Tile above shower wall ?

[aaroncgi]

Hi all. We're going to be remodeling our bathrooms later this year. We're replacing one tub and having the other converted to a shower only, and of course the wall surrounds on both will be replaced with new three piece surrounds.

I know that it's generally recommended to not use tile on the walls or floor of a manufactured home except in small strips (like a counter backsplash, for instance).

Would there be problems if we wanted to tile the space above our new shower surrounds? Depending on the exact height of the new surrounds, the space between the surround and the ceiling will only be 12-16". I assume that if it is ok to tile this space, that it would be best to use a cement backer board on top of the drywall first (or in place of), even though right now the space is just painted drywall?

[Greg]

Personally I would not do it, but I would bet that others here have. I have not heard results from people that have, but perhaps others will chime in.

Greg

[Greg S]

The modern separation membrane should always be used under tile regardless of whether it is a mobile home or conventional. It is available at all building supply stores.
Cement board is optional but would not hurt.
One thing to remember is that when running tile up to a ceiling the tile will accentuate any irregularities that exist in the ceiling. It is usual best to keep the tile down a foot from the ceiling for this reason.

[aaroncgi]

So if you're saying to keep the tile 12" below the ceiling, that pretty much is all our space except about 4". I don't think a 4" strip of tile is going to do anything for us.

I'll continue to look for something that maybe has the appearance of stone but won't face the problems tile has. Like a piece of formica laminate perhaps - those come in a million colors and patterns, are waterproof, and shouldn't be too problematic to stick to the wall (probably easier to put it onto backerboard first, though, then stick it up).

[Greg S]

Anything is possible and you can make tile work it is simply a question of taste.
Normally the space above a surround or even at the top of a tiled tub wall is left as painted drywall. This is the standard way to finish around a tub for a reason. Mainly appearance.

Is there a functional reason why you need to cover that space.

[aaroncgi]

Anything is possible and you can make tile work it is simply a question of taste.
Normally the space above a surround or even at the top of a tiled tub wall is left as painted drywall. This is the standard way to finish around a tub for a reason. Mainly appearance.

Is there a functional reason why you need to cover that space.

No, there's no functional reason, purely aesthetics, just a way to dress up the shower a bit. We'd love an all stone/tile shower enclosure, but that isn't going to happen for several reasons.

[Norm Frechette]

a friend of mine from work just did some tiling from the top of the shower enclosure to the ceiling and it looks pretty darn good!

i don't see why you shouldn't be able to do it in your home if that's what you want to do.