Over Spring Break we discovered a leak that had caused mold in our master closet. The culprit was a small, albeit steady, leak that ran every time the guest shower/tub was run. Since we have two boys, that was twice a night, every night. These images may not be suitable for people that know how laying tile is actually supposed to be done correctly.

All the images if you enjoy ineptitude.

Man I feel your pain. We built a new house and had an installer do similar. We called it our Dr Seuss shower before I ripped it all out a few days later to have it redone.

FWIW, once the grout is done (maybe they are really good at that?), some of the discrepancies will not be as obvious, especially in the vertical corners.

I would be a bit more worried about the prep...the lack of taping/sealing of the joints of wall board stands out in the pics...what else did they screw up or just not do?

you need concrete backer board hung before tiling

I'm still not sure if this is self-inflicted or if you hired out to someone that has never installed tile.

I have a similar issue in my master bathroom that I haven't fixed yet. Curious what the cost was on this project?

How did you find the source of the leak? My standup shower has a leak somewhere where water is escaping to the sheet rock to the left and right of the door.

I noticed the little clear plastic swiper at the bottom of the shower door had fallen off, so I replaced it and fixed the dry wall, but it seems that it was still leaking.

I ripped the grout off all the way around the shower pan (I thought water was getting through in the corners closest to the door since I saw a little gap in the grout), and recaulked it. Thought I fixed the issue, but here we are a few weeks later and now the water is seeping through again.

If its not leaking around the shower pan, where the hell is it coming from? How do I find it? Can I hire someone to figure it out? Super annoying.

Unless you personally know how the shower was constructed and flood tests were performed, the default answer is lack/failure of waterproofing.

Someone may have a different solution, but if you're getting wet sheetrock and you can't visibly see water being splashed out as the source, a new shower is in your future.

ETA: Any pics would also help.

BadMoonRisin said:

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How did you find the source of the leak? My standup shower has a leak somewhere where water is escaping to the sheet rock to the left and right of the door.

I noticed the little clear plastic swiper at the bottom of the shower door had fallen off, so I replaced it and fixed the dry wall, but it seems that it was still leaking.

I ripped the grout off all the way around the shower pan (I thought water was getting through in the corners closest to the door since I saw a little gap in the grout), and recaulked it. Thought I fixed the issue, but here we are a few weeks later and now the water is seeping through again.

If its not leaking around the shower pan, where the hell is it coming from? How do I find it? Can I hire someone to figure it out? Super annoying.

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Assuming water is not somehow getting out of your shower (i.e. gaps in the door or frame or something), then it's likely the water proofing has failed (if you have water proofing to begin with). As was said above, tile and grout is not water proof. It is porous. Water will seep through it. Yes, gaps or cracks in tile or grout will let water move through faster in larger amounts, but sealing those won't fix the underlying issue, only slow it down. You're probably going to have to open the shower or wall behind it to see if you can identify where water is getting through, where the water proofing has failed. If there is nothing there, which wouldn't be shocking, then the long term solution is to rebuild the shower correctly.

Aggietaco said:

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I'm still not sure if this is self-inflicted or if you hired out to someone that has never installed tile.

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We had the 3rd party company sent to us through a recommendation.

BadMoonRisin said:

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How did you find the source of the leak?

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We found ours, because when I cleaned out our master closet, there was mold spots on our wall. Took out the access panel and you could easily find the leak when the water was running.

YellAg2004 said:

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jtraggie99 said:

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Did they actually do any water proofing? It looks like they just attached tile directly to the wall board, with nothing in between.

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THIS X 1000. You might as well go ahead and rip it all out now. It will fail again. Grout is not water proof nor is cement backerboard. You have to install either a sheet (e.g. Kerdi) or fluid-applied (e.g. RedGard) membrane before you install the tile.

Some items you posted are not huge concerns, while others definitely are. Overall it just screams of a guy who does tile for people that generally don't care (landlords) or don't know that they should care (majority of the population). The guy is one step above unskilled labor and is the reason 99.9% of residential contractors SUCK.

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One of the guys told my wife that the cement board is already water-proofed. I'm meeting with the owner of the company and the project manager/supervisor tomorrow. We halted all construction yesterday. They were all sent the same pics on the same text thread, and they have agreed to redo all the tile.

Raptor said:

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YellAg2004 said:

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jtraggie99 said:

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Did they actually do any water proofing? It looks like they just attached tile directly to the wall board, with nothing in between.

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THIS X 1000. You might as well go ahead and rip it all out now. It will fail again. Grout is not water proof nor is cement backerboard. You have to install either a sheet (e.g. Kerdi) or fluid-applied (e.g. RedGard) membrane before you install the tile.

Some items you posted are not huge concerns, while others definitely are. Overall it just screams of a guy who does tile for people that generally don't care (landlords) or don't know that they should care (majority of the population). The guy is one step above unskilled labor and is the reason 99.9% of residential contractors SUCK.

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One of the guys told my wife that the cement board is already water-proofed. I'm meeting with the owner of the company and the project manager/supervisor tomorrow. We halted all construction yesterday. They were all sent the same pics on the same text thread, and they have agreed to redo all the tile.

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Cement board is not water proof. Here's kind of a nice summary:

https://www.diytileguy.com/durock-cement-board-waterproof/

They're using this...

