How can a Tile Tub be Site Built?

Will someone please provide reference or details on site building a ceramic tile tub?

This is pre molded plastic era question.

I have seen shower pans built using lead sheet or rubber liners. I also remember when I was a child taking a bath in an odd size built-in ceramic tile tub.

Thank you.

The only one I ever saw was on a millionaire's yacht. That was almost forty years ago and was made by first constructing a plywood box and then that was fiberglassed to make it watertight. After that conventional methods of tile laying were used. I have no idea of how it stood up over time.

It can be done, but it's not that easy. Have you checked out www.wedi.de ? There are other ways to do this, but that may be one of the easiest. Check out www.johnbridge.com for some ideas.

The easiest way is to take a cast iron tub, scarify or sandblast the surface and lay tile on it. You will need to have some custom fabrication done in the drain and overflow areas.

You can also build one from scratch. It's similar to a mud-base shower, just bigger, taller and with some curved surfaces. The tricky part is the drain and overflow.

Talk to a local high-end tile setter or GC.

The way I would do it if so inclined would be to make it out of forms and deck mud (sandy cement mix normally used in shower bases). Then KERDI it. There is a drain specifically made for this purpose to be used with the KERDI membrane. Then tile it

I think that CI tub is likely to expand and contract too much to keep tile attached long-term. Maybe if you used epoxy thinset, but that's a pain to use and quite expensive.

tub

Make sure you place your tiled tub near a window where it gets good sunlight, because if yours is like 99% of the ones in this area, after about two baths it becomes a planter area. The tubs are cold and uncomfortable.

iminaquagmire said:

There is a drain specifically made for this purpose to be used with the KERDI membrane. Then tile it

Click to expand...

You can't use a shower drain in a tub, be it kerdi or otherwise. It can't be closed.

drain

You use a shower drain body, with a Roman Tub top, which has a push button, lift and turn, or hinged cover.

Schluter, the makers of Kerdi, do offer a tub drain. Last I heard, they were essentially hand built and not inexpensive, but they do make them. You may need to call them, as I'm not sure they put it in their catalog on-line.

If I was going to do this, I think I'd use Wedi. They make a tub kit. If it doesn't have the shape or size you want, they can make one for you (not cheap, but then custom labor isn't either). Being made of high density foam with a special coating to allow thinset to stick, it would warm up quicker and hold that heat longer than one made with more conventional deckmud methods AND, you'd have an engineered system that would be both structurally sound and have a guarantee. Basically, thinset it down, urethane the pieces together, and start tiling...a huge time saver. Once the area was prepped for plumbing, you could probably have it done, including grout (if you used a quick setting mortar) in one long day. You'd take days to do a conventional one (this assumes a pro is doing it...quick setting mortar is not recommended for those faint of heart or inexperienced!).

Kerdi could be used, but it would be harder to make it conform to curves, unless you wanted flat surfaces (no compound curves). Course, tiling compound curves isn't the easiest thing to do, either, if you want it to look good.

How would you join the seams in the Kerdi to create a waterproof tub?

You have two choices...you can overlap the Kerdi membrane by at least 2", or you can butt the seams together and cover with Kerdi-band (which is thinner). As long as Kerdi is installed properly with that minimum overlap, water will not leak out. Orientation does not matter, the stuff is hygrophobic - it repels water and the thinset layer is so thin (when installed properly), water won't penetrate more than about 1/4", so 2" is way overkill.