Tub surround???

[Frank Guerin]

I'll try to be brief but probably it's not going to happend. I have a steel tub that is twisted. The two opposite corners are higher than the other two. The tub stays. I need to put in a surround. Therefore I will have to scribe the surround to match the tub. I need a surround that has no checks, diamonds, squares etc on it or it will be noticible. The big box boys have very little showing or everthing in box's so you can't see what your getting. The higher end places seem to carry only the surrounds to match a new tub. I just need a surround that is without decoration that has some body to it. They seem to be 1/8th inch thick from my searches. The internet search has been useless and when I do get someone to answer a call they know nothing. I'm grasping at straws here. Any help or hint of help would be greatly appreciated.

[John O'Brien]

I had a tub surround installed by Bath Fitters in NJ. Not sure if they are nationwide or not. They measured and installed it. One piece for the ceiling over the tub, and the 3-sided piece for around the shower walls. Just plain white acrylic of some sort, not fiberglass. That was about 10 years ago, and it was still new looking when we recently sold the house.

They also make tub inserts thet fit into your existing tub. We did not do that, so can't comment on that part.

[Mike Cutler]

Frank

By tub surround I'm assuming you mean the walls. Is this correct? I'm also assuming that since opposite corners are the issue that the tub sits in an alcove.
One alternative I've seen is laminate wall coverings. They are just panels that you cut to fit with a trim and corner kit. They are usually glues to the substrate material and the corners and gap at the tub are silicone sealed.

It sounds as if you're tub was twisted during installation, or possibly blocked in wrong. Any chance it can be removed and fixed?

[Matt Meiser]

I bought one when I bought my first house that was pretty plain at Home Depot. I seem to recall it having a few different pieces, all plain, that could have been easily trimmed. That was 10 years ago though.

[Lee Schierer]

Any chance of leveling the tub so that it sit square on the floor to eliminate the twist? Then any tub surround will work. Personally I prefer cement board and ceramic tiles over the plastic surrounds. Tiles last longer, are easier to clean and look better in the long run.

[Frank Guerin]

Yes I'm talking about the walls. It's a steel tub that sits against the wall. I tried going in through the closet to level it but when I lifted a corner that was low the whole tub rose. It basically sits or the bottom edge on the floor with the back sitiing on 2*4's nailed to the studs. I do beleive this is a factory default. I always wonderd why the tile was cut in slivers to match the tub. The tiles finally fell out and now I am the happy camper that must fix it. Tiles and wallboard are gone and green board up. The taping floating and painting are complete but the surround eludes me.
I have not heard of the other material that was spoken about and any more info would be appreciated.
Thanks so much for getting back to me.

[keith ouellette]

Why don't you re tile? I doubt the tub is going to twist any more so they should stay in place just fine.

To do it and make sure you have straight grout lines all the way around you

1:measure the height of the tile, lets say its 6"
2: find the lowest part of the tub edge and mark up 6" on the wall plus 1/8 for grout (I would caulk the bottom) and make a level line around the wall at that height.
3: Now you start by placing the tiles on the wall at the 6 +1/8 line. You can tack on a ledger to help hold the tiles up. Make sure the ledger is level all the way around.
4: put in all the tile from the 6+ 1/8 line up. let it set and remove the ledger and now you will be able to put one full tile in at the lowest point and cut the other tiles to the appropriate height.


It should be a gradual change in height to the high points and back down to the low points. Unless the height change is a large amount you really won't notice the different size tiles.

Using a larger tile would make it even less noticeable. I believe my tiles are 8 high by 6 wide. he taller the tile the smaller percent of difference there will be between each cut tile height. The smaller percentage the less noticeable. Like if the height difference was 1" and you used a 4" tile the dif would be 25% (very noticeable) where if it was a 10" tile the dif would be 10% (much less noticeable)

Tile would be much easier. I am pretty sure you would need to make a full size template to cut a full surround the exact way to make it fit correctly.