bath surround caulking gap

Can anyone suggest a solution to this problem?

I have a big and deep gap between a surround I installed and the bathtub, and don't know what to fill it/finish it with.

The surround is 3 separate plastic sheets with a styrofoam back about

3/8" thick. The plastic itself is fairly thin. It's a great imitation of ceramic tile, but was really tough to install in my old house where nothing is square. So I wound up with a gap between the bottom edge of the surround and the tub which is at max about 5/8" high, at min only about 1/8". It is also about 3/4" deep (the thickness of the surround).

No one at the home stores has been able to suggest anything that will work in such a deep and wide space. The tape strip stuff is terrible

- unpeels in about a day, and I prepped it carefully, dried it and cleaned with alcohol. Anyway, that stuff would leave an empty space behind it to trap water. I think what I need is some kind of filler. I tried some epoxy paste, but it was very sticky and couldn't be smoothed with a putty knife at all. I though of epoxy putty but (1) it comes in really small expensive packages, I'd need a ton of it, and (2) I also couldn't smooth it with a putty knife, would have to use my fingers, and don't think I could get it looking good at all. Also thought of filling the whole gap with plaster of paris, then sealing it with grout sealer (talk about desperation). But plaster holds moisture for ages when drying after hardening, and I couldn't use the bathub for weeks or months before sealing.

Hey, you can tell I'm no pro...but can anyone help me out.

Thanks.

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Reply to
burker
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This is just a suggestion not sure it will work but worth a try. Try some of that expanding foam in a spray can to close the gap. Once closed try some silcon chalk. Be careful not to use to much expanding foam, it will expand to 10 times its orginal set and could pop out your panels. Try it on something similiar to get an idea on how much to use. If you use to much you can trowel out the excess before it dries.

Good luck, Rich

Reply to
EvoDawg

Rather than oakum try using tile backer rod. Any good tile supply house will have it. The round foam that HD and the like sell as weather stripping will also work.

(The last time I used oakum was to caulk wood boat decks and pack the joints in cast iron pipe before running molten lead in. That must have been close to 50 years ago)

RB

MLD wrote:

Reply to
RB

50 yrs ago??? wow... hey what about the time you helped abe lincoln build this house, what did you use back then?????
Reply to
jim

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