Strategy to deal with uneven wall and jutting tub lip

tmccartney · 02-13-2013, 08:25 AM

We have a guy tiling our bathroom in our 55-year-old house who has run into a problem. The wall behind the bathtub, which is a whirlpool bath we had installed several years ago, is uneven. The lip at the back of the tub extends to the point that the tile won't lay flat over it, as you can see in the picture. Because of the unevenness, furring up above would create gaps higher up the wall; we were gonna have a gap one way or the other.

This is what he's done to deal with it so far, but obviously that's not going to be acceptable, and the bottom 3" or so of that tile is going to have to come off.

Can any of you suggest a strategy? One person in the household is suggesting just cutting the back lip off, bringing the tile down to the top of it and caulking thoroughly. I'm wondering whether we could cut the tile off just above the lip and then build up some sort of square ledge out of tile that would cover the lip.

Thanks for any suggestions you have.

joecaption · 02-13-2013, 08:43 AM

#1 That tile does not come out far enough from the wall. It needs to come out to the edge of the tub.
Any real tile guy would have know enough to check that area before ever setting the tile.
Starting at the studs what did they use on the wall?
I'm not seeing a way to "fix" it without removing and shiminig out that wall and doing it right.

tmccartney · 02-13-2013, 09:02 AM

There's new cement board over the studs.

tmccartney · 02-13-2013, 09:08 AM

Sorry - accidental double post

smyers · 02-13-2013, 09:19 AM

The lip on the tub should be flush to the wall studs. Then your cement board goes over the tub lip. Don't know if this is what was done.

JazMan · 02-13-2013, 11:59 AM

1. Rip it out.

2. Choosing a different tile will help. Get a wall tile, preferably one that has matching trims pieces.

3. Hire a tile setter. A relative or inexperienced handyman is not gonna work out. I can imagine how many other things were done wrong. ie. What was used as a waterproofing membrane? What type of adhesive used?

Jaz

JetSwet · 02-13-2013, 08:30 PM

Joe is right about needing the tile out at the edge of the tub, even pass the tub is always better. A well known mistake is using the wrong size backer board its either 1/2" or 5/8" not matching with drywall causes this and the lack of feathering the seams to have it flush.