Retiling Bathroom Walls

Johnny Drama · Jun 30, 2008

Hello all,

I'm retiling my shower/bath walls and have removed the old tile and drywall. My problem is this....the old backer board is 5/8" thick, but I can only find 1/4" or 1/2" thick backer board for the new install. How can I get the old and the new to match up a the joints and how much of a pain in the rear will this be?

Jimbo · Jun 30, 2008

Use 1/2" ( 1/4 is too thin ) and fur out the studs with thin strips to make the levels match up.

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Johnny Drama · Jun 30, 2008

I forgot to mention this is my first time doing this, so what does "fur out the studs" mean and I'm assuming that's for all studs...

Jimbo · Jul 1, 2008

Your backer board is thinner than you need, so you put some thin strips of wood on each stud. You have to get strips of just the right thickness to put the surface of the new board flush with the old board.

Sometimes you can find what are called lath strips in the lumber yard, just the right thickness. Sometimes you have to rip the strips on a table saw.

Jadnashua · Jul 1, 2008

You also want a vapor barrier installed behind the cbu that laps down over the tiling flange of the tub. A good place for help on tiling things is www.johnbridge.com.

Johnny Drama · Jul 1, 2008

Thanks for all the help. I was wondering about the vapor barrier. I've seen several people talk about adding it, but I've noticed it was never installed when this place was built. It's 20 years old now, so maybe they didn't do it back then.

Retiling Bathroom Walls

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