• Quote:

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  James Hardie 3-ft x 5-ft x 1/2-in HardieBacker Fiber Cement Water Resistant Backer Board
  Item #60358
  Model #220023
  
  
  

  • Permits time savings by allowing you to skip the step of applying waterproof coating across the entire board surface area
  • Just waterproof the joints and fasteners and then move on to the next project

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Not saying you're wrong, just saying they aren't lying 100% to us. Just seem to be skimping on the overall cost/time.

jtraggie99 said:

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Raptor said:

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YellAg2004 said:

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jtraggie99 said:

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Did they actually do any water proofing? It looks like they just attached tile directly to the wall board, with nothing in between.

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THIS X 1000. You might as well go ahead and rip it all out now. It will fail again. Grout is not water proof nor is cement backerboard. You have to install either a sheet (e.g. Kerdi) or fluid-applied (e.g. RedGard) membrane before you install the tile.

Some items you posted are not huge concerns, while others definitely are. Overall it just screams of a guy who does tile for people that generally don't care (landlords) or don't know that they should care (majority of the population). The guy is one step above unskilled labor and is the reason 99.9% of residential contractors SUCK.

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One of the guys told my wife that the cement board is already water-proofed. I'm meeting with the owner of the company and the project manager/supervisor tomorrow. We halted all construction yesterday. They were all sent the same pics on the same text thread, and they have agreed to redo all the tile.

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Cement board is not water proof. Here's kind of a nice summary:

https://www.diytileguy.com/durock-cement-board-waterproof/

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From the above link:

Quote:

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What do cement board manufacturers say?

This seems quite clear. Yet, it seems like where the confusion comes in is when you look at the different backer board manufacturer's instructions. Hence the question "Is cement board waterproof?" Well, here's what some manufacturers have to say about waterproofing:

• PermaBase (National Gypsum): PermaBase PLus is not a water barrier. Consult local building code for moisture barrier requirements
• Wonderboard (Custom Building Products): See update below WonderBoard Lite is not a waterproof barrier. If the area behind the backerboard must be kept dry, use RedGard Waterproofing and Crack Prevention Membrane or Custom 9240 Waterproofing and Anti-Fracture Membrane
• Durock (USG): If waterproofing is desired, use USG Durock Tile Membrane or USG Durock Brand Waterproofing Membrane
• Hardiebacker (James Hardie): the use of a waterproof membrane, vapor barrier or vapor
• ******ing membrane is optional unless the local building code requires it

Update: Custom Building Products has changed its stand on this since I originally wrote it. Here is the latest:

• A moisture barrier must be installed to protect the wall cavity for wet area installations. Nail or staple 15 lb roofing felt or 4 mil polyethylene sheeting to the studs… Any shelf, ledge or horizontal surface subjected to water exposure must have a slight downward slope for water runoff. These areas also require proper waterproofing. ~WonderBoard Lite Backerboard / TDS266 3/29/2018

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Basically, waterprooofing is always required. I believe there is a new Hardie product that has a membrane integrated into the panel.

HardieBacker w/ HydroDefense Technology

I don't know anything about this product, so no idea how you have to seal the seams to make a continuous water barrier, how you address holes created by fasteners, etc. Just offering the only product that I'm aware that is both cement board and waterproof.

There are also other backboards that aren't cement board that are waterproof (e.g. Kerdiboard), but those have their own specialized installation instructions. Given what is seen in the pics, these guys don't have a clue those types of products exist, so I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole.

I believe the easiest solution for an unskilled contractor is RedGard (or some other fluid-applied membrane). Install the cement board, roll on a few coats (follow the instructions for number of coats, cure times, etc.), and then install tile like normal (but hopefully better than their first try).

Raptor said:

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Over Spring Break we discovered a leak that had caused mold in our master closet. The culprit was a small, albeit steady, leak that ran every time the guest shower/tub was run. Since we have two boys, that was twice a night, every night. These images may not be suitable for people that know how laying tile is actually supposed to be done correctly.

All the images if you enjoy ineptitude.

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Do you live in BCS? If so please tell us who you used so we dont ever hire those people

Far North Dallas area.

Well *****

That sucks. The house was only built 8 years ago.

This is a shower project I stumbled into back in 2015. I was going to recaulk the shower then paint the bathroom. A tile fell off while recaulking and next thing I knew we were to the studs...

The rusty corner bead in my early photos was the result of the builder relying on caulk and grout alone for water proofing.

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/2648316

BadMoonRisin said:

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Well *****

That sucks. The house was only built 8 years ago.

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The shower in the thread I linked above... Failed at 7 years.

I nicknamed that builder "One nail" cause that's all he used if he could get away with it

Yep, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Unfortunately what you're describing comes up with some regularity on here as what you're describing is the tell-tale sign. Wet sheetrock and/or trim around the edge of the pan, maybe a water stain on the wall behind the shower or wet carpet in the closet.

As Kenneth_2003 said, you start trying to address what appears to be a minor issue and before you know it, you're to the studs. It's criminal what builders pass off as quality work, especially on something like this that literally takes an extra day or two at most and less than $500 to do correctly.

If your house was new construction, I'm not sure if you could try to argue that it's now a structural defect due to damaged framing. It may not be worth the headache just to get the same jackwagon back out to do it wrong again.

Well, thanks for the help. I appreciate it. Guess I'm calling a shower repair guy to get some quotes.

how'd you get the tile off without tearing up the backing board?