Hey students!

Fiberglass, one-piece tub shower surrounds are incredibly affordable, and very common in a lot of homes. Some may think they aren't "fancy" enough, but I have a great (and easy!) way to make them look high-end.

Let’s start off with the basics. Exactly what is a fiberglass tub and shower? Fiberglass reinforced plastic is made from layers of minuscule strings of interwoven glass, heated together. That is then molded, shaped, and sprayed with a resin gel coat. It's one of the most affordable materials for tubs and one of the easiest to install.

So, this is a great option for DIYers who are wanting to avoid a ton of tile work and save some serious cash.

In this video, I show you, from start to finish, how to tile around the top and sides of a fiberglass one-piece tub and shower surround.

First things first: LAYOUT. I’m using your run-of-the-mill, white subway tile you can get at Home Depot at a very reasonable price. I want to make sure everything is nice and straight. One of the first things you have to pay attention to is making sure your shower (and therefore your tile) is LEVEL. Get that level laser out!

 
tile layout around fiberglass tub shower surround laser level bathroom remodeling DIY how to
 

You’re gonna want to start your tile work on your back wall first. Let’s get out my FAVORITE thinset and start burning it into the substrate.

 
start tile back wall first fiberglass tub shower surround tile work bathroom remodeling DIY how to
 

I love using these horseshoe shims to make sure my grout lines are the right size, and to keep my tiles level.

 
horseshoe shims level tile work bathroom remodeling teacher fiberglass tub shower surround DIY how to
 

When I tiled the sides, I made sure to extend a nice bullnose tile all the way down the edge of the fiberglass surround. Why? It is incredibly important to make sure you waterproof and tile this area because that is where we see the MOST drywall deterioration due to high water exposure. So, protect your work and your bathroom walls and do this.

 
bullnose white subway tile edge fiberglass tub shower surround waterproof bathroom remodeling teacher DIY how to
 

It was really difficult to get an “after shot” of this bathroom because it was oddly shaped. I will say it made the unit look incredibly solid and more expensive. The fact that the walls above and around the unit were waterproofed and tiled made my customer extremely happy.

🔨Some of the materials & tools used in this video (Amazon affiliate links):

Fein Grinder Dust Shroud - https://amzn.to/3Lyp0eC
Fein Shop-vac - https://amzn.to/44ykzZN
Makita Grinder - https://amzn.to/3VAQ15S
Montolit CGX blade - https://amzn.to/42lU87S
Tlock tile leveling system: - https://amzn.to/44vAech
Montolit 24" tile cutter - https://amzn.to/4274lFo
Schluter Jolly (metal edging) - https://amzn.to/3AStqIn
Ardex X5 (cheaper at a supplier) - https://amzn.to/3AWXD90
Dewalt laser - https://amzn.to/425HABS
Montolit CGX blade - https://amzn.to/3AVm4ni
Montolit STL blade - https://www.contractorsdirect.com
Montlit squadron blade - https://amzn.to/3p41FcZ
Fein Multimaster cutter - https://amzn.to/423kSKt
Proknees 0714 knee pads - https://amzn.to/3p8Q0tw
Ardex sponge - https://amzn.to/413Zpjl
Horseshoe tile spacers - https://amzn.to/44rWRhY
Linoleum knife (scraper) - https://amzn.to/3pefZzF
Red tile spacer wedges - https://amzn.to/3LXB9eD
Troxell grout float - https://amzn.to/3LqQ3s0
Tile nippers - https://amzn.to/3ntD9lc

💥Visit my Amazon Store for all products and tools that I recommend and use on a regular basis 👍 https://www.amazon.com/shop/bathroomremodelingteacher_

For help with your bathroom remodel 🎓Enroll in my courses today 🎓 -

All the tools and products I use and recommend can be found on my Amazon Storefront (detailed in the description box of the video). You can find my Storefront, and all of my other social medias, by going to https://linktr.ee/bathroomremodelingteacher. Any and all purchases from my Amazon Storefront are greatly appreciated and help keep my channel going!

I hope this helps you with your own installation. Subscribe to my channel to make sure you don’t miss a new upload!

See you next class,

Steve

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