Tile – Where should tile backer board go on a bathroom floor

Backer needs to go up at least 5 feet and extend a couple inches out a tub surround and used in all parts of a shower. It only needs to be in the wet areas.

For tub surrounds I normally put two horizontal pieces of backer board (goes 6 feet over tub top). Tubs are usually 5 feet in the US and backer is sold in 3x5 pieces. I then put one piece vertically on each side (going out a few inches) plus a partial piece to meet the 6 foot back wall. So I need to buy 5 pieces for a typical tub surround.

You meet your drywall from above and side from there. Just a normal join. I use mortar to fill backer to backer joins and drywall mud for back to drywall pieces. I really really suggest tiling over your backer to drywall joins too since 1/2" backer isn't as thick as 1/2" drywall. The tile coverage makes it easier and looks better. You don't need to backer behind your toilet or anything like that.

Edit - I would also note that I almost always have to add 2x4s to allow me to attach the side backer boards and allow for a firm place for drywall to meet. If everything in the room is "down" then I would actually put up 2x4 after backer - so I can make sure it meets in the middle with no cut. Cutting a 1/2 inch of backer board isn't worth the time!

Also I like a 2x4 right outside my tub external too - these are there a lot of time but not always. Obviously I would have to put this in pre-backer install. This is more for attaching your drywall.

One comment on the advice you read is that I don't see a thing in there about deflection - evidently Mike Holmes is sure that if he merely has 1-1/4" of subfloor, all is good. Real tile specs tend to involve a concept called deflection, and that's the distance part of the floor system moves when loaded, relative to the span you measure over. L/360 is a typical spec - L/180 is twice as bad. (It's usually a lowercase L, but on the computer I'm using a capital to be clear that it's an L.) I happen to have a 3/4" subfloor that's L/587, so it really doesn't need another half-inch on that basis.

Consider what a tile manufacturer has to say... (I'm not going to cut and paste their extensive text here, or rewrite it all) but for one thing they specifically mention setting the backer board in a mortar bed, not "gluing" it down. I'd also venture to sneak in that if you really want "the best" (and will you pay for it these days) look at the "old fashoned mortar bed" (TCNA (Method F145-02)) mentioned at the end of their article. That, of course, means you need to establish an adequately rigid base 3/4" or 1-1/4" + tile thickness below the surrounding floor level, which is why it's not popular these days. But it was a VERY good method, as a lot of old houses demonstrate.

Kinsman Tile