Home Improvement Contractor - Licensed Contractors

Creative Solutions for 6' Oval Tub With Edges Extending INTO the drywall?

Our fixer-upper house has a nice Kohler tub that is deep and wide and 6' long. The tub sits inside a greenboard-clad frame, its rim resting on a small tub surround. There is no tile on this surround, the walls, or on the sides greenboard cabinet that hides the tub and that the rim rests on. Wanna tile it, but... The 6' tub is in a space that is 5'11.5" inches or so. Because of plumbing in the walls and the location of the studs at both ends of the tub, and because of the location of the toilet, our contractor says the tub cannot fit other than in the condition we found it. Right now, a bit of the oval rim of the tub both at the faucet side and the opposite side pierces through the dry wall. These entries into the drywall are currently caulked. Can we do anything besides cut tile the shape of this tub's rim, affixing it across the places the tub enters the wall and recaulking? We bought porcelain tile 18" rectangles. Are tiny glass tiles a better bet? Or another choice?

Public Comments

1. Any tile will work it will just take some planing to lay out the tile so everything falls out the same.
2. Wow, that's a tight fit. I find it hard to believe that your contractor can't do something with the wall that doesn't have the faucets, possibly taking it out and reframing a thinner wall, gaining you an inch or two. I guess it all depends on how much the problem bothers you? Does it bother you enough to pay a couple of hundred dollars to fix it? The only suggestion I can give you is that I would probably use a smaller tile than 18" A tile that size is going to be harder to fit around tub. You might want to look into mosaic tiles, they might work good in your situation. Good Luck
3. if i was doing it, i would use smaller tiles right around the rim. like a border effect...maybe using this same effect elsewhere to make it go together well. I am certain that you can gain the inch or two you need, in some manner. whether or not you want to spend the time and money to do so, is up to you. it will not be cheap, a good bit of labor will be involved. If i could actually see it, i might have better suggestions.
4. I have seen a similar situation to this. The solution that I saw was this: 1. Rip out the Green board (it isn't water proof, just vapor resistant) 2. Nail up Felt 3. Lath the walls 4. Put on a scratch coat (like you're stuccoing) 5. Spread on the mortar and place the tiles. This will give a high quality finish to this awkward situation.
5. the smaller the tile the less precise you'll have to be when nibbling them. It sounds like it'll look nice and the grout will help seal it. However if the greenboard or water resistant drywall isn't rigid enough, it'll crack and look trashy....Good luck.