Hi,
I’m completely gutting out my bathroom and I have a couple of questions.
1) I decided to frame out my bathtub about 4″ away from the wall creating a small shelf. The tub is fastened to this frame. Should I be caulking the horizontal corner, where the shelf meets the wall, or grout it. I was confused because I suspect that there will be a little flex in the shelf as the tub is filled and emptied, also, should I be grouting first or caulking first?
2) The tub surround is tiled and extends out about 2″ from the tub sides.I want to install beadboard paneling around the rest of the bathroom. the BB is actual birch, not the cardboard stuff. Can I use MDF to trim it out, Inc baseboards or is this setup not advisable? I’ve seen it in a couple of magazines.
All advise appreciated.
Mike
Replies
No grout, just caulk where wall meets horizontal tub surround. I would never use MDF in a bath, one wiff of moisture and all your hard work is for naught.
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
BE certain to FILL the tub with water BEFORE you caulk it..makes all the difference in the world.
The Morphine s eems to do no good at all..I'd run all the way if I would not fall...
I think I agree with the no grout comment above, although I've never applied this as a technique, On the other hand I've scraped out crappy grouting many times to caulk in new const. I also agree with the no mdf. Thats sound like a bad idea.
grout vs. caulk.
grout looks better ... caulk performs better.
for customers, I caulk to avoid call backs ... my own bath ... it'd be a toss up.
mdf ... small bath. It's out of the "wet zone" ... and "should" work ...
but why risk it? What's the money difference gonna be?
Not like you are pricing out a whole house trim job.
spend the money on real wood and good paint and primer.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Is the tub used as a shower, too? What is the shelf made of? I've tiled a shelf beside an acrylic tub, and been back to fix it 3 times already, although I filled tub with water during instal (must be the 250lb customer getting in and out). slope said shelf slighly so water runs off. Use a damn good sealer all round, Use caulk where poss - and a tip here: if you have a special grout colour, mix it into clear caulk squirted from the tube, then squish (that's a technical word, right) it into the appropriate joints the best way you can. It will darken up to the colour you see when you normally mix grout with water, true, but other than blending 2 or 3 sorts of caulk to match, I see little alternative.
Cheers
For the baseboard I'd use the extruded plastic (I believe it is polystyrene) stuff. It will be completely unaffected by moisture. Real wood would be more resistant than MDF, but the plastic stuff would be even better. You could use real wood on for the rest of the trim.
Lowe's has it around here.