If you’re going to place the trim overlap it around the tub.

It’s MDF trim. What do you mean by overlap it around the entire tub?

I would not use MDF trim anywhere near water. if that get's wet at all, it's going soak it up like a sponge and expand.

MDF is only good for crown, easy to cope and never gets touched.

Your contractor already admitted that he didn't follow the plans. He changed which wall had the plumbing. Did he do this with or without telling you first or asking your permisison? You hired the contractor to build the bathroom according to the plan you provided to him.

Can you contact the person who drew the plans to help find out what got screwed up?

Can you hire another contractor to come in and measure things for you and let you know who screwed up. At this point all you know is either the person who drew the plans or the contractor who executed the plan messed up, and you paid for a professional job, not some hack job.

Don't allow this yahoo to jack you around and don't pay him the remainder of his money until the job is done right.

What I mean is butt it against the tub

No he did not tell us he was changing which side the plumbing was on, after all this discussion I noticed today that the plumbing shouldn’t even be on that side and I asked him and he said he put it that way so the water would not be spraying at the door side. But no, he never asked us.

This is my thought on this bathroom

MDF is like sawdust and glue. It comes primed so is paint ready. But it swells worse than a sponge when wet. Do not let him use MDF trim in that spot. It will get wet and swell up like a fat lip. And stay that way. (It’s fine for other places in the house but not in the bathroom. Our guy used it throughout the house. When floor water found a section of baseboard the base swelled right up.

Maybe use wood trim and oil based paint, then silicone caulk between tub and trim? Not sure.

Unusual for a contractor to go off plan, making major change without discussing with homeowner.

I’d do what PROs recommend.

I just said exactly what Beth said. Oops.

look close at the tub flange, tarpaper, lathe. make sure that detail gets corrected and re directed into tub before mudset

@corrector I don’t understand your comment what do you mean to look close and address

I think we’re going to remove all the door/trim, bullnose the opening to make it trimless/doorless and install a barn door/sliding door.
Inside the bathroom we will tile around the tub and up to the doorway opening which won’t have trim or a door. I’ve thought it out and don’t see any issues so we’ll see what the contractor says. I’m not a huge fan of barn doors but I think I can make it work.

I have a friend who has a bathroom in her basement finished basement. It does not get used that often - only when guests overflow her 2 upstairs guest rooms, but it was not waterproofed well and she got mold. Repairs ran $8k. I would want to have this contractors work inspected before moving forward. Your story makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Don't trust him.

Are you sure the doorway can't be moved over a few inches. My bathroom has a 28" door. I have about an inch clearance between the trim and tub and about a 1/2 inch between the vanity top and the trim on the other side of the door. There is 35" between the edge of the tub and the vanity top.

The wall that provides the cubbie across from the toilet is most likely a 4" wall, I have not built my own doorways, but the trim overhangs the actual frame. You probably need about 3" from the inside of the cubbie to the edge of the trim then the 28" doorway, another 2" to the edge of the tub. From the back wall to the edge of my tub is 32"

When I look at your plan the hall is 9' 2 1/2" long.

The space before your bathroom door is 5 1/2"

Then you have the 28" inch door. That brings us to 2' 9 1/2"

Then you have a 3' 9" wall. That brings us to 6' 6 1/2"

Another 28" door sets us at 8' 10 1/2"

The final 4" wall space gets us to the 9' 2 1/2" total.

So the 3'9" wall should accomodate the 4" wall, 32" tub and leave 9" left over. That is 5 1/2" between the edge of the tub and the doorway.

Whoever drew the plans allowed plenty of space for a standard tub to fit and have room for the doorway and trim.

Either the drawing is wrong or the contractor didn't build it to specs.

Before you accept his work think about what this renovation cost you in terms of your take home pay. I remodeled my two bathrooms myself other than the electrical and plumbing. It cost me 480 hours of take home pay (not what you "earn" per hour, but what you bring home each week) That is 12 weeks (3 months) of my daily labor going to pay for the bathrooms. The cost would have doubled if I had others doing the labor - that would have been 6 months of my labor to pay for the 2 bathrooms.

If I have to work 3 months to pay someone else to do the work I expect that it should be done with the same care and exacting standards that I provide to my employer.

I don't accept shoddy workmanship. I work too hard to earn the money I expend on my renovation projects.

