Tile Under Tub: Should You Do It?

If you’re working on a bathroom remodel, you might wonder if tiling under the tub is a good idea. Maybe you’ve heard it could make your floor more water-resistant. Or, it could just seem easier to finish out the whole floor in tiles before installing your tub. In this article, we’ll talk about whether or not this is a good idea.

Here’s the bottom line: Don’t tile under a drop-in or alcove tub. That will make things unnecessarily complicated. But you can tile under a freestanding tub, and tile always looks great under a clawfoot tub.

Don’t Tile Under A Drop-In Or Alcove Tub

Alcove tubs aren’t meant to sit on top of tiles. They are meant to sit on the bathroom subfloor directly via support feet or mortar. The tub rests on metal shims to make it the same height as the tile, and the tile can help secure the front of the tub’s enclosure from coming up in the future as well.

If the front of your tub is exposed, you can tile underneath it about an inch. This can complete the look of your floor and allow the tub to rest on the subfloor. It can also make the job of replacing your tiles easier later on. The next time you renovate your bathroom, you might not want to redo your tub as well. But if your tiles extended far beneath your tub, that’s what you’d have to do.

In your installation process, you should put the backer board down and tile the floor and the backsplash around the tub first, but leave off the row of tiles that directly surround the tub. Next, you’ll install the tub, make it level, and connect all of the plumbing. The last step is to finish the row of tiles around the edges of the tub, on the sides and bottom.

A drop-in tub rests on a wood frame around the tub along with a mortar base beneath it. The top of the frame is called the tub deck, and many people choose to finish it with ceramic tile. In this scenario, the tile on the floor can meet the edge of the wood frame or extend beneath it, but not under the base of the tub.

Contractors don’t typically install cast iron or acrylic tubs over tile. All you need to do is tile the edge since you wouldn’t see tile underneath the tub anyway. Tile does not add any more water resistance to the tub area, either.

You Can Tile Under A Freestanding Tub

When it comes to installation, a freestanding tub gives you much more freedom. You can even place one in the center of your bathroom if you want. It’s also generally easier to clean around a freestanding tub if you lave some space between the tub and the walls.

If you have a soaker or pedestal tub, you can choose whether or not to tile under the whole tub. You could treat a soaker as an alcove tub and tile up to the edge of the base. In that case, the tub would sit on a thin layer of mortar to raise it to the level of the tile. On the other hand, you could tile the entire floor and then install the tub on top of that.

A clawfoot tub usually sits on tile since you can see the flooring under the tub. You can also create a separate flooring area just for the tub to bring some contrast to the room. Porcelain is a popular tile to use under clawfoot tubs.

Just be careful not to drag the tub as you install it because you could scratch the tiles. These tubs are heavy. Make sure to get the help of a couple of friends to move them around. But don’t worry, the weight of the tub won’t scratch or crack the tiles once it’s installed and stationary.

If you have any concerns about the weight, you can opt for an acrylic clawfoot tub. You can still get the same aesthetic, but you can cut out a lot of the weight. That also opens up your options for tiling under the tub. You could even put it on a hardwood floor at that point.

To sum up, freestanding and clawfoot tubs can sit on top of a tiled floor, but it’s not a good idea to tile under drop-in or alcove tubs.