Titling a Tub Deck

[ishamael69]

Tiling a Tub Deck

First, I have been reading this forum for some time now. It has helped me out a great deal on building out my garage apartment.

Now, I have a question that the internet can't seem to answer for me. I am building a platform for a drop in tub. My plan was to frame it in 2x4s, then top with 3/4" outdoor rated plywood, then 1/2" backer board, then finally tile (leaving height for tile and 1/8" for mortar). The lip would rest on the top of the tile.

Then, the daughter told me what "tile" she wanted, and it is basically river rock. Knobbly and pebbly. I don't think I want to rest the lip of the tub on that, so what do I do? Just rest it directly on the backer board and caulk between the backer board and tub, then run the stone just up to it? Can I rest the tub directly on the backer board? Can I get a good seal somehow?

 

[kd3pc]

you would be best to contact the maker of the tub...our's required the bottom to be firmly and totally on the subfloor....IE the lip was "for cosmetic contact with finished surface"...

Install for mine included filling it with water and letting it set for some period of time to eliminate squeeks and rattles.

I would not risk hanging the tub by the lip, if it is made to sit on the subfloor. FG just isn't that strong. Especially with 80-100 gallons of water in it.

 

[ishamael69]

Oh, sorry if I came across as hanging it from the lip, I am not. I AM trying to make it rest cosmetically against a surface. The bottom will be braced per instruction and set in a mortar bed. I am working on making the deck, and if I used rough pebbles I could not figure out how to make it rest evenly, so I was just going to rest it on backer board, then tile up to the lip. I didn't know if that would count as a "finished surface".

 

[zhaddock]

You should be able to tile right up to the lip and caulk.

 

[RAYJAY]

you would be best to contact the maker of the tub...our's required the bottom to be firmly and totally on the subfloor....IE the lip was "for cosmetic contact with finished surface"...

Install for mine included filling it with water and letting it set for some period of time to eliminate squeeks and rattles.

I would not risk hanging the tub by the lip, if it is made to sit on the subfloor. FG just isn't that strong. Especially with 80-100 gallons of water in it.

80 TO 100 gallons of water plus person in tub .....

also 1 gallon of water weighs about 8.3454 pounds.

 

[Cave Creek Ray]

We used those polished river rock slivers in our shower floor. They cut easily with a diamond saw. Cut them with straight edges and lay those right up against the edge of the tub. I recommend using a color matched caulk against the tub because standard grout will crack.

If they are straight enough on the mat, you may be able to set them and then caulk the edge along the tub. Then go back and grout. The key is leaving enough room to get at least 1/8" between the stones and the fiberglass. That allows enough caulk to flex. If the caulk goes on really thin, it will crack in a short time.

Post pics when you get done!

Ray

 

[ishamael69]

As far as what tile I was talking about, this is the exact one we were looking at. There would be a thin 3" border around three sides of the tub, and a slightly less than 2' long deck (shelf, ledge?) at one end.

I had a general contractor buddy come over and told me basically what zhaddock said in his first paragraph. I believe he worded it as "You don't want to build this beautiful tile deck then make it look like you dropped a cheap fiberglass tub in, do you?" He suggested resting the tub lip on the plywood directly (or even the framing), then bringing my tile up to meet just below the top of the lip rather than go under it.

One more (set of) questions. I have a plumber who might be installing the bath. He said he would do a mud set, as I've seen suggested, and as I wanted. The tub I bought (used) is made of acrylic over fiberglass. On the bottom, there is what looks like 3/4 OSB, then two 2x4 runners under that. All of it is fiber-glassed in, by which I mean it does not look like packing material at all. Can you still do a mud set under that? Will it just take a buttload of mud? How much room should I leave for the mud set when planning my framing height? (I'll ask my plumber, but I like to have multiple sources so I can give him ideas if needed...)

BTW, in case you guys are wondering how this relates to the garage, I am building out an apartment above my garage for the dear daughter.