Man Made Marble- Tub Surround Question

Comments(5)

• 
  MrMike20th January, 2004

  What do you mean man made marble tub surround?
  
  What price is the house, this can help decide how much 'quality' to put into the house.

• 
  Tedjr20th January, 2004

  There are ony a few good ways to change what you have. Since they once used the marble i am assuming it is in an upper class area and not a war zone. Removing the old marble will severly damage the sheetrock and that too may need to be replaced. Make sure the sheetrock is dry and not damaged or mold or mildew behind it. Dry and clean and sturdy. You can glue ceramic title to the area and grout between the tiles. I just saw a new house with 6by6 tiles and it looked nice. I too have seen even as large as 12by 12 tiles. This size tile cuts down on the grout which can be a problem. You could do the tile job yourself for less than a few hundred. I believe you need 55 square feet of tile and some trim for the edges. The tile stores have classes and tools to rent if you need assistance. You may be able to hire it done for a total of less than $400. Since the bath and kitchen are the most important areas you should imptove the looks of the surrounds in some matter to make them more than just OK. OK to you may cost you a quick sale.
  
  Good LUCK and Thank You
  Hope this helps some
  Ted Jr

• 
  Bruce20th January, 2004

  Hey,
  
  I maybe really off base here, but I think you are talking about the fiberglass tub surround (because you mention three pieces). If that is what you are talking about, it is fairly easy to remove these.
  
  Generally they are caulked and screwed to the studs. Pull the caulk and unscrew. A three piece shower surround is cheap.
  
  Make sure you put the new one in correctly. Caulk, caulk and caulk. If you screw it up, the water will rot the whole bathroom.

• 
  ItzMe20th January, 2004

  It is plastic sheets about 1/2 inch thick. It is called man-made marble around here. It is poured into sheets and color is added to give it a marble look. It is glued to the drywall with construction adhesive.
  
  The house is upper-low-end . The FMV is around 95-110K.
  
  Thanks.
  
  ItzMe

• 
  InActive_Account20th January, 2004

  I know exaxtly what you are dealing with. You have three pieces that were applied with an adhesive caulk such as liquid nails and the seems were caulked to waterproof it.
  
  This is easy to remove. Do something to protect the tub itself because if a piece falls down on it you will probably chip the tub and create more problems. Putting some wood would be 1st choice, or 2nd choice would be a few layers of card board.
  
  Cut all the seams and then get a pry bar behind it and start prying it off, it will come off in one big piece or in smaller ones as you start working it off. You can smack it with a hammer to break into smaller pieces.
  
  You might have to repair a few holes, but just do them for structural purposes not cosmetic as you are going to have to recover the wall with some sort of material.
  
  You have a lot of choices to replace the tub surround, from a cheap plastic 3 piece unit, to a nicer molded fiber glass 3 piece, replace it with the fake marble or you could tile.
  
  If the house is in the middle range you could get a nice fiberglass special order surround from Home Depot for under $250.