I would like to tile the walls around my bathtub. Do I need a special
backing board or can I tile over the existing gyprock? Is there a special
goo needed for showers? Do I grout with the same stuff I stick the tiles on
with? Any tips or suggestions? I have to tile around an existing window,
where do I start? Is there a good website or book or video that may help?
Thanks for any help.

I am confident you will get some very valid answers, and they
will likely reflect the way it's supposed to be done. And I've done
it that way.Till I decided there's gotta be a better way.
First, I took the wall covering away, exposed the studs, and
the inside face of the outside wall. With the exact measurement
of a stud, I found three thicknesses of Styrofoam that when
used would be exactly the same thickness. That included some
that were thin, originally made to use as a ceiling 'tile'. I cut the
pieces to fit inside the stud spaces, with cuts arranged so there
was no wall visible. Bump that wall, it's seriously solid.
Important to insulate the wall, so that it doesn't serve as a
condensate point during the wintertime.
Then I used Greenboard. It's more resistant to moisture. But
on another project, I just used strand board (OSB).
The grout is the weak link in a tile project. It's a cementous
material. The tile stops water, but it can go past or through
the grout. Even with acrylic additive.
So I used silicone. Pure 50 year white GE silicone.
I found a tile style called Arctic Ice, since discontinued,
that matched the white silicone without being "hospital white".
Pure silicone is nonpaintable, and therefore less easily
stained.
No tub is perfectly level. I checked the level line, struck a line
the height of a tile plus an eighth inch, got three pieces of
straight wood to put at the level line. Starting one tile distance
above the tub means that irregularities of the tub are not the
basis of further ones up in the tile work. I did the 5' wall portion
first. After centering and working from there. I took the first tile,
squiggled about 5 rows of silicone on the back, put it about 1/4"
from its final resting spot at the middle, pressed it as I moved it
into position, then I went to other stuff while it cured as a fast
cure product. After it wasn't going to move, I took the next tile,
5 squiggles, and applied silicone to the edges of the one in
place, and the next one, and put that second one in place,
snugging it to the first one with only the thickness of a kitchen
match distance top and bottom. And went from there getting
the excess silicone from between them and using it on the
back of the next tile. Finger got siliconed, so did my pants.
With that spacing, if I had started from one side, I would have
had an inconvenient opening at the other side. Because a
typical grouted space is more than that. The tiles at the ends
of the tub covered that space nicely.

The window I removed, replaced it with glass block. Placed
even with the tile, clear silicone at its transitions. I left the
storm window outside alone, disabled its lock so I could
open it from outside if I wanted.
Besides a regular tile cutter, an angle grinder with a good
masonry blade is awfully handy.

Oh, and while I had the wall exposed, I added 2x2's to the
2x6's of the toilet wall, used some cabinet doors I found at
a flea market, and created a storage wall with 7" depth, so
that I could use a pedestal sink instead of a cabinet sink
that took up a lot more room. Doing that meant putting my
commode tank on a shelf 24" above the commode, with a
plumbing adapter made for that purpose, and the toilet
certainly flushes with enthusiasm.

So now I'll let the others tell how it's supposed to be done.


On Oct 12, 10:53*pm, "Sky Pilot" wrote:
I would like to tile the walls around my bathtub. Do I need a special
backing board or can I tile over the existing gyprock? *Is there a special
goo needed for showers? *Do I grout with the same stuff I stick the tiles on
with? Any tips or suggestions? *I have to tile around an existing window,
where do I start? *Is there a good website or book or video that may help?
Thanks for any help.