Wet areas of the home use water resistant green-board instead of regular wallboard. Green-board is resistant to water and helps assure the homeowner that there will be no leaking of water in those areas.
Kitchens typically do not use green-board because they aren't considered a problem area, but bathroom showers and tubs have the greatest potential for splashing water on walls and water eventually penetrating into the wallboard and saturating it.
Tile is put onto cement board rather than green-board because it is firm and doesn't bend. If you don't know about these things, it is best to leave it to the professionals.
Green-board is used with faux marble which is installed custom fit at the time of installation.
The shower base for faux marble doesn't use cement board but the base is lined with cement which is mixed and cast in place. The outside edge of the shower base is higher than the drain and it has to be shaped so there is proper drainage.
Faux marble is so easy to clean. With a window squeegie, you can wipe down the walls after each shower, and it's a whiz to keep the shower clean.
Some people prefer tile in their showers and cement board is used in this case for the walls because it doesn't bend.
In a combination tub-shower, the tile extends up the wall as does the cement board which the tile is adhered to. In a soaking bathtub, with no shower, it only needs a foot or so above the tub with tile that is placed on cement board both above the tub and below it.
The pre-molded shower-tub combination is installed over green-board since using it doesn't depend on sturdy backing. It doesn't need a cement base either. Having used all these types of showers, I give a hearty vote for faux marble because of the easy cleaning with each shower using a squeegie.
Knowing that the chance of the shower leaking is nill, it gives the homeowner confidence with less worry about possible repairs in the future.
In any case, green-board or cement board is always used in the bathroom, whether in the basement, main floor or upstairs. You can always rest assured that in the modern built home, there is less problem with water leakage due to the use of green-board or cement board around tubs and showers.
BathroomLinda Baxter is a piano teacher, and stay at home mom of nine children, (22 grandchildren) who acted as General Contractor for building their retirement home. She hired and paid subcontractors, was overseer of all construction work (with the help of her husband, RL), and did most of this from her "armchair".and telephone. She freely shares her experiences on her website, http://www.home-built4u.com, hoping to help other potential owner/builders escape some of the pitfalls she and RL experienced, of being their own general contractor. BIO