If you accept this level of workmanship there is no incentive for him to do better for the next guy or the one after that. This is why we see so many posts on Houzz where people have suffered the consequence when the professionals they hire don't do the work at the level we should expect from a professional.

they actually put the plumbing on the door side for the bathtub- not sure why - depending on where you live, plumbing should not be placed in exterior walls due to danger of freezing. Sink and toilet plumbing can come up from floor but shower pipes are in walls.

Even if tub is in general 32" category, in such a tight fit as this you would have needed to check the detailed specifications to be sure. For example, if the top surface of the tub was 32", there is a design element along the bottom that sticks out further.

@corrector I don’t understand your comment what do you mean to look close and address

you are on a crash course for water damage the work pictured is not being done correctly.

here is a diagram of a correct mudset wall buildup with a tub flange. Omit vapor barrier in your case for felt/tarpaper as pictured to be the sole waterproofing. provided any(in shower) exterior walls are insulated accordingly. ***Note lath and vaporobarrier placement..

Thanks for the link Corrector. . .

Tanna, on your other thread, I asked if it would be possible for the door to be moved to the adjacent wall (highlighted):

Perhaps, this would offer you additional space for a shower enclosure or curtain in addition to a space for a towel bar. Also, if you use a bath mat, the proximity of the door's swing could be problematic.

The room should be enlarged and have the door flipped to a new wall.

People on here are saying MDF boards will soak up water like a sponge but they say otherwise

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/options-replace-walls-bathrooms-103110.html

@Claire, they are talking about paneling and wainscoting. You also find MDF in bathroom cabinetry.

This is different than having it butt against the tub enclosure where water can get underneath or saturate it.

I wouldn't even use it for beadboard, and other DIYers seem to agree

https://www.diychatroom.com/f15/mdf-bathroom-60498/

Re: moving the wall - instead of squaring into the outer space, why not put in a diagonal wall with the door opening inward in the other direction. I'd draw it, but my laptop won't let me copy the floor plan.

following... if this was done for me, I would ask that for it to be corrected as laid out

@ jennifer hogan it doesn’t matter if it’s use for wainscoting it’s the same material there is no difference

Why would SF Gate state this if it absorbs water

Bathrooms are exposed to more moisture and humidity than any other interior space in your home. Even when they are well-ventilated, bathrooms are prone to mold, mildew and bacteria. Selecting water-resistant wall coverings will keep these to a minimum and also make your bathroom easier to clean. Keeping the most-water-resistant materials closest to the shower and other moisture-prone areas, you can mix and match materials to design bathroom walls that match your aesthetic.

@Claire Larece, you can do wainscoating with a wood cap and wood baseboard. As I stated, I would never use it in a bathroom, but if you had a wood cap and wood baseboard, cauked or sealed the edges and painted the front, you could probably use it for wainscoating without a lot of concern. If the MDF gets wet it will swell. I did see in the DYI article that someone had found a "Moisture Resistant" MDF. I know nothing about that, but I have experienced MDF swelling on a credenza I had that was sitting on a carpet that got wet when I had a water leak. It swelled to twice its original size.

Why would SF Gate say this? Because it is a news organization that has a journalist writing their stories.

Thank you @jennifer hogan for that clarification

When I look at your plan the hall is 9' 2 1/2" long.

The space before your bathroom door is 5 1/2"

Then you have the 28" inch door. That brings us to 2' 9 1/2"

Then you have a 3' 9" wall. That brings us to 6' 6 1/2"

Another 28" door sets us at 8' 10 1/2"

The final 4" wall space gets us to the 9' 2 1/2" total.

So the 3'9" wall should accomodate the 4" wall, 32" tub and leave 9" left over. That is 5 1/2" between the edge of the tub and the doorway.

My calculations don't agree with yours. The OP mentioned in the other thread that the doors were 28" panels and not 28" rough openings. So your measurement needs to remove 4" for rough opening increases.

Here is my post from the other thread.

Your closet measures 42.5" - 3.5" for stud wall behind tub = 39" closet before drywall.

Your closet measurements are 3" wall + 30" rough opening = 33" (the wall and rough opening were adjusted for 30" door rough opening).

39" closet - 33" = 6" wall in closet (before drywall).

