# Geting drywall tight to showers/tubs



## McDusty

Hi

I taped in Manitoba for a long time and the boarders there would drywall tight up to the showers/tubs. sometimes i have to flat tape small gaps but nothing crazy.

Now i live in BC and they all leave this huge 1" gap around all the tubs/showers which I have to fill with 'Con-Fill'. I have to mix up this fiberglass fast setting mud, fill all the gaps, wait for it to set, flat tape it all, coat it 2x, sand it, clean all the excess mud off around tub. this adds up to huge time if it's a 3+ bath house. 

Can any shed some light on the reasoning behind this. thanks!


----------



## alltex

Because its easyer to let th taper fill it .It does come out nice and flat that way but its a heck of alot easyer for the taper if they shim the walls so the rock goes on flat.Its the norm around here now days,but it wasn,t always.the taper will fix it ..nowdays everyone likes to leave it for the next guy.make sure and drop some hotmud in the tub (by mistake) to let them know you love them.


----------



## drywallnflorida

are you talking about the prefab tub and shower units? We hang to the edge of the unit then fill it in with hot mud. Either way its more work, shim the wall or fill it. IMO it does a better job filling it.


----------



## McDusty

ya, the pre-fab units.

i am starting to realize that i may have been extremely spoiled in manitoba. I don't know what/how that did it but the drywall was always tight. IMO, having the drywall tight is better, i really don't like having all that mud applied to what is probably, the area in your house that will see the most moisture. 

Leaving a big blob of mud in there? All that would do is reflect poorly on the work. The painter/general contractor won't know that i dropped a big blob there because i was filling the huge gap. because they just assume that's how things are supposed to be done and that i should clean up after myself.

Having to do all that mudding & sanding around the units make them much more prone to damaging as well. If a knife slips out of my hand and damages the unit, it's my fault. Even though, in my head, i shouldn't have been there anyway.

I taped for years in Manitoba and never even saw 'hot-mud' on one single job. and there was never a reason for me to need it. Now that i live in BC, i haul a bag of Synko Con-Fill with me everywhere. Nasty stuff, full of fiberglass, gotta make sure i cover my mouth&nose before mixing. Booooo. 

I'm moving to New Zealand soon we'll see what surprises they have to offer.


----------



## wnybassman

We see it both ways here. On our jobs we like to have 1 1/2" rippings of luan underlayment to fir out the walls above and on the sides on the shower/tub units and just run the drywall up tight to the unit. On finishing jobs some guys like to leave the whole nailing fin exposed and we fill level with DB 45 then tape and finish normal. Never seen anyone hang it tight enough where you didn't have to flat tape it though.

On a side note, when we are in control of all aspects of the job (painting, trimming, etc) I always run a tiny (and I mean tiny) bead of clear silicone after the final paint. I did this in my own house 12 years ago as a test, and it still looks like the day I did it.


----------



## McDusty

a bead of silicone is standard, even if you flat tape tight water will still seep in there and you will get a hairline crack which will get bigger and bigger as the tape get's wet/dries/wet/dry/ect... until it starts to lift off. so if it's boarded tight enough no flat tape is required, sure lots of times it still is. but not the bigger than 1" gap.

i was curious on the reasoning behind it, seems it comes down to another case of drywallers thinking it's easier for the taper to fill it and other way around.


----------



## wnybassman

McDusty said:


> a bead of silicone is standard, even if you flat tape tight water will still seep in there and you will get a hairline crack which will get bigger and bigger as the tape get's wet/dries/wet/dry/ect... until it starts to lift off. so if it's boarded tight enough no flat tape is required, sure lots of times it still is. but not the bigger than 1" gap.
> 
> i was curious on the reasoning behind it, seems it comes down to another case of drywallers thinking it's easier for the taper to fill it and other way around.


Not many silicone it around here it seems. I go into a lot of relatively new houses and that's one of the things I notice, of course it's easier to see with blistering paint and compound 

We did a job a couple months ago and we had to do some electrical work in the small bathroom. It was a late 80's home. They left a 1/4" or more gap all the way around the shower unit and just wallpapered up to the fiberglass. Amazingly, it remained in good shape but it was in a guest bath that looked like it didn't get used much. If it was the main bath with a house full of kids I'm sure it would be all rotted out by now.


----------



## Wallers

I think that the problem is money. Who can afford shims? I can't even afford to take my family to Golden Corral! So, we pack the flange full of durabond (white bag) scrape it, tape it, give it a couple coats, then sand it. And HOPEFULLY the painter or gc caulks it. That's how we do it in good ol' Nebraska.


----------



## wnybassman

Wallers said:


> I think that the problem is money. Who can afford shims? I can't even afford to take my family to Golden Corral! So, we pack the flange full of durabond (white bag) scrape it, tape it, give it a couple coats, then sand it. And HOPEFULLY the painter or gc caulks it. That's how we do it in good ol' Nebraska.


A 4x8 sheet of 1/4" luan for shims is about $12, a bag of fill is roughly the same. Both could do about the equal number of units, although I think the luan will go a little farther. Just saying............


----------



## Wallers

Thats a great idea! I never thought of ripping my own shims! I think for what I pay hangers they would be more than happy to stickem on. I was kinda joking about not being able to afford, It's just that NOBODY does it around here! And hit menards for your easy sand, I get bags for 7.00. One store here even carries the 5 minute. In bags, not the little box. It would save time and money! they take at least 2 pans to fill, and sometimes more! Time to break out the table saw. Unless you can just score & snap luan?


