When choosing a company for installation of your bathtub liner. Type of material composition of the bathtub liner is an important consideration. More importantly is the installation process itself.

You’ll want to avoid the biggest complaint with bathtub liner installation, having water trapped underneath the bathtub liner.

The water stagnates causing unsanitary condition and unpleasant odors. Over time, the hydrostatic pressure will cause the liner to split. I’ll show you how to avoid this problem.

How does water get under the liner? Poor fit and bad installation techniques are the main reason.

Many companies use generic molds that do not fit like a glove. There are over 200 different bathtub styles and many liner companies simply do not have the proper mold.

By taking 14 measurements to choose, the correct mold that forms the bathtub liner provides a perfect fit.

It’s critical that the tub surface be hospital clean and free of containment’s, like soap film, bath oil etc. So the liners adhesive will stick securely I’m amazed how many times I’ve seen a bathtub liner installed over a soiled tub. The adhesives have no chance to bond.

If the bathtub was refinished before, I recommend that reglazing material be chemically stripped to remove the reglazing. Should the reglazing fail, the adhesive bond with the liner will fail.

Most liner installers do not want to chemically strip because it requires proper personnel protection equipment when stripping, some will grind off some of the reglazing material and others won’t do anything.

Due to incompetence of the installer or the competitive nature of the business, a homeowner may not understand how important it is to spend the extra dollars for the time and materials for the installer too chemically strip the tub. You’re just asking the liner to fail and is a dis-service to all involved.

Bathtub liner installation methods vary between companies from poor to excellent.

A Poor installations method besides not preparing the bathtubs surface is when the installer simply applies silicon caulking around the tubs perimeter and around the drain and over flow, which is pretty typical of the failed bathliner installations we see.

The next method involves only using butyl tape strips applied to the liners bottom and rail.

Both of these methods allow the liner to flex, causing the liner to separate from the wall surround and allowing water to get under the liner causing failure. Butyl tape has a very strong grip, but only if butyl primer is used.

The correct method for bathtub liner installation, assuming the liner is a perfect fit from proper measurement. The liner is dry fitted after cutting, once it’s trimmed correctly.

Application of butyl primer before applying the butyl tape is critical for proper bonding to occur. Once the primer has dried; the application of butyl tape to the perimeter of the tub ¾ inch away from the wall and apply the silicon adhesive between the butyl tape and the wall.

The butyl tape creates a dam for the silicone adhesive, once cured prevents water from ever getting underneath the liner. The adhesive butyl tape adds to the grip. Next butyl tape applied to the liner bottom not in strips but should cover the entire liner bottom for complete support.

Next Silicone adhesive applied liberally to the tubs sides, rail, outside skirt and around the drain/overflow areas.

The liner is now ready and slipped into place and by applying pressure to the liner too firmly set it. Once attached to the adhesive butyl tape, will hold the liner in place while the silicone adhesive sets up.