Love surprises in home remodeling. :(

[tRidiot]

Well, last week we noticed a wet spot in our carpet in the living room. Turns out the shower in the master bath was leaking from broken tile and cracked grout which had been that way for a while. It was supposed to have been fixed before we bought the home as part of the inspection, but apparently the fixit guys had just slapped a new layer of white urethane over the top, which obviously didn't hold.

So, we get an estimate from a local guy who does good work, not the cheapest nor the most expensive. It's a shower only, no tub. $5,000. ZOMG! I do not have that kind of money lying around and I really just don't think it's worth that much, anyways.

So, fast-forward to today. I rented a demolition hammer with a spade bit and have removed all the tile from the walls, about to start on the floor and ceiling. Along the way, I found out some very interesting tidbits....

1. No cement backer-board behind the shower walls. Only 1/2" sheet rock. They didn't even do any taping and bedding.
2. No water barrier. No wonder it's coming through the wall into the living room. No sealant, no plastic, no nothing.
3. No shower pan. This is really going to suck... not sure what to do about it. I think it's supposed to have a shower pan, but if I don't put one in, is it going to make a big difference? I mean, I'll know more once I hammer into the floor tile, but it looks like it's just mortared in there, there're no metal lips coming up from the edges where I've got all the wall tile and sheet rock removed.
4. No shut off valves on the pipes. So that means I have to shut off the water to the whole house and cap off the pipes while I'm working on it. Adding in shut off valves would be awesome, but that means calling in a plumber and spending another coupla hundred which I don't have.

So, the plan for now is:
1. New cement backer board all around.
2. Rubberized spray or roll-on sealant.
3. MAYBE new shower pan (do I need one of these?)
4. Maybe skip the shut off valves
5. Tile the walls and floor.
6. Sealed and painted cement backer board on the ceiling.
7. Farm out an electrician to put in a light (always needed a light in this shower anyways)
8. New carpet in the living room in a few months, maybe.
9. Oh, and new shower doors... I kinda got a little... enthusiastic with the removal of the old ones when they got stuck. <coughcough>

<sigh>


Dangit... so much for the new Rem 870 and car alarm and stereo I wanted this month.

 

[Larry Morgan]

Sorry man, that's unfortunate.

Reminds me of the "Holmes on homes" show. It'll make you think twice about hiring anybody offering a job for cheap.

I'm surprised you don't have any protection against the seller essentially just "covering up the problem" as it was discovered in the inspection.

 

[Old Fart]

I don't about you but that's why I have homeowners insurance.
Had a similar thing happen in our house and they ended up replumbing the whole thing.


Editted to add "What Larry Said." check that out also.

 

[Poke78]

If you value your time very much, you are shortly going to have a better understanding of the $5000 bid from the contractor.

I'd say a new shower pan is a given and should not be skipped. As to cement backer board, I got an education on that while my house was being built last year. There is a cement-faced gypsum product (can't remember the trade name) that was recommended by the tile guys as being superior to the traditional cement board. After looking it up, I was convinced that it was the better product, especially for the application of tile.

 

[tRidiot]

Checked with my insurance company. Our policy only covers water damage if it's a catastrophic leak from a ruptured pipe, and that ONLY if it's from freezing, not from old plumbing giving way.

Our plumbing is actually in good shape, everything just needs to be rebuilt and re-tiled.

 

[CHenry]

Unfortunately this is common. Builders will cheap out and do exactly what you are seeing and the tile layers allow it because this means they will be getting a call to repair it later...job security.
Definately do a shower pan and make sure you know what your doing and do it right or you WILL be doing this again later.

 

[Shoot Summ]

You need to visit the tile forums are johnbridge.com...

I can also give advice, I've done a couple of showers.

So, the plan for now is:
1. New cement backer board all around.

This is good, you can use blueboard if you use a membrane like Ditra over it, I prefer cement backer.

2. Rubberized spray or roll-on sealant.

Not really necessary but won't hurt, it is expensive, I only used it behind the shower seat, and around the niche.

3. MAYBE new shower pan (do I need one of these?)

You MUST have a pan, PVC liners are easy to do, the curb, and the slope are a bit more involved.