----------



## wnybassman

Wallers said:


> Thats a great idea! I never thought of ripping my own shims! I think for what I pay hangers they would be more than happy to stickem on. I was kinda joking about not being able to afford, It's just that NOBODY does it around here! And hit menards for your easy sand, I get bags for 7.00. One store here even carries the 5 minute. In bags, not the little box. It would save time and money! they take at least 2 pans to fill, and sometimes more! Time to break out the table saw. Unless you can just score & snap luan?


We just use the table saw. Rip'em up on the down time and wrap up bunches with the plastic wrapping twine stuff. It's a good way to use up every bit of scrap too when we are actually putting down underlay. Save the scrap and rip it down.

One layer does a great job when the builder actually gets the units tight. Sometimes you can double and triple the layers if the flange isn't tight to the wall.

Bags around here average $10-$14, but that's brown bag too. We almost never buy white bag.


----------



## Wallers

wnybassman said:


> Bags around here average $10-$14, but that's brown bag too. We almost never buy white bag.


Really??? Why not? I'm just curious... Is there a difference in longevity? I will not use brown bag, it's so much harder to patch with! I would only use brown on prefill, but with the way we hang tubs around here we have to scrape our laps before taping them, so brown bag is out of the question. Is there a price difference there?


----------



## Golden Trowel

I lived in new zealand for a while taping and jointing its a good country to work in though the money is ****e go to the south island far better than the north island head to queenstown party central


----------



## evolve991

i put glue on the flange and get the rock as tight to the tub as i can. i figure green or moisture/mold resistant IS moisture resistant whereas mud and tape are not. and i get aggravated when the wall looks like half a trumpet because the GC doesn't shim it out flush. i mention shimming to the GC ....some start doing it and some look at me like i'm flashing my junk at them.


----------



## Board-Runner

I live in BC and Ive never met anyone who leaves a 1 inch gap, thats sounds retarded to me. I always take my time on showers and double measure everything to make sure its all nice and tight, like friction fitted. why do you assume its BC? Shouldnt boarding be the same everywhere? theres the odd hack I guess, but they dont stay with the good businesses for that long.

Where you workin in, surrey lol?


----------



## carpentaper

I'm working around kits beach right now


----------



## Whitey97

two T's in getting


----------



## johhnymitten

mcdusty.
you know there is not alot of taping goes on in nz right? Just for the record some guys in winnipeg still leave the shower gap.


----------



## Kiwiman

McDusty said:


> I'm moving to New Zealand soon we'll see what surprises they have to offer.


Suprise!...Don't get your hopes up... If you moan about the large gaps here the response you'll get is - They still make plaster don't they? I struck a bad one the other week where the builders gibbed a house that was to be square stopped (where wall meets ceiling), the board was hard on the floor and there was 15 - 20mm gap around the top, add that up with rescrewing a lot of it and I had to charge the owner an extra grand. Yeah Queenstown is where all the hollywood stars come to hide thinking that no one will recognise them here....Weez gots da talkin picture box here now paw. :yes:


----------



## McDusty

I have become used to doing the pre-filling around the tub/showers. i was just wondering about the reasoning behind why some guys get them tight and some guys leave over 1" gaps.


----------



## McDusty

Kiwiman said:


> Suprise!...Don't get your hopes up... If you moan about the large gaps here the response you'll get is - They still make plaster don't they? I struck a bad one the other week where the builders gibbed a house that was to be square stopped (where wall meets ceiling), the board was hard on the floor and there was 15 - 20mm gap around the top, add that up with rescrewing a lot of it and I had to charge the owner an extra grand. Yeah Queenstown is where all the hollywood stars come to hide thinking that no one will recognise them here....Weez gots da talkin picture box here now paw. :yes:


I'm starting to think about doing something else. Or at least trying. I'm going to bring my tools just in case. And I see that NZ has insane prices on tools, thanks for the heads up Kiwiman. I really love how you guys do it all in metric. imperial system i hate you.


----------



## johhnymitten

Mcdusty. 
Dude it doesnt matter anymore, if your gonna move. On a seperate note. I got some contact info for the ashwell boys. harlly and al. well al is in winnipeg but harlly is still in christ church. They might be able to help with the work out there. Do you want it?


----------



## Kiwiman

johhnymitten said:


> Mcdusty.
> Dude it doesnt matter anymore, if your gonna move. On a seperate note. I got some contact info for the ashwell boys. harlly and al. well al is in winnipeg but harlly is still in christ church. They might be able to help with the work out there. Do you want it?


 I found 4 Ashwells in the Christchurch phonebook but none with initials "H"...Just a bit of useless info for you.


----------



## grid ninja

*Shem*

i have never rocked a shower or tub were i could not find some thing right on job to shem with . and thin trim out with plastic trim


----------



## ryanh

Maybe some people don't want to screw drywallt through the nailing flange?? nah.. can't be. most ain't going to waste the time shiming so filling in the gap is going to get you a better finsh that trying to flout out a hump?

i've never seen anyone use hot mud in winnipeg either. i actually had to google it


----------



## git-r-dun

I was a round plastic J trim around my tubs. I've done lots of work in manitoba as well. I love the way the round trim looks. I use to flat tape them until i found this product and fell in love. Its best if the board is double layers around the tub so that the bottom the the bead sits on the edge of the tub.


----------

