant in you shower to the color of clients preference.
Finishing: At this point everything is completed and all that is left to do is to install the bathtub valve covers and shower head and test to make sure everything is working correctly and nothing is leaking. Once that is done, your bathtub surround is complete and you need to allow it cure for 48 hours to make sure all the setting materials cure to full psi strength before using your shower.
Common Questions
All the demolition materials will get packed up into contractor bags and either hauled away to be disposed at s waste management facility, or a green Bagster can get setup in a non intruding location on your driveway where all the demo will get dumped and picked up at the end of the week by a Bagster collecting crane dump truck.
As there are so many tile looks to choose from varying in colors shapes and sizes, we leave choosing and providing the tile for the project to the clients. We usually advise them to see the selections in their local Home Depot or Lowes stores and if they don’t find anything they like then to visit tile specific stores like The Tile Shop or Minnesota Tile. We offer all of our clients to save 25% off their tile purchase by using our contractor discount at such locations. All of the amounts needed for you project will be stated on your project estimate as we measure your project during our in home estimates to provide you with those amounts.
The clients are responsible to provide the shower fixtures the like. We are responsible for installing them. We quote out installing standard style single control shower valves. If clients choose multi valve shower valves with a diverter valve, that is additional cost as its considered installing two valves.
This project usually takes about 4-5 days. Usually we like to start on a monday and finish on a friday.
Yes you are welcome to do the demolition, haul away and clean up yourselves if it’s in your skill level to accomplish. We just ask that the demolition and cleanup is done properly so we don’t have to spend additional time finishing up things that weren’t finished like removing nails, screws, staples and cleaning everything up.
