Glen & Kris Denning → Home Improvement → Bathroom Tile < Previous Next >
When our house was built, I asked the builders to use concrete board behind the tiles around the tub. This was an effort to prevent what seems to be an eventuality when drywall is near water — soggy drywall.
Concrete board comes in 3' x 5' sheets, so the builder saved some money by using concrete board for just the first three feet above the tub. This is okay, since most of the water from a bath or shower doesn't get above the three foot mark anyway.
The length of our tub in the downstairs bath is along an exterior wall. Over time, something caused an entire row of tiles to crack across the middle of each tile in a nearly straight line from one end of the tub to the other. I guessed this crack must be aligned with the joint where the three-foot high cement board abuts the gypsum board above.
Because the break did not change in character over a year's time, I concluded whatever precipitated the crack was not a recurring event. The first step in repairing this problem was to remove the old tile.