Semi-DIY Bathroom Remodel: Replacing a Tub Surround

We’re remodeling the primary bathroom in our 1961 two-story home. In part two of the series, my husband and I replaced the bathtub surround. We removed the old tile and replaced it with a new three-piece glue-up surround.

Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, Keri Houchin earns a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

Although this is part 2 in my bathroom remodel series, it is not sponsored. If you haven’t yet, do go back and read part 1 (which is sponsored) to see all the before photos and how we replaced the tub.

This post is all about replacing the old tile.

Removing the bathtub surround

We expected removing all the tile and two layers of sheetrock to be time-consuming. The odd double-sheetrock actually worked in our favor though. My husband was able to score the sheetrock with a box cutter with a sheetrock blade and it all came off in one big piece. Technically, three since there are three walls.

We were initially planning to replace the tile with a three-piece bathtub surround that screws directly to the studs. This is actually the part that took the longest.

Home Depot

We were pretty inspired by the tile coming off so quickly, so we headed to Home Depot and bought a direct-to-stud surround. After checking out, they told us that actually, they didn’t have the rental truck they thought they did because it had been stolen. (!) So we drove to HD #2, rented a truck, picked up our purchase from HD #1, and took it home. The trucks are rented by time, so we took it back quickly.

We dry-fit the surround to make sure everything was right before attaching it. It was not. The pieces were significantly smaller than the measurements on the package. The package said “do not return to store, call manufacturer” so I did. Three days later they finally finished looking into my claim, told me it was miscut, and suggested we return it to the store.

We rented a truck again and took the surround back, this time to HD #2 so at least we wouldn’t waste time driving between stores. They generously provided a gift card to compensate us for the wasted extra truck rental and let us open every package in the store, only to discover they were all miscut. At this point, I was near tears. Checking three products at two stores and finding them all wrong, I wasn’t sure what else to do.

Lowes

Scrapping our plans, we switched to a glue-up surround, which HD doesn’t sell. We grabbed sheetrock before returning the rental truck, then headed to Lowes to pick up the only glue-up surround in that store. As you might guess, we got it home, only to discover that the thin plastic was smashed beyond use. (At least it fit in our car!)

We exchanged it at Lowes #2 and finally, after a full actual week of nonsense, we started installing the bathtub surround.

Replacing the walls

We cut and removed the second layer of sheetrock, then trimmed it square and cut new sheetrock pieces to fill the holes. Before securing the sheetrock, my husband carefully stapled new insulation over the old. (One wall is exterior; one is half-exterior half-attic.) We screwed the sheetrock to the studs, adding a few shims because the walls were far from level.

My husband used a 1.5-inch hole saw to cut holes for the pipes to fit through. We wanted to be close, but it didn’t have to be as precise as the final surround layer.

The next step was to mud the seams of the sheetrock. Ours went on hot pink and dried white, which made it easy to spread evenly.

Replacing the bathtub surround

The holes for the surround needed to be precise, so my husband used a scrap of cardboard to create and test a template before making the final cuts with the hole saw.

We dry-fit the surround pieces, then glued them in place. For this kit, the back wall was one piece and each of the sides was one piece. We centered the back and lined the ends up with the end of the tub. The corners went in last, with glue against the wall and caulk against the area where they overlapped the other surround pieces. (For some reason I don’t have a photo of installing the corners.)

We taped that up with painter’s tape and let it dry overnight.

Finishing the bathroom

The next day, all that was needed was to remove the tape and sand down some of the mud. My husband caulked all the edges inside and outside the surround and tub. After letting the caulk dry, we could finally shower again!

We actually replaced the faucet about a year ago because it leaked, but without two layers of sheetrock, he had to add a ring to fill the gap. I wanted to update to modern handles, but that just wasn’t going to work without changing the pipes themselves, so I opted for the nicest basic handles I could find. We’re still looking for back pieces that fit to replace the old ones.

I was initially worried that a polystyrene surround would just be flimsy, but after it was installed and I used the shower, I think it’s fine. We purchased this one from Lowes if you’re curious.

The final steps are to finish the walls around the tub and repaint. We replaced the sheetrock on one side, but I want to remove the beadboard paneling. We also need to repaint the areas where we replaced the sheetrock. I’ve been pretty indecisive on color – light blue? yellow?

My husband and I have agreed that the whole house needs to be repainted. The gray I chose when we moved in turned out to be darker than I intended. It also has purple undertones, which look awful at certain parts of the day. Right now the plan is to repaint the bathroom a lighter gray to start repainting the whole house that shade.