Tub Surround Tile in Temple

What pulling a Temple tub surround actually involves

Temple has older bathrooms near downtown with original fiberglass units and later remodels that already have tile, and newer houses on the west side with builder surrounds that never sat quite right on the flange. We start by taking the old surround or fiberglass unit off the walls. That is not a gentle job. Screws, adhesive, and old caulk all come out. Then we look at the studs. Wet studs, out of plane studs, and missing blocking get dealt with before anything new goes up. The tub flange has to sit proud of the substrate so water sheds into the tub, not behind it.

Once the walls are open we decide between cement backer board and a bonded waterproof membrane. Backer board gets taped and thinset at the joints. A bonded membrane goes over a sound substrate and gets detailed at the corners and at the tub deck. Field tile starts from a level line so the horizontal joints do not climb as they wrap the three walls. Trim at the exposed edge, a niche if there is one, grout, and a flexible sealant joint at the tub deck finish the job. Tub surround tile work is $2,000 flat.

Downtown bathrooms and west side builds along I-35

Temple sits north of Killeen on I-35. It is a hospital and rail town, and the housing stock shows it. Bathrooms near downtown tend to be older. You open the walls and find plaster, painted drywall, or a second generation of greenboard that never should have been in a wet area. The tub itself may be cast iron or a later acrylic tub. West side houses are newer. Builder fiberglass surrounds are common there, thin, bowed, and often sitting a little low on the flange so the caulk line is doing work it cannot do. We treat both as the same kind of job. The old unit comes off. The framing gets a look. Then the new plane is built. Merlan's Tile works out of Killeen and Temple is inside the service area. Genaro Merlan is the owner. He and the people who will set the tile are the ones who measure the actual space. Photos of a catalog bathroom do not tell you if the valve is off center or if the tub is out of level by a quarter of an inch.

• Pull the old fiberglass unit or existing tile surround without wrecking the tub
• Check studs for plumb, rot, and blocking at the shower head and valve
• Leave the flange higher than the finished backer so water sheds into the basin
• Set porcelain, ceramic, mosaic, or marble so the grout lines run true around three walls

Tile from the Temple supply house, set so the courses stay true

Tile for Temple jobs comes out of the Temple supply house. That is not a slogan. The warehouse is in this town, so the box you point at is the box that goes on the wall. Homeowners bring their own tile or they come to the supply house with us. Porcelain, ceramic, marble, zellige, terrazzo, and mosaic are all in play on a tub surround. Brass and satin edge profiles cap the raw edges at the outside of the run so you are not looking at a cut. Layout starts with a level line, not with the tub, because a lot of tubs are not level. First course sets the rest. If that row climbs, every grout joint above it will show it by the time you reach the ceiling.

Corners on a three wall surround are where courses go wrong. We keep the field tile running so the horizontal lines meet at the inside corners without a step. That takes planning at the valve wall, where the spout hole, the overflow if there is one, and the control have to land inside full tiles or on a planned cut, not as afterthoughts. A niche gets its own waterproof box, its own shelf pitch of about a quarter inch per foot toward the tub, and its own trim. We do not wrap field tile into a hole and call it a niche. After setting, grout fills the joints. Then a flexible sealant, not grout, closes the joint at the tub deck because that line moves when someone steps in.

Studs, the flange, backer board, and bonded waterproofing in Temple tubs

Open walls tell the truth. Studs in older Temple houses near downtown can be twisted, stained, or missing the blocking that a valve and a shower head need. New construction on the west side can still have a flange set behind the plane of the drywall, which puts the new tile in a fight with the tub lip. We check both. Rotten wood comes out. Out of plane framing gets shimmed or sistered so the backer or the membrane sits flat. The flange has to sit in front of the new wall plane. Water that hits the wall needs a path into the basin, not a ledge that dumps it into the wall cavity.

Cement backer board is cut, fastened to the studs, taped, and filled with thinset at the joints. A bonded waterproof membrane is rolled or troweled over a sound plane and turned into the corners and down to the deck. Either method is about keeping water on the face of the assembly. Fasteners that puncture a membrane in the wrong place get detailed. The valve hole gets a seal, not a smear of caulk from the finish side. Tile is then bonded with thinset appropriate to the body of the tile. A mosaic sheet and a thick marble piece do not take the same mortar bed. We wipe the faces as we go so haze does not bake on.

Grout, the tub deck sealant, cleanup, and the written labor warranty

Grout goes in after the thinset has set up. On a job like this it tends to run the next day, not the same afternoon. We pack the joints, tool them, and clean the face. Sanded or unsanded depends on the joint width, not on a preference. The joint at the tub deck is left for flexible sealant. That is the movement joint. People step in, the tub flexes a little, and grout in that line will crack and let water in. We seal where the tile needs sealer, then we clean the room. Debris from the old surround, cutoffs, and thinset bags leave with us.

Every installation carries a written one-year limited labor warranty from the date of completion. It covers issues arising from the original installation. It does not cover materials. Those fall under the manufacturer's own warranty. It does not cover modifications made after the installation is complete. Merlan's Tile is based in Killeen. Service runs out through Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Nolanville, Belton, Temple, Salado, Georgetown, Round Rock, Waco, and Austin. Other work, showers, flooring, vinyl plank, transitions, and roofing, is quoted after we see the room, so call for a straight quote. For a tub surround in Temple the number is $2,000 flat. Phone is (512) 297-7493. Email is info@merlanstile.com. Scheduling is arranged on the phone. Thinset and grout still need their hours before the walls take a real shower. Quotes and installation are not split between an office and a setter.