Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Basement shower wall repair
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09-24-00, 04:52 PM
I have ceramic tiles falling off of a corner shower unit. After removing them and attemting to prep the underlying surface, I have run into a problem. The Concrete backing board (I assume that is what it is) has disintigrated in places, and is no longer a suitable surface to attach adhesive. One option might be to cut new backing board to fit repair job and install (or not, just a guess) but the complication is that since this is in a basement, directly behind the current backing board is one inch of styrofoam, followed by the cement wall, and I have no idea how to attach the new backing board to this mess. I see no furing strips, just styrofoam. I am at a loss.
09-24-00, 08:46 PM
Nate:
Cement backer board wouldn't disintegrate from moisture like that. I expect what you've got there is either plaster or some sort of gypsum wallboard.
There has to be studs of some sort in that wall. Glueing any sort of backerboard to stryrofoam simply wouldn't be strong enough to support the weight of a wall full of ceramic tiles (not in my view) and a building inspector wouldn't ever approve doing that anyway.
In my view, the bathroom walls is beyond the repair stage and you really should consider replacing the ceramic tiles and underlying supporting board with a more water resistant material.
My best advice right now is to take some pictures, have them developed and take them to some of the tiling contractors in your area. This may be the first time you've seen this, but if your house is built this way then many houses in your town are built this way and the tiling contractors will have come across this situation plenty of times and can explain the construction to you. They won't mind explaining it to you as long as you take the pictures to them instead of them having to drive out to your house and then finding out there's negligible prospect of getting any work out of the deal.
Cement backer board wouldn't disintegrate from moisture like that. I expect what you've got there is either plaster or some sort of gypsum wallboard.
There has to be studs of some sort in that wall. Glueing any sort of backerboard to stryrofoam simply wouldn't be strong enough to support the weight of a wall full of ceramic tiles (not in my view) and a building inspector wouldn't ever approve doing that anyway.
In my view, the bathroom walls is beyond the repair stage and you really should consider replacing the ceramic tiles and underlying supporting board with a more water resistant material.
My best advice right now is to take some pictures, have them developed and take them to some of the tiling contractors in your area. This may be the first time you've seen this, but if your house is built this way then many houses in your town are built this way and the tiling contractors will have come across this situation plenty of times and can explain the construction to you. They won't mind explaining it to you as long as you take the pictures to them instead of them having to drive out to your house and then finding out there's negligible prospect of getting any work out of the deal.
09-25-00, 08:14 AM
thanks. Makes sense. Eventually I think I will have a contractor re-do the whole shower, but in the mean time, I am going to try to come up with a make due repair so that I am not under the gun to get it fixed (since currently 1/4 of the wall is exposed) That way I can look into whole shower units without the pesky problem of individual tiles and grout. By the way, I think it isn't cement backerboard, as you say, which seems stupid in a basement shower. Still no signs of studs.....
09-25-00, 09:29 PM
Nate:
Maybe take the pictures and bring them in for 1 hour developing and immediately set about installing a cheap $100 tub surround. Cheap tub surrounds are designed to be bland, that way you're more inclined to pay more for the better looking ones. However, the one thing that's great about a tub surround is that it's not likely to leak, if it does leak, you can usually find the leak, and they prevent further deterioration of the wall, floor and ceiling below. And, they're pretty easy to install considering most people do it with no prior experience.
Maybe take the pictures and bring them in for 1 hour developing and immediately set about installing a cheap $100 tub surround. Cheap tub surrounds are designed to be bland, that way you're more inclined to pay more for the better looking ones. However, the one thing that's great about a tub surround is that it's not likely to leak, if it does leak, you can usually find the leak, and they prevent further deterioration of the wall, floor and ceiling below. And, they're pretty easy to install considering most people do it with no prior experience.