Bath Wall Repair

[mjarrels]

Drywall above the upstairs tub/shower has failed (rotted) above the shower end where drywall meets fiberglass. Looks horrible for about two inches where the two meet. Is there a way to repair this without removing that section of drywall. It is dry so I was thinking about covering it with some sort of waterproof material using something like liquid nails.

mark

 

[Diesel-ME]

Mark,

That's going to be real hard to fix "right". Optimally you want enought room to mud/tape the joint where the old meets the new. I wonder if you could slide the new section of drywall under the fiberglass and hide the joint? If it's a one-piece the drywall may overlap the tub unit (depending on the design) in which case you can remove the drywall above the fiberglass and replace.

BTW, is it a tub/shower one-pince unit or a seperate tub surround? If the surround is seperate I'd trash it, replace the rock then glue on a new surround.

~paul

 

[Harvster]

As the old saying goes- Fast, cheap, good.........pick two. I'm in the do it right camp, so I suggest cutting away a six inch strip of drywall, replace with greenboard or equivalent and retape and spackle. Two inch strips of drywall are too easy to break and leave little room for tape and mud. I just did this all around my tub because the surround was a bit shorter than the previous enclosure.

 

[MarkV]

Mark, If the drywall has failed it is getting too wet from the shower. You might consider cutting out the bad, replacing it with cement board and adding some tile as an accent above the fiberglass surround. That would give you a more water resistant surface for the future.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

I'd cut it all out. It's impossible to know how bad the damage is up the inside of the paper in the inside where you cannot see it. Buy a sheet of green or blue sheetrock and use what you need to do it right and not have to worry about it ever again.

Before repairing it, be sure to figure out why it failed. Was it regular sheetrock? Was it caulked where it meats the tub? Was it painted with a paint designed for bathrooms or wet areas?

Eddie