How to Make a Shower Wall Plumb for Tile

One of the most important elements in regards to installing wall tile is whether or not the wall is plumb. If it isn’t, the size difference in cuts as you work your way up the wall will be visible to the naked eye, as the cuts will grow or shrink in size depending on which way the wall is out of plumb. A tile installation needs to be plumb all the way up the shower walls, and the best way to do that is to shim out the underlayment before it is installed.

Set of levels
Cardboard strip shims
Hammer tacker
Backer board
Drill
Screws

Instructions

- 1
  Check the plumb of the wall with one of your levels (the longest one) to determine how bad it is out of plumb and where you need to shim it out. The largest swell in the wall studs is what you need to match everything else to. Move your level around in various angles and directions (along the studs, diagonally across them, perpendicular to them) to check all the studs in regards to the high point.
- 2
  Shim out the wall studs according to how much you need to match the largest swell in the studs. Line the stud with however many cardboard strip shims are required to match the low points to the high point in the wall. You want everything plumb up and down as well as flat across the entire length of the wall from side to side. Staple them to the studs with the hammer tacker.
- 3
  Double-check your studs by placing the level across the shimmed areas to ensure everything is plumb up and down and flat from side to side. Screw the backer board on the wall on top of the shims and set your tile. Ensure that your screws are long enough to sink through the cardboard shims as well as the underlayment and give you at least an inch of depth into the wall stud.

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