Tub install -drop in on top of tile?

[Finkeeper]

Hi Everybody,

I'm putting in an Americast Stratford Tub. It's a soaker, not a whirlpool, and it will be used as a shower as well. I'll be doing a typical recess installation with three sides of the tub resting on 2x4 stringers attached to the existing wall studs and the front side resting on a short (knee) wall. The tub is then dropped in. This tub is supported buy the three stringers and the short wall -American Standard says no additional sump support is required.

When I build the knee wall, should the tub rest on the 2x4 wall top plate, on backer board on top of the 2x4, on top of the the tile on the backer board on the 2x4, or some other option?

To put it another way, do I rest the edge of the tub on top of the tile or rest it on the wall and lay the tile up to the edge of the tub itself?

Thanks,

Mark

[hj]

You tile the "deck" and set the tub on it, or you set the tub and tile up to it with a caulk joint that can crack and leak, or you install the tub and then install the tile on top of the tub's edge. The first one is the more common way, but you can do it anyway you think is best.

[Finkeeper]

Thanks!

I never thought of tiling over the tub edge. Since the other three sides will effectively be tiled over (due to the overhang) by the width of the backerboard plus the depth of the tile, I could make all four sides match.

[sjb8112]

Don't use a soaking tub as a shower. Standard tubs have a lip around them to prevent shower water from running off the horizontal surface back into the wall behind the tile. I don't know about your specific model, but generally, soaking tubs lack this lip because they're meant to install on a deck and not have a lot of water flying around above the tub -- you'll be relying on a caulk or grout bead that will inevitably crack and leak. I learned this lesson the hard way after I purchased a house that had an installation very similar to what you're describing in the master bath. Looked great and the wife loved the tub for the first few months -- until the mold stain soaked through the fresh paint the seller had put on the ceiling in the room below the tub. In addition to doing an unplanned bathroom remodel, I learned more about toxic mold than I ever wanted to know.

[Finkeeper]

I bought a "tile bead kit" which has a tile bead strip and adhesive (see attachment) that is supposed to solve the problem sjb8112 talks about.

Anybody ever use one?

[master plumber mark]

dont even gamble witth aht tile bead stip thingy....

you are asking for trouble......


if you are wise........ young Jedi .....

spend the little extra money
on a soaking tub that has a lip built onto it.....

YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID

Pearl makes one

and others have some lips that can be atached to the
walls that are gonna get hit hard with water....

make it easy and make it simple.....on yourself.
drop the drywall onto that tub and then
just tile down onto that lip and save yourself a lot of future greif....

I myself took the the dark path too , and installed a 6 foot x36
whirlpool soaking tub in my downstairs bathroom

I furred out the walls a full 2x4 over the lip of the tub
then set the wood in silicone before ever putting on the drywall..

basically it was a lot of hard work to save only a few dollars...
and you better be up for some real hard work figureing ouit
how to keep it dry for the long haul.

Mine is never gonna leak in my life time , I am sure of that
but I pity the next poor fool that has to mess with that bathroom someday.