The building code gurus have declared that greenboard is longer acceptable for use in the wet area of a tub or shower surround. And with good reason, as soon as it gets hit with water it will start to go bad and over time it will crumble.

Start by putting a 4 mil thick plastic dropcloth up over the wood studs to protect them from water intrusion. Just a couple os staples to hold it in place while the 1/2" cement board goes up over it. My fav is Hardibacker but Permabase, Durock, Wonderboard will all work as well once installed. Use the backerboard screws to hang the boards. Let the plastic hang over the tub flange, you can cut it back after the boards go up. Tape all seams and corners of the cement board with a fiberglass mesh tape and apply a thin coat of modified thinset just like if you were spackling and taping drywall. Use a modified thinset to install the tile, mastics tend to break down if hit with water and lose their bond. You may need to place a ledger board at the bottom to support the first full row of tiles, then use spacers to support each additional row above, right on up as high as you want to go. The next day pull the board and set the bottom row of tile which will most likely involve cutting each tile to fit so it is about 1/8" above the tub surface. Use spacers to support these so they dont slump down while the thinset dries. Dont fill this gap with grout, rather use a caulk made by the grout company that is color matched to the grout color you choose.

great advise

here are some links to those products.

Hardibacker:

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=hardibacker

Permabase:

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=permabase

Ceramic Tile Vapor Barrier:

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=ceramic+tile+vapor+barrier

Durock:

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=durock

Wonderboard:

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=wonderboard

Another addition I would suggest is Schluter Systems products for guaranteed tile isntalaltion system and they ahve shower systems and pans

http://flooringworld.org/floorsearch.php?query=Schluter

check out their shower systems.

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