My husband and I would like to update our bathrooms and are thinking of putting tile around the tub surround. The previous owners used countertop material around the tub and we don't like the look. Do we need to worry about water leakage even though the tile will be on the outside of the tub? Thanks for your help..

I think we could use a picture here if you can post one. The job should niot be too difficult be its hard to picture countertop material around a tub surround. What are the wall materials; drywall, greenboard or something else?

Sounds like they have a vinyl tub surround.

A picture would definitely help

Chuck

Your question is worded a little funny. I have that problem with my wife, where one of use knows exactly what we are saying, but the other one just gives a blank stare. At first, it reads like you want to retile the tub surround because you don't like the look of the countertop material. The you ask about if it will leak because it's outside the tub. I'm interpreting the question as

Quote:

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My husband and I would like to update our bathrooms and are thinking of putting tile around the (soaking)tub with no shower head. The previous owners used counter top material (swanstone or cultured marble) around the tub and we don't like the look. Do we need to worry about water leakage even though the tile will be on the outside of the tub?

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So, if that interpretation is correct, then no, the area outside the soaking tub is not considered a wet area. However, using a waterproofing membrane on the tub deck is a good idea and a one gallon bucket will be enough to do the tub deck and flash up the wall/deck intersection to prevent any intermittent splashes from getting past the tile.

If the interpretation is wrong and you want to tile around an existing surround like a border of tile, then no worries, anything outside the existing tub/shower surround is not considered a wet area.

The thing that is throwing me is the comment that it's outside the tub. Of course, the walls of a tub surround with a shower head are "outside of the tub" but need to be waterproofed from the height of the shower head down to the tub deck where the waterproofing overlaps the tub flange. So, for that kind of installation, you would take out the existing walls, line the framing with either roofing felt or 4 mil plastic sheeting, overlapping the tub flange. Then you will install cement board and then tile. The waterproofing layer behind the tile is needed because tile, thinset, grout (even sealed) are not waterproof, they are impervious to water's effects. Tub and shower surrounds need to be capable of containing all water before a single tile goes up.