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I am replacing the outside facing wall in the bathroom of a mobile home (because the wood underneath was eaten away by termites. The original wall was extremely thin made out of perhaps 1/8th inch plywood (if even that) with some wallpaper on it.

In one corner of the bathroom sits a standing shower which had originally some trim around it that was roughly 5/16th thick by 1.125 inches wide. I realized after removing this trim that the reason it was there was to cover the ugly screws that screwed the fiberglass shower to the wall.

So, my idea was to replace the wall with drywall, I purchased the thinnest drywall I could find because I didn't want to add too much to the weight of the house (it's a mobile home so it's on a bunch of jacks or whatever). This drywall is probably 3/8ths inch thick.

Anyhow, I see two options, one is to put the old trim back on and run the drywall right up to it and then fill in the gaps with wood filler (I can't stand the look of the trim around it, I just want the wall to go directly into the shower). The other option would be to get a router and a rabbit bit and try to carve out a 1/2" by 1/8" notch into the edge of the drywall board but I don't know how feasible that is. Drywall seems to be very brittle, and I wonder if rabbeting it is even possible.

Anyone ever try this?

here are some pics:

shower wall pic 1

shower wall pic 2

Note, I added these because someone asked. I think what is looking like the best solution is to add some wood to raise up the level of the wall to match the shower and then just have the drywall go all the way over the edge of the shower.

Of course I can't even start to do that until I ceiling replaced so it'll probably be a few weeks till I get to this part of the project.

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    Pictures are always welcome and usually prompt better answers.
    – spuck
    Commented May 8, 2023 at 21:03

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I don't see rabbitting the drywall as an option.

Another option would be to add 1/8" (or whatever the shower flange's thickness) furring strips to the existing wall and then place your drywall on top, resulting in it covering the shower flange.

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  • That actually makes a lot of sense. I hadn't considered raising the wall up to the level of the shower
    – Dallas Caley
    Commented May 8, 2023 at 17:18
  • Another nother option would be to NOT use furring strips? The shower flange is 1/8 inch you say? In my old house the irregularities in the walls are much MUCH greater than 1/8 inch. Mud is regularly used to hide such things. Just lay on the drywall, tape and mud the joints, make it as even as you can .... that will be no worse than if you raise the whole thing 1/8 inch. You should however use a small plastic corner bead to protect the front edge of the drywall above the shower.
    – jay613
    Commented May 9, 2023 at 19:01
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With drywall you typically cut it with a knife or a drywall saw. It doesn't hold together except at the full thickness with both paper sides intact.

Wood is really your best choice for an area cut to size (including thickness) as described.

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    yea you are probably right. There's a reason that there are no tutorials on how to do this online
    – Dallas Caley
    Commented May 8, 2023 at 17:03

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