Hi Folks,Currently I have a bath tub with a vinyl shower surround. I‘m considering removing the shower surround and replacing it with tile.I‘m just wondering how big of a job this is? I‘ve never tiled before but consider myself handy and have done plenty around the house.Of note, I don‘t believe proper backboard is underneath the surround so I‘d have to put that up also. I‘ve put drywall up in the past so I think that part should be ok.So...is this a do it yourself job? Or is this something that needs to be hired out for. Seems like it should be simple, but maybe I‘m missing something and it gets complicated or difficult to make come out nice?Also, how long should this take if I did it myself (days and hours per day) and how long before I can start using the shower again.Thanks!
I, too, have a shower that needs tiling. I hired a friend of a friend and he began the job and abandoned it 1/5 along the way. One of the problems you may encounter is that you will have to have the proper equipment to cut the tile that goes around the shower head, etc. Also, this guy started from the top and I was told that you always start from the bottom of the shower. There is a certain type of adhesive that you need also for adhering the tile (forgot the name) but it is not thinset. Make sure you measure twice so when you cut you will only have to cut once. Oh yeah, and don't forget your spacers. You tile one day and grout the next. I think the grout needs 48 hours to totally dry. That's all I can think of.
You can cut the edge of the tub off and lay the tile right to the top surface of the tub, leave a small gap for grout or caulking. make sure that the backer board is to the edge too. A sawzall will work with a fine blade.You will need to be careful when ya cut though. You can use thin set but there are different grades, use the more expensive one with the polymers in it if you want it to last for decades. You can also fur out the wall half inch or so to make up for the difference at the top of the tub, this will bring the backer board out to where you need it, where it is even with the top of the tub.
As long as you don't remove the shower pan, you should be okay. Don't assume that the corner of your wall is plumb. Do a dry fit at the bottom to see that you don't have tiny slivers of tile to cut in the corners. You want to tile from the bottom up and the outside in. That way, any cut tiles are on the inside corners. Be absolutely certain that you start out plumb and square, or the job will always look lop-sided. Lowe's and Home Depot offer classes on how to lay tile, it might be a good idea to attend one so you'll know exactly what you're doing.
Start by getting a good tile book that throughly covers shower stalls. I recently remolded a bathroom that started as a simple hey lets tile the shower project. The job can get as big as you make it. In my case I pulled out the standard shower shell existing bath tub, knocked out a closet and turned a standard shower stall into 30 sf showering paradise with a jucuzzi bathtub. First of all, anything you put tile on besides concrete has to have a cement board behind it! (Hardibacker or similar-available at your home improvement stores). There will be lots of dust from removing any existing drywall so use a good quality mask like a painters mask too. I would plan on it taking a couple months if you plan on working on it during the evenings or weekends. My project took nearly 6 months of evenings and weekends and forced my wife and I to share a bathroom with 2 kids-worth it in the end but I probabbly wouldn't go thru it again. If you remove your old shower, you'll be dealing with an new drain as you'll have to build the foundation for the tile out of deck mud. Lowes' or Home Depot did not carry deck mud so I bought my from the local tile store. You can mix you own as a lot of web sites have lots of info on this but I bought mine premixed. You can use the existing shower pan but I preferred the feel of tile vs. the shower pan, not only that my shower is a completely custom shape so I couldn't get a pan to cover it. If your not sure how to build the base, stick with the pan or you can mess up things and end up with leaks that you do not want.
