Before and after photos of tub surround- Thanks to oh'mike, budcline, theeplumber

amodoko

Hey guys, I thought I would post some before and after photos of what my tub and tub surround ended up looking like. I ended up replacing the tub itself as well as the tub surround. I'm satisfied with the end result, I made mistakes throughout the process, but the final result looks okay to me. It was a great learning experience for me as this is the biggest home repair I have ever done... before this the biggest home repair I had done was replacing a kitchen faucet, so I had a lot to learn.

I welcome both positive and negative comments on the final product so I can know what to improve upon the next time I do a surround.

I would like to thank budcline, oh'mike, and theeplumber for their help throughout the process. Others helped me as well, and I wish I could thank all of you specifically, but the above three really went the extra mile with me, and I greatly appreciate it. Without your help, I would have been screwed.

There are still some things I will end up doing at a later date, such as putting in glass sliding doors instead of that shower curtain, tile floors instead of vinyl, etc. But for now, here are some before and afters...

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DangerMouse

Very nice!

DM

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sublime2

Looks very nice!
God job.
The only thing i would mention is the caulk.
Is there something you can do to knock down the brightness or color it.
the white perimeter somewhat takes away from the tile design.
IMO.

pkrapp74

Great job!

I agree, the bright white caulk does take away a little, but overall....awesome.

amodoko

I agree with you both about the caulk. I wanted to use 100% silicone for where the walls met, but I would have to order the right color for it. The only 100% silicone caulks I had were white and clear, and clear was good but didn't cover up some of my mistakes well (the tiles weren't cut perfectly where the two walls met, so some areas had a bit more gap than others). I had the correct color in caulk, but it was siliconized acrylic. I did use the acrylic caulk for the niches and the corner shelves, but looking back I wish I had used it for the walls too. Is there a way to color the caulk once it's already on the walls? Removing 100% silicone is kind of hard to do from my little experience trying it once. But I agree with you both, the white caulk kind of throws it off a bit

oh'mike

Good design---Like those niches---Agree on the caulk---razor blade will remove it when the time comes---Ivory is a standard off the shelf color---others available mail order.

Glad you posted this---sharp design---Mike----

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mae-ling

nice, very nice

Evstarr

Nice job. I like the tile border and the way you went with the diagonal tiles above it. It makes the job pop as something special.

CoconutPete

Looks good! Is that a fiberglass or cast iron tub?

hammerlane

Now get a new commode seat.

sublime2

Agreed! Lol

amodoko

Lol, I do need a new commode seat To answer a question above, I wanted to put in a cast iron tub but due to a tight budget and technical reasons (transporting the heavy thing, if the ground needed to be reinforced to support it, etc) we went with an inexpensive steel tub. We thought about a fiberglass tub as well, but all the ones we liked were just as expensive as cast iron, so we went with the cheaper route and got a steel one. May not be an ideal choice, but we'll see how we like it in the long run. I've heard mixed opinions on the internet about what tub to use between fiberglass and steel (cast iron of course was the best). Most seemed to prefer fiberglass, but I have also heard of people being happy with steel ones even after long term use, so I guess I'll find out in time. I've had fiberglass tubs in the past, and just felt like trying out steel for once.

dwcopple

what size are the tiles? 16x16? If so where did you buy?

amodoko

The tiles are actually 12x12 and I just bought them from Lowes. They are porcelain tiles. I believe they are called capri classic tiles. If you are actually going to buy them, I'll just tell you in advance, they look a bit more white in the Lowe's displays but when you get them to normal house lighting they are more tan.