In alt.home.repair on Sun, 19 Dec 2004 17:13:12 -0500 "Pop"
posted:

It's monkey work, but it's not as bad a job as you might think to
pull that tub out and check what's under it.

It's not? I readily admit that I don't know, but I thought the
typical tub was, say, 60 inches long, with only 58 inches showing.
That is, there is an inch at either end that is inside the wall. (At
least for tubs that fill the width of the room.)

That to take the tub out, one had to cut the tub in half or redo a lot
of wall afterwards.

It does sound like
it mght not be supported right, especially since it's on a 2nd
floor. You don't mention any ceiling problems downstairs, so I'd
assume then that the problem is in the setting of the tub. You
sound pretty sure that it's just flexing, and that's not right.
If properly supported, it won't happen. I'll bet it's just
sitting on the bare floor and no regard was given to the mounting
"feet" or whatever the support areas are called.

Regards.

Pop


mark wrote:
I've owned this house for about 4 years now, and am 2 to 3
years
away from selling it (not due to this problem).

In the master bathroom there is a small, either plastic or
fiberglass tube. It appears to be one of those liners but I
have no
idea. It looks, and feels cheap when you step into it (I don't
take
baths, just showers). About 6 months after moving in I noticed
the
caulk around the seam between the tub and the tiled walls was
cracking and separating. I took out the old caulk and
recaulked the
entire tub. A few month later, same thing. Noticed that the
right
hand corner is where the flexing starts and is most
pronounced.
Maybe 1/8th of an inch at the time. It's been about 3 or 4
times
total that I've recaulked this tub now.

I just did a search on this and I wish I had come to the
internet
before - as the trick is to fill the tub with water first
before
caulking. However my concern now is not just slight flex, but
major
flexing. I'm worried that the foundation that the tub sits on
is not
right, as now the crack seems wider - about 1/4" at it's
widest
point (starting at the same spot - right corner, next to the
piping/valves).

My worry is that I need to rip this tub out and repair what is
below
it. Is this true? If so, how? Obviously I'd have to break the
rest
of the caulk seem, but then what? I can't afford to have a pro
do
this.

Perhaps I should just fill the tub with water and try
re-caulking
and see if that holds? It's *possible* that the crack is just
bigger
because I've let it go without recaulking for a while, which I
regret because this is a 2nd floor bathroom and one morning I
let
water splash into that corner and it leaked down into the
ceiling.
There is a slight, small water mark there now.

Help!



Meirman

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