hi there. i'm jeff with home repair tutor.and in this video, i'm going to share with 9 tips that will help you out with your ownbathtub renovation. so stay tuned, watch this video because these are things that you'regoing to want to think about whenever you're doing your own kind of diy project on yourbathtub and if you're going to add tiles to that tub surround. so let's get to it. i thinkyou're going to like what i have to say. it'll save you a ton of money and just get yourbrain thinking about how to do this project. so let's get started.concept # 1 would be tiles. which tiles should you choose? i'm going to say go with porcelain.primarily you want to go with porcelain because they're harder and denser than ceramic tiles.you should go with glazed tiles. as you can
see here, the reflection of the light is bouncingoff this porcelain tile. and glazed tiles are smooth as glass. and this makes it easierfor them to get clean. also, glazed tiles don't need waxed, sealed, or polished so they'repretty much maintenance free. but when you do have to clean them, you don't have to worryabout any kind of harsh chemicals ruining the finish. so that's why glazed porcelaintiles are awesome for the shower. second concepts are grout joints. so you dowant to use small grout joints for the shower. and when i say small, i mean 1/16". now theseare about 1/8" and they used unsanded grout, which is fine. and that's what you would wantto use for a polished finish like these tiles. one kind of grout you may want to considerfor the shower is epoxy grout. an epoxy grout
consists of epoxy resin and hardener and it'ssuper resistant to stains, chemicals, and it's ideal for bathtubs primarily becauseit'll cut your cleaning time in half. third concept i wanted to point out is ifyou are going to use sanded grout in the shower, you should seal it. sealing grout lines willprotect against stains and mold and mildew. you're still going to have to clean the groutlines but you definitely need to seal sanded grout so that water doesn't penetrate through.sealers aren't needed for epoxy grout. tip # 4 is to use silicone or siliconizedlatex caulk for the transition between the tile and the top of your bathtub. now i specificallyrecommend using a type of caulk that is for the bathtub and that has microbanning becausemicroban reduces the growth of bacteria that
can cause staining and orders.
a shower niche or you can use like a stonesoap holder. why do i say that? well for a few different reasons. as you can see here,there's a little bit of rust on this soap holder. so if it's metal, i don't care ifit says it's stainless steel but it's still going to rust out. and the problem is you'vealready attached it to your wall. second problem with these kind of holders is the fact thatyou have to screw them into your tile. what this does is create a weak link in your water-proofingsystem behind this wall. when you screw a hole into the tile, it's going to go intothe cement board. water can penetrate through that cement board and into your studs andcreate a mold issue. so that's why i don't like holders like this one here.tip # 7 is to use grab bars. grab bars might
be required by the code where you live socheck into that. but the primary reason you want to use them is because they're good forsafety reasons. as you get older, you want to have something to grab onto so that youdon't fall in the shower. that's really dangerous because after all, the tub or the shower haswater all over it. so it's a slippery environment. if you're going to install grab bars likethese ones here, make sure that you've got wood blocking in the location where you'regoing to attach the grab bars. so there should be wood blocking right here. so between thestuds right here, there should be a wood block. so like a 2' x 6' or a 2' x 8' piece of wood.and there should be wood blocking right behind this part of the grab bar. so again thereshould be wood blocking right here so that
when you screw through the cement board andthe tile, it's going into wood. okay, here's tip # 8. if you have a tub setuplike this one whereby you just have a tub and then you have a tub surround, you maywant to opt for a nice curtain rod like this one here instead of shower doors. at thispoint, shower doors don't look all that awesome, especially the ones that you can diy. anda shower rod can be way cooler and more stylish. so you get a shower rod like this one at yourlocal home store for probably, i don't know, $50 - $75; it's chrome. you can get a satin-nickelfinish one. and they're going to look way cooler than those clunky doors that you canbuy for $100 - $200. plus it's a lot easier to replace a shower curtain versus an oldand dated set of shower doors. and that's
really important if you're going to sell yourhouse within the next 5 years. and here's my 9th and final tip. when yougo to buy fixtures, make sure that they're brand name fixtures. so buy fixtures likekohler, american standard, moen, delta. so that when your shower head needs to be replacedor needs a part that has broken or your faucet handle is causing a drip from the tub drain,you can get that for free from these really awesome manufacturers that i just mentioned.all right, here's my first bonus tip. i just thought of this. and it might serve you well.whenever you go to choose your fixture, i highly recommend using polished chrome ora satin finish. why is that versus maybe ora bronze? ora bronze, if you've got hard water,water deposits are going to build on on top
of it like there's no tomorrow. so that'swhy i recommend these polished surfaces whereby the deposits can be wiped off a little biteasier than the ora bronze. so just keep that in mind. if you're dead set on ora bronze,no problem. but i just like these chrome fixtures a little bit more because they're easier toclean. here's my second bonus tip. this is the cornerof the bathtub. and you see how this is cracked? what they did here is add grout instead ofcaulk. so all corners of your bathtub should be caulked instead of grouted because theywill crack like this over time. so i want you to remember that. don't grout the corners.caulk the corners. and my third and final bonus tip has to dowith the diverter or the handle to the faucet.
instead of it being closer to the bathtubspout like down here, raise it up a little bit. just make sure you're within code todo that 'cause there are code requirements for these kinds of things. but overall, youknow, it's hard to bend down to turn on the shower in the morning if you're 6'3". so raiseup the shower handle if you can. and if you're not going to do this yourself, tell your plumberto do it for you. all right. so those were 9 tips with 3 bonustips on a bathtub renovation project. i hope that you liked it. i hope that you gaineda lot of knowledge that will help you with your own project. and if you have somethingthat you'd want to add to the conversation, please do so. i'm sure i missed something,and you probably have a hot tip that you'd
like other people to know about. so pleasedo that in the comments section. remember, if you haven't already done so,you can join me over on youtube. you can subscribe to my youtube channel. and you can also signup for my email newsletter that comes out every single week. you get hot tips and trickson home repair that'll help save you time, money, and keep you from feeling overwhelmedwhen you're doing your own diy stuff around the house.so until the next video, i hope you have a great day. thanks for joining me. i reallyappreciate it. and take care! [outtakes]hey, as a side note, this is a hotel bathroom. i love visiting hotel bathrooms and gainingknowledge on how they revamp them because
you can learn a lot of stuff by just observingwhat they do to keep their bathrooms in tip top shape and pretty much maintenance free.so next time you visit a hotel, check it out and see what you like and what you don't like.so i hope that you like this video because i made it just for you. all right, we'll seeyou soon!