How to adhere vapor barrier to tub

[ellenwh]

Hi, i've searched and can not find what material/sealant/adhesive should be used to attach my poly vapor barrier to the tub flange. I tried asphalt roofing cement (henry) per the home depot video but the plastic is not sticking to the tub flange. HELP please

If you need more details, i'm replacing the tub and then going to tile around. I've read that i need moisture barrier, then cement board then tile and silicon gap between cement board and vapor barrier but do not see details on attaching vapor barrier to tub. many thanks!

[Brian in San Diego]

Ellen,

Welcome to the John Bridge Forums! I think a little 100% silicone sealant would do the trick.

Brian

[gsr]

Good morning Ellen, 100% silicon caulk or urethane caulk/adhesive should work well. Here's a link to a thread discussing various methods etc.:

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/...ad.php?t=78849

[ellenwh]

thanks for your replies. I hope i've successfully posted a photo of the current mess. my contractor put the hardiboard on before sealing the poly water vapor barrier to the tub. Then he applied henry's wet patch roof cement to seal the small tail of the poly to the tub and it is puckering and not sealing. what next steps do you recommend? I'd like to get this right. thanks!

[Houston Remodeler]

You can dissolve all that roofing tar with paint thinner or gasoline. Pick your poison. To avoid all that mess, I would pull off the bottom layer of CBU. That will give much more working room to get rid of the tar. Cut off about 12" of the plastic and start from new. Sounds like more work but I am thinking it won't be any picnic to try to leave the CBU in place to clean that tar. Buy LOTS and LOTS of paper towels. When discarding the paper towels, do not trap them in a sealed plastic trash bag as that will be an explosion hazard. Burn them if you can or wet them with water.

[ellenwh]

thanks, paul. so: 1) pull off 1 ft of cbu, 2) clean up the roof cement, 3)put up new poly, 4) then seal with silicon??? Is that best? Is it not sealing because i am not using the right material or is it not sealing because the poly isn't smooth against the tub to begin with? thanks

[Houston Remodeler]

That roofing tar isn't a joy to work with. You are on the right track. Use a bead of silicone to adhere the new poly to the old poly, or some excellent tape but those tapes are hard to find. Tyvek makes a small roll for $10

[ellenwh]

No joy is exactly how i feel... My contractor just wants to put tile on top of this black goopy mess, says the tile will push the poly against the tub, and then put silicon between the tile and tub. He says it doesn't stick because it's one of those Kohler cast iron tubs with just a 1/4 inch flange.

Should i make him take the existing roofing tar off, replace 12 inches of plastic and "glue" it to the tub with silicon?

I appreciate the help. thanks!

[Andrew21]

YES! Make him do it. You're paying for the job to be done. You should want what YOU want to do. If not, show him this thread.

[ellenwh]

Could someone please confirm that i should not do what my contractor suggests:

My contractor just wants to put tile on top of this black goopy mess, says the tile will push the poly against the tub, and then put silicon between the tile and tub. He says it doesn't stick because it's one of those Kohler cast iron tubs with just a 1/4 inch flange

And that instead I should have him proceed with:
1) pull off 1 ft of cbu, 2) clean up the roof cement, 3)put up new poly, 4) then seal the poly to the tub with silicon.

Paul indicates seal the new poly to the old poly with silicon, but don't i want to seal the poly to the tub?

Also, Is it not sealing because i am not using the right material or is it not sealing because the poly isn't smooth against the tub to begin with? again many thanks for your help.

[Houston Remodeler]

1- Yes seal the poly to the tub with 100% silicone

2 - Poly doesn't like to lay too flat and It doesn't iron well. It can be a bit of a nuisenc, nusce.., bother to get it all caulked to the tub. It doesn't have to be perfectly flat. No one will see it. It does need to be perfectly sealed.

[ellenwh]

ok, I'll have my contractor, re do, following the prescribed steps. We'll hope the 3rd time is the charm here. thanks for the confirm

[Andrew21]

let us know!