45" wall - 2" for rough opening increases for 2 doors = 43" wall

43" wall - 6" wall in closet - 3.5" for stud wall behind tub - 32" for tub = 1.5" wall between tub and door before jambs.

Take this with a grain of salt, as this is not my area of expertise, but there you have my take. Which I just about guarantee you is enough to get your contractor off the hook.

I just think you put in the wrong size tub.

@bry911

The drawing is to scale and has measurments that don't come close to what you have. (Left).

My math works and agrees with the drawing and has the back closet wall at 4" which is the standard depth of an interior wall (Right).

I compared the measurements in my bathroom - similar set up with the tub next to the doorway.

I have 37.75" from the wall to the door

Her plan shows 37.5" from the wall to the door.

I have 1.75" of wall between the tub and trim. She should have 1.5" of wall between the tub and the trim.

I have a standard size alcove tub.

Detail of my measurements isn't maximizing well, so trying again.

Finally able to do drawing.

I just did a floor plan on my 3D app and I am wondering what is the size of the bath tub.....is it 2’ 6”? Why is it there.....wasn’t a shower meant to be placed there? The measurements that is on plan for the bathroom is it actually for the inside or outside? For the measurements wouldn’t be the same.

@ Jennifer Hogan

No, your math doesn't work. The OP stated that the doors were 28" panels. I would love to see anyone get a 28" door in a 28" rough opening.

Just because you believe the drawing is to perfect scale, doesn't mean it is. Measurements on the plan are going to override scale. Furthermore, the fact that the wall in question appears 5" on the plans is only relevant if the tub ordered matches the tub specced.

Your assertion is that wall between the two doors measures 5.5"+4"+32"+5.5" = 47". Which would be fine except the measurements on the plan clearly show that the wall in question is to be 45". Furthermore we know that the closet plus the tub wall is 3'6.5" (42.5") as shown on the plans, however, your measurements show 4"+28"+5.5"+4"= 41.5".

So clearly while you might argue the contractor could have looked at the pictures a bit differently to get a better design, you are not going to get the contractor to pay for it. The measurements on the plan work out by my math because I didn't draw pictures to find them I just used math with the measurements provided.

Delta has a 29" tub, since the tub was not specced, it could be that the designer planned for a 29" tub, but the OP purchased a 32" tub.

The designer planning a 29" tub is not unreasonable as the clothes closet is still only 38", so in a standard walk-in closet that is 14" walkway. So trying to steal every possible inch seems reasonable.

if OP have a 28" wide panel runny along the inside frame of the entrance door why not use the border tiles for trim?

[https://www.houzz.com/products/1x12-eden-mosaic-stainless-steel-flat-border-edge-tile-single-tile-prvw-vr~32795423[(https://www.houzz.com/products/1x12-eden-mosaic-stainless-steel-flat-border-edge-tile-single-tile-prvw-vr~32795423)

or

[https://www.houzz.com/products/calacatta-gold-italian-calcutta-marble-honed-bullnose-liner-075x12-prvw-vr~36541267[(https://www.houzz.com/products/calacatta-gold-italian-calcutta-marble-honed-bullnose-liner-075x12-prvw-vr~36541267)

I noted this on the other thread, but the problem with this design is you are simply trying to do more than the space will effectively allow. The simple answer is to cut the door down by an inch (you can take 1/2" off each side and no one will notice) use smaller casings and just deal with the fact that it is a small en-suite for a space that is an office.

Honestly, worrying about keeping a 28" door on the bathroom when you have a walk-in closet that is only 38" wide with a 28" in-swing door seems a bit silly to me. Shrink the door, enjoy your small but functional bath, and rethink the in-swing door on the already way too cramped closet.

Just my 2 cents anyway...

I agree that my math was off by 2". The 2 segments should have been listed as 4.5" instead of 5.5", I wasn't careful enough and didn't double check my math.

Now with the math corrected, if I compare to the dimensions of my bathroom, where I have 1.75" of wall space between the tub and the trim and now have 1.25" less space in the OPs plan, that would still leave 1/2" between the tub and trim.

Either way, the OP is either suffering from incompetence on the part of ther person who drew the plans or the person who did the work. The OP was not at fault unless she purchased a tub that was wider than the one specified by the person who drew the plans.

If she did make a change the contractor should have noticed this and talked to her about the fact that this was different than the plan. There was also 5.5" on the other side of the door that could have been adjusted.