4. Maybe skip the shut off valves

Most shower valves don't have shut offs.

5. Tile the walls and floor.

Good idea, other wise you will need the waterproofing membrane on the cbu...
Consider tiling the walls up to the ceiling.

6. Sealed and painted cement backer board on the ceiling.

Not necessary to use CBU on the ceiling unless you plan to tile the ceiling, blue board painted works just fine, you would have to use a ton of drywall mud on the cbu to level it out.

7. Farm out an electrician to put in a light (always needed a light in this shower anyways)

Install a fan/light combo to remove the moisture.

8. New carpet in the living room in a few months, maybe.

I don't like carpet

9. Oh, and new shower doors... I kinda got a little... enthusiastic with the removal of the old ones when they got stuck. <coughcough>

Call Tulsa Glass and Metal and get frameless glass...

 

[landman873]

I wouldn't be name calling at this point. How old is the house?? In older days they didn't know or have a lot of the stuff we have today. Also who says the last homeowner didn't do it? He may have not liked the price he got to redo it. And did it himself and said look how much i saved.

 

[ronny]

First, I believe you would have had a case against the people who were supposed to have fixed the problem in the beginning. Since you've torn it all out, that's probably moot. The proof is gone.

First, my disclaimer. I'm not a professional and anything I say can't be used against me. I learned the way you're going to learn.

To begin with, a pan is a great way to go, if you can find one that fits the dimensions of your shower. If not there is a rubberized sheet product which can be lain in the bottom of the shower and continued several inches up the wall. You nail the edges to the wall as flatly as possible. It is critical that you lay this stuff flat with no bubbles under it. Then you use a particular concrete mix product to form a pan over the sheet. It needs to be a few inches thick and tapered toward the drain. Instructions for this can be found on the internet - Google. (I assume you've got a slab below).

Then, put your backerboard up, overlapping the sheet down to just a hair above the floor. I then like to bed my backerboard with the mastic I plan to use on the wall tiles, effectively sealing everything. BTW, I use mastic on the walls and ceiling and mortar on the floor. Check with the folks you buy you're product from on what's best.

Then, use a snap line and get a lot of perfectly vertical and horizontal lines, especially in the corners. Unless you're luckier than most of us, you will not have a square room to work with.

I like to tile the ceiling first, then the floor. From there, it's just a matter of whether you want to have a full course of tile at the bottom or the top.

You'll get very frustrated, but you'll feel great when it's done. Sorry I was so wordy. BTW, THINK AHEAD!

 

[Shoot Summ]

First, I believe you would have had a case against the people who were supposed to have fixed the problem in the beginning. Since you've torn it all out, that's probably moot. The proof is gone.

First, my disclaimer. I'm not a professional and anything I say can't be used against me. I learned the way you're going to learn.

To begin with, a pan is a great way to go, if you can find one that fits the dimensions of your shower. If not there is a rubberized sheet product which can be lain in the bottom of the shower and continued several inches up the wall. You nail the edges to the wall as flatly as possible. It is critical that you lay this stuff flat with no bubbles under it. Then you use a particular concrete mix product to form a pan over the sheet. It needs to be a few inches thick and tapered toward the drain. Instructions for this can be found on the internet - Google. (I assume you've got a slab below).

Then, put your backerboard up, overlapping the sheet down to just a hair above the floor. I then like to bed my backerboard with the mastic I plan to use on the wall tiles, effectively sealing everything. BTW, I use mastic on the walls and ceiling and mortar on the floor. Check with the folks you buy you're product from on what's best.

Then, use a snap line and get a lot of perfectly vertical and horizontal lines, especially in the corners. Unless you're luckier than most of us, you will not have a square room to work with.

I like to tile the ceiling first, then the floor. From there, it's just a matter of whether you want to have a full course of tile at the bottom or the top.

You'll get very frustrated, but you'll feel great when it's done. Sorry I was so wordy. BTW, THINK AHEAD!

All good advice, except, NEVER use Mastic in a shower.

Thinset is the product to use in a wet area.

It's also best to notch the studs in the corners for the folds in the pan to avoid having the CBU bulge in the corners.