Bath/surround liners? Any experience - good/bad? Cost?

Question

Tenants just reported major peeling of a previous re-glaze on tub and tiles and water infiltration into the wall. Its an old cast iron tub with ceramic tile surround that was re-glazed a few years ago. I'm considering a liner (bathfitters, re-bath, luxury bath) instead of tearing out everything and re-building, mainly because this is the only bath in the house and I would like to avoid having to put up the tenants in a hotel.

Does anyone have experience with such products? What should I expect to pay for a tub/surround liner?

Any input appreciated!

Does anyone have experience with such products?  What should I expect to pay for a tub/surround liner?

Any input appreciated!

Justin Tahilramani · Answer

This doesn't make sense. You know that you have water infiltration into the walls, but you don't want to tear out what is there because you don't want to put up your tenants in a hotel? So essentially you want to encapsulate whatever existing damage/mold/rot is present in the wall?

Sounds like a terrible idea to me unless you could care less about the physical condition of your property.

Pat L. · Answer

@Matt Nico it was a single family flip, I did add a 1/2 bath to the upper floor inside an old useless closet, then another 1/2 bath on the 1st floor plus this as a 1st floor master bath off the lower master bedroom. We had the room so a tub was viable, plus I had a new Kohler tub in the barn I picked up @ Lowes for $85. We had hoped to add a stackable washer/dryer in the corner but not worth the expense.

Matt Nico · Answer

Hey Pat, I love the tile design.

Question for you....Why did you put a tub back in?

Wouldnt it have been better to just have a walk in shower? The tile looks so great, but I feel the tub takes away from how nice it would look if it were just a walk in. Just my 2 cents. Maybe I am nit-picking...haha.

-Matt

Matt Nico · Answer

@Andrew SIf It were my property, I would want to get in there right away and fix the problem. The old showers have tile that are backed by drywall. I am pretty sure this is not up to code anymore. The minute any water gets behind the tile it rots the drywall out.

If I were you, I would rip out the entire thing and redo it. Thats the only way you can really be sure that some older bathroom stuff is fixed.

The pictures below are of a system I am working on now. There used to be a tub there. I ripped it out along with all the tile. I extended the drain to come up, and I built a proper shower pan with the half wall. The walls are 1/2" cement fiberboard. I sealed the joints with a mortar mix, and then I painted the entire thing twice with redguard just to be safe. I basically created a sealed system. This is what you want if you don't want leaks for 50 years.

George W. · Answer

I'm a plumber and I've seen a lot of those systems not work so great long term. They seem to always bubble near the drain and overflow because water has a funny way of finding it's way under it.

Supposedly they offer a lifetime warranty? Not sure though. I will say the last time I saw one of those that had a problem the large company that installed it gave my customer hell and tried to say their warranty was void because they had someone not from their company repair a moen posi-temp cartridge unrelated to the tub surrounding and cover.

Great short term solution though. If you dont want to displace a tennat. Then when its vaccant maybe a remodel of the bathroom.

Pat L. · Answer

We've done many complete bathroom tear outs & rehabs. However, if you have water infiltration it's definitely advisable to tear out the surround down to the studs & rectify any significant damage & mold. I've seen some where the studs were literally collapsing into a powder from rot.

The last one we did was an old 60's era cast iron tub that we had refinished several times (about $280/treatment) but it peeled. The tiles were in good condition but were 1inch alternating black & red & the tub plumbing, shower diverter etc was very old, corroded & difficult to access. We only had several days to get it done before the new tenant HAD to move in ($1500/month). After some negotiation ($4500) my wife decided to hand it off to Bath-fitter & they also encased the entire shower stall ceiling. It was done in a day & we were impressed. 4 years later & it's still in great shape & I'd definitely do it again.

Here's b4 & after pics of one I did last year that was literally rotting behind the surround...the window didn't help. It was a LOT of work.

Andrew S. · Answer

Thanks Justin - very valid points!

That said, I'm still interested in hearing from people who actually have experience with these products.  Anyone?

Bath/surround liners? Any experience - good/bad? Cost?

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