If I hire a pro to draw plans and hire a pro to do the work, I shouldn't be the one left to clean up their mess. They are being paid plenty to do things right and the end result should be right or if it was not possible to do things the way they were envisioned that difference should have been discussed with the OP and not left until something went this terribly wrong.

There is no reason to believe that the OP had the knowledge to plan and execute their vision - that is why they hired professionals to do the job. If the professionals did a shitty job they need to own it and fix it.

I am tired of excuses for subpar work. Much of my working life has been spent in arenas where lives were at stake if someone made a mistake. Nobody cares who or why when the result is death. Everyone is responsible for making sure this does not happen.

When a doctor gives you an Rx he writes the information down and a front desk staff person calls the Rx into the pharmacy and a tech takes down the information and the pharmacist fills the Rx. If the dosage that the pharmacist recieves is outside of the norm he has a responsibility to verify this information before the patient recieves the medication. Both the physician and pharmacist are professionals and are expected to know dosage information.

What was the outcome of this bathroom?

I tossed the door I purchased. Put in a barn door with a mirror which ended up looking pretty darn good. Tiled down to the floor. I don’t know if this was the correct way but it was my best fix. Side note we ended up having to pay a lawyer to fire the contractor as he stopped working but wouldn’t leave the job site (would show up once a week to walk around). He was already overpaid but kept demanding more money to work. Ended up with a lot more problems than this door and we had to hire a lot of subcontractors to fix everything. A four month job turned into a two year job and a lot of money lost. Contractors board was no help however we did recover half of his bond (had to split with another party fighting for his bond). As of now his license is suspended due to not being able to pay back his bond.

Looks great!

Tanna, that looks really good. I like the wood door. trim work and tile look pretty darn good too.

sorry you had to go through the nightmare. hopefully someone else was saved because of you.

Your bathroom looks great! So great, in fact, that i couldn’t see what had been wrong and had to scroll back to the top pics to be reminded.

Sorry to hear about the nightmare GC. Glad you did what you could to stop him. Hope this earned you good karma for all future house projects. ;) I think you earned a long soak in that tub.

Yeah I can’t believe the contractor fought me so hard to put the trim into the tub. He also put the plumbing in on a different wall than the plans without asking- said he thought it was better that way. But again this turned out to be the least of our worries. He actually built an entire new garage incorrectly. It was def a nightmare.

Arg! Hopefully the nightmare is over and you’re on to better days (and able to enjoy some parts of your home).

@Tanna M, your old nightmare is my current nightmare. Our contractors must be related. Sob! I just wanted to say thank you for this post and the update on how you resolved the problem - it looks great. You saved me some grief!

A few questions if you don't mind. What material did you end up using for your door trim & baseboard? Up in the thread, I see people recommended to avoid wood or MDF in case water contacted it. Did you use any special paint like waterproof paint for that area? I guess most importantly, do you notice that the trim area past the tile even gets wet? Thanks again.

Hi Rachel- wow tour room looks exactly like ours! We didn’t use special trim and we didn’t use special paint. I don’t notice that it gets wet at all and my sister takes a shower in that bathroom every night. We use a double shower curtain (one on the inside and one on the outside) and not glass doors so that may help as glass doors usually have a gap. As you can see in my photo though, the plumbing is on that wall so the water shoots away from it. Looks like your plumbing might be on the opposite side? Even so, I think a shower curtain could really help in that regard. We wanted to use this bathroom for the babies so we didn’t want glass doors anyway because you have to lean over the tub and the glass doors have the track that then digs into your elbows.

Yeah @Tanna M, the similarities are uncanny so thank G_d for Houzz in capturing these historical discussions as you had such an active thread, complete with a great resolution!!!! :)

My plumbing is on the opposite wall so I may have the added benefit of spray to deal with :( Thank you for sharing all those details and great suggestion about the double shower curtain. I am strongly in favor of a shower door, so I'll be cognizant of whether there is a gap or maybe I'll just do a curtain. All these little surprise headaches my contractor left me with are wearing me down, so at this stage, everything I originally dreamed of is sadly in the "whatever I just want it done" basket. Anyhoo, before this turns into a counselling session, thanks again!!!

Hey Rachel, just curious how did your tub ended up looking in the end? A finished pic of that corner will be helpful