How To Install Backer Board On Bathroom Walls

The best approach when installing cement board or other tile backer around a tub is to keep the cement board out of the lip area.

How to install backer board on bathroom walls.

Apply it to the wall with the bottom edge about 1 4 in. Carefully lift the backerboard panel into the tub area and set it on several shims placed about a foot apart to maintain a 1 4 inch gap between the board and tub. Install blocking for future grab bars while the walls are open. Score the board with a utility knife then cut it using a jig saw with a carbide blade.

Secure the panels to the wall framing with galvanized backerboard screws. The backerboard should completely cover the subfloor joints. Add more mortar as necessary to fill sunken areas in. Cement board commonly sold under trade names such as durock hardiebacker and wonderboard is now the standard underlayment used for ceramic porcelain or stone tile laid with thinset mortar adhesive cement board is used for most floor tile and has all but replaced plywood and drywall backer materials for wall tile applications in wet areas like showers and tub surrounds.

Spread the mortar to about 3 16 thickness. Above the lip of the tub. It s made primarily with cement and sand and it has no paper that can deteriorate or promote mold growth if it gets wet. But that s pretty much where the similarity ends.

Using a notched trowel apply a leveling bed of thinset mortar over the subfloor and embed the backer board sheets into the adhesive. Do a dry run and lay the backerboard down to fully cover the area you plan to tile. All the insider information on how to build and waterproof a. The fasteners should be flush with the surface.

Lay the backer board according to the manufacturer s instructions. Ceramic tile backer board also called cement board or tile backer is a rigid panel material that installs over wood framing much like drywall. Backer board is everything that drywall is not.