Help for DIY shower surround molding job.

June 28, 2024 4:08 PM

What are some creative ways to put molding between a standard tub and the surround?

Our tub/shower is fairly standard. The previous owner installed a 3" tall wood trim molding, then painted it, at the junction of the tub and surround. That began to show mold and ultimately we removed it and tried a ring of 4" tile to replace it.
The tile went on fairly well but the grout began to immediately fail and wash away. I've tried multiple fixit jobs with adding grout, resealing it and finally trying to caulk everything.....which turned into a aesthetic fail. That's what we have now, a single ring of tile with a lame caulk job and visible missing grout joints that's continuing to wash out when wet.
Anyhoos, what are some ideas for redoing this junction? I could possibly remove the grout entirely and try another product, hopefully a tougher one, or I've been seeing PVC molding products for the shower.
I'm inclined now to take out the tile entirely and try another approach. I really don't want to look at this shower surround again for at least another year whatever I do and preferably longer.

posted by diode to Home & Garden (1 answer total)

You can look at sheet products like acrylic sheet, laminex aquapanel, phenolic sheet like Richlite or Paperock, metals like brass or stainless. Get them cut to the right size, use adhesive to fix them and caulk the junctions. Practice caulking before the real deal or get a more experienced friend to help.
posted by deadwax at 1:40 AM on June 29