# shower damage question



## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

I had my house remodeled about 7 years ago. The contractor added a shower next to the tub in our master bath. The show is two and a half sides tile and the other is glass. It's a small 4x4 shower. in the front under the shower door, there is a step into the shower and all of the grout around the tiles, the length of this step, is corroded and even after I regrouted and put some silicon down, it's recoroded. There is also a small area of sheetrock that extends beyond one of the shower walls, and that sheetrock has been replaced already once and is again wet and ruined. It seems to be too much damage to be caused by the door opening and water dripping out. My concern is that they didn't put a pan under this thing and that water may be leaking through the tile from the inside. Not sure how to go about resolving this. I haven't been using the shower just to let it dry so i can work on it, but i'm not confident I can fix it. Thoughts?


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## snapperlicious (Aug 11, 2009)

Does is have a seal on the bottom of the door?


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## acoastalbender (Jul 16, 2011)

A picture or two would help........


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## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

okay, here are some pics. please disregard the silicon that i just slapped on their. i was globbing it on just to see if it would stop the problem. I added a few pics just so you can see how the shower is constructed. Hopefully this helps. Thanks


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

It may be that the shower pan, the waterproofing membrane to keep the water in the shower, was not installed under the door area properly and the water is migrating through the tile under the door down the wall and the front of the step. The only way to really know is to remove the shower door and the tile from the step and inspect the installation of the shower pan.


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## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

yeah, that's what i was afraid of. well, at least i get to tear some stuff up.  thanks for your response.


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

You might try a good waterproofing sealer first. Let the tile grout dry good, then apply waterproofing to the grout joints. Apply new caulk to all door to tile joints. If the water proofing is bad on top of the step, this should fix it........for a short while. If it is the sweep/seal at the bottom of the shower or any other issue with the door specifically it won't fix the problem. 
In any case, before I tore out the door and tile, I would try some other fixes to include getting the shower door guy out to inspect the door sweep and other seals.
One other thing, is the hinge side of the door on the same wall as the shower nozzle? Or on the opposite side? Normal installation, the hinge side is opposite the wall with the water source as the hinge side is more water tight than the strike side.


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## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

HydraSports said:


> You might try a good waterproofing sealer first. Let the tile grout dry good, then apply waterproofing to the grout joints. Apply new caulk to all door to tile joints. If the water proofing is bad on top of the step, this should fix it........for a short while. If it is the sweep/seal at the bottom of the shower or any other issue with the door specifically it won't fix the problem.
> In any case, before I tore out the door and tile, I would try some other fixes to include getting the shower door guy out to inspect the door sweep and other seals.
> One other thing, is the hinge side of the door on the same wall as the shower nozzle? Or on the opposite side? Normal installation, the hinge side is opposite the wall with the water source as the hinge side is more water tight than the strike side.


Thanks for the suggestions. Think i may try that. The hinge is opposite the water source. I've had the door guy out several times and watched what happens under normal use. I'm convinced that water isn't coming out through the door either while the shower is running or when exiting the shower. That part of it seems to work well. Think i'll try a waterproofing sealer. I haven't used the shower in over a month, so it's dry. Thanks


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## henryg (Jul 1, 2011)

Do a pan test. Plug drain well, fill three to four inches of water and wait thirty minutes. If it is your pan it needs to be replaced or it will continue to cause damage


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## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

henryg said:


> Do a pan test. Plug drain well, fill three to four inches of water and wait thirty minutes. If it is your pan it needs to be replaced or it will continue to cause damage


How do you plug this type of drain. It doesn't have a stopper or anything. I'd be afraid that anything I plugged it with might not be holding and would give me a false reading on the pan.


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## agonzales1981 (Jun 12, 2008)

Lagniappe2008 said:


> How do you plug this type of drain. It doesn't have a stopper or anything. I'd be afraid that anything I plugged it with might not be holding and would give me a false reading on the pan.


Just buy a 2 inch test ball at lowes/hd. We usually give it at least an hour. Shouldn't drop at all. From the pics I can almost guarantee you it's the shower pan.


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## scruffiest1 (Nov 7, 2005)

is there access to the plumbing on that wall .you could have a leak behind the wall at the fixture.i would make sure plumbing is good & do the pan test before you start tearing it apart.


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## Pier Pressure (Aug 30, 2009)

I have that exact same shower set up with the wall coming out a few inches past the shower. What I did was I ran my tile completely around that wall all the way back to the other wall. It was a lil more work but I didnt want to deal with wet sheet rock problems like the one you have. ALSO I hope all the grout in your shower is sealed. BTW your shower looks bad ***.

As far as the tile under the shower door. I would do the pan test first, but either way your going to have to tear into that tile under the door. KEEP the tile and lable them with tape and numbers arrows up. take pics. Rip it out and see what you have. 

I didnt want to deal with a shower liner and bought a good fiberglass pan for my shower. 

Good luck


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## flatscat1 (Jun 2, 2005)

I'm thinking they didn't wrap the shower pan over the step, or they cut it at the corners instead of folding it....either way, as stated earlier, I would try a good sealer first. Apply with a sponge. 

agongoles who posted above is a good plumber by the way, he did a shower pan test on my old house and made the necessary repairs. He's good.


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## redman71 (Jan 11, 2005)

I can't tell you how many of these I've fixed over the years. Some I built, some were built by others.

Most likely you will need to take the tile out on the step and the lowest course on the wall.

I suspect whatever type of waterproofing that was used behind the tile (if any) is not done properly. When I build this type of shower I will typically have a fiberglass guy come and fiberglass the pan, the step, and 16" up the walls to make sure we don't have this problem.

If you really want to fix the problem, you eventually will have to take it apart and start over.


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## Chief5x5 (Apr 25, 2005)

Looks like it's coming from the inside of the wall. Make sure the shower head arm is not leaking behind the wall.


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## poppincork (Jun 28, 2004)

They quit using the tar paper type pans long ago...they went to using green board around the walls up at least 4-5 feet tall and caulk the joints. then install the vinyl rubber pan ..fit on the drain and goes up the walls about 18 inches and over the curb on the shower floor front! then fill with grout an shape,,,adhesive and tile1 voil'e you have a shower stall floor and the walls and curb are ready to tile! then hang the door...no leaks, you can take a couple of concrete blocks and make a corner seat..and tile them


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