How to Install Tiles for a Whirlpool Tub With Shower

Tack the whirlpool tub's plastic flange to the wall studs. This acts as a barrier to keep water from running down the walls and behind the tub.

Prepare the tile tub surround by covering the wall area with cement backer board. The backer board should rest on top of the tub's apron. Use a utility knife to cut the backer board to fit. Attach the backer board with screws long enough to penetrate into the studs at least 1 inch.

Cover the backer board joints and screws with a thin layer of pre-mixed thinset mortar applied with a trowel. Set mesh tape into the mortar along the joints and smooth it in place.

Measure and mark the horizontal mid-point on one of the sections of the whirlpool and shower's surround walls. Calculate the vertical placement of the tiles from that point. If you wind up with a narrow tile at the bottom of the wall along the top of the whirlpool's apron, adjust the mid-point accordingly. If you have to cut tiles to fit, they are less noticable at ceiling height. Snap a horizontal chalk line to mark the middle of each wall. Use a carpenter’s level to ensure the line is level on all three walls of the surround.

Measure and mark the vertical mid-point of each wall. Calculate the horizontal placement of the tiles. If you wind up with narrow tiles on any of the three wall sections, adjust the mid-point to eliminate them. Use a carpenter’s level to ensure center marks are plumb, or straight up and down. Snap the line with a chalk line.

Spread premixed tile mastic on one quadrant of the cement backer board with a notched trowel. Start putting tiles where the lines intersect at the mid-point of that wall. Fill that quadrant of the wall. Keep the tiles straight by periodically checking their edges with a straight edge tool. If your tiles have spacers, use them to help keep the joints a uniform distance apart. Leave a 1/8- to 1/4-inch gap between the top of the whirlpool and the tiles placed over the flange as an expansion joint.

Cut tiles to fit along the top of the whirlpool's apron, the ceiling and the wall, as necessary, using a tile cutter. Place any cut edges so they face the outer edge of the wall.

Use tile nippers to cut the openings in the tile for the whirlpool’s tub spout, the faucets and the shower head. Only cut a small amount of tile at a time with the nippers to avoid breaking the tiles. If the opening needs to be in the center of a tile, drill a hole using a diamond-bladed hole saw. Odd shapes are covered by the fixture’s escutcheons, so openings don’t have to be perfectly shaped.

Set the tiles in the remaining quadrant of that section of the wall surround in a similar manner. Repeat the process to install the tiles for the remaining walls of the surround. Finish the edges of the tile installation with bullnose tiles set in mastic. Allow the mastic time to dry following the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Mix dry, unsanded grout with grout additive until it resembles mayonnaise. Work the grout into the joints with a rubber float. Do not put grout in the joint line between the whirlpool's apron and the tiles. Wipe the excess grout off the tiles with a clean, damp sponge after the grout dries for 20 minutes.

Wipe the haze from the tiles with a clean, dry cloth rag after the grout sets for 24 hours. Apply a bead of silicone caulking along the joint that separates the whirlpool bath from the tiles. Dampen your fingers to create a smooth line.