On Jul 29, 7:55 pm, "Oz" wrote:
"Frank" frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in message

. ..





Oz wrote:
New to the newsgroup.

My house is 35 years old. I have a bathtub enclosure - regular tub with
three tiled walls. The tiles are falling off the walls (behind the the
tiles there appears to be some kind of paper - I don't know if that is
relevant) and the subsurface is crumbling. I had been re-attaching
individual tiles with grout for a long time but the time has come to tear
the tiles down and start over with something different. Problem is, I'm
a geologist not a carpenter.

Here is what I'm thinking and I want some sage advice from the members on
this group as to whether, or not, it's feasible. Tear the tiles off the
walls. Replace the subsurface, whatever it was to begin with, with green
board (I think that's what it's called) and re-surface the whole thing
with that fibreglass/plastic boarding that looks like tiles.

Obviously, I am trying to do this not only in an economic fashion (i.e.
inexpensively) but also in a manner that requires a low skill level (i.e.
I have never laid tiles on a bathroom wall and I don't want to start
now).

So, fire away! Suggestions and advice are welcome and being sought.
Remember, I am a newbie and am a geologist not a carpenter or a tile
layer - so, please, go easy on me.

Thanks!

Rob
Guy that built my home was chintzy and used drywall as subsurface in
bathrooms. You can get away with it if not a lot of moisture. There is
cement board and, I believe an intermediate board, you should replace
regular drywall with these.
Frank

Frank,

Thank you for that info. How about your thoughts on the surface material?
I'd like to stay away from tile. So, is the stuff I described doable?

I had the wall board in my stall shower replaced with cement board and
it was retiled with the small tiles. This has been over 20 years ago
and shower still looks great. In other bath with tub and tub shower,
original wall with tiles has held up. In a powder room with the small
tiles, I had to have a plumbing repair that broke through wall and I
replaced tiles on dry wall which was completely intact. So tile over
cement board will solve any problem but you can get away with lesser
moisture proof backing if not heavily exposed.
Frank