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I am hanging backer board for my shower and have a 5'x 3'2" tall space I need to cover. The backer board comes in 5' x 3' sheets.

My question is should I Use one full sheet and then cut another down to 5'x2" or should I cut two sheets into somewhat even increments so as not to be working with such a small piece of backer board towards the top of the shower near my ceiling.

For example I could cut them both down to 5'x1'7".

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The reality is that it doesn't matter all that much, and optimizing for whatever allows them to reuse the most material or minimizes cuts should be your first priority (I see you have another uncovered wall that you might want to factor in).

That said, if you are sure you only want to cover the area stated in the question, then it would seem you are in for 2 pieces of backer board no matter how you slice it. Thus, you might consider cutting boards twice so that you will have vertical seams for drainage reasons.

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  • Thank you for your 2 cents, however the problem with your answer is that you never want 4 corners to meet up and therefore you shouldn't have vertical seems line up. – bigmike7801 Aug 27 '18 at 15:44
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    Yes, duh - sorry need more coffee. Anyway fixed it for you. Also note, if you are working with cement board (vs hardie backer) it's a real pain to cut / score-n-break, so whatever minimizes your cut lengths is best. – virtualxtc Aug 27 '18 at 15:55
  • I'm actually using something called Triton backer board and it's not -that- difficult to cut. I score it a few times with a blade and it does just fine. Also I can use my jigsaw with a wood blade and it does very well too. – bigmike7801 Aug 27 '18 at 16:12
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    This rule breaks down when you get to long, thin strips (a few inches wide), which are incredibly annoying to generate. – Paul Price Aug 27 '18 at 16:34

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