I have a shower leak. It was discovered after I observed the ceiling below the shower where the textured ceiling started to flake and bubble. I called a plumber and he thought – after partial removal of the ceiling and observing the the shower drain etc. – that the pan is the culprit. He told me that since the house is @ 45 years old the pan is likely made of lead and has exceeded its live expectancy. What is everyone’s advice as to the next step. I am not handy enough to mud a base and tile a shower. So where do I go for this repair? Do I contact a tile guy – the plumber – a home remodel individual?
The shower is all tile including the ceiling. The floor of the shower is very small (1 in?) tiles while the walls and ceiling are UGLY 3 in yellow tiles. Grout looks good except close to the floor where there is obvious browning of the grout. There is not tub in the bathroom – just a shower. The neighborhood does not warrant a total tear down and remodel job unless that is easier and therefore less expensive.
Thanks, Mike
Replies
You might consider tearing out and replacing with a pre-formed (eg, fiberglass) unit. The trick is finding one you like that is suitable (ie, made in pieces) for rehabs vs new construction.
Get a good remodeling contractor. He can pop the floor tile, and a bit of the wall tile, and retrofit Kerdi without completely tearing up the base. You might wanna ask this over at the John Bridge tile forum -- THE place for tile info.
Other than that, I'd say new mud base.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Mike: I almost understand. What is Kerdi? Is that a brand name for shower pan replacement - remember my home improvement IQ is well - limited. Also how do I get to the tile site for questions - if you know. The plumber suggested a tile guy he like to work with. I just got off the phone with him and he said he suggested tearing out the old and starting new. He works with the plumber to put in a new pan and then tiles the new shower to look extra sharp. No price tag yet. Am I looking a mega bucks?With some luck we may be able to keep this thread from going political for a short period of time?Mike
Kerdi is a special membrane designed to act as a waterproofing behind tile. Go to http://www.johnbridge.com and spend some time poking around. Lots of info on Kerdi and very knowledgeable posters there. There have been some posts on this forum about it as well. If you can get the search function to work, you can search for Kerdi. Mongo had a nice thread about a full shower, and I think Jeff Buck had a thread or two as well.
Kerdi is not exactly mainstream yet, so many tile setters will not know much about it, or wanna try it. Kinda like what PVC pipe did to plumbers. Almost too good.
Still, using Kerdi would require that your base is sound enough to repair. Since there is apparently only a small leak, there's a good chance this will work. Otherwise, you'll need to tear out the old base anyway and, if the walls are good, it's not that much more work to simply replace it (it's only a couple of hours work, and cement is cheap) as opposed to changing out the whole shower.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
A few additional questions Mike if you have time: The plumber suggested I do the tile removal. They are going to replace all the tile - floor/walls and ceiling. Can I do any damage to the integrity of the shower if I remove the old 'stuff' myself? The plumber did suggest that the pan has a small hole/tear. The Kurdi system might be just the ticket. Now I only need to convince my plumber of that fact. Or, is this a job I can do myself - having two left hands when it comes to remodel jobs? Your opinion will not hurt my feelings.Several years ago I did replace the floor tile. I tore out the old and replaced the sub-floor with cement board and tile on top. Its still there and no one has yet to fall abruptly to the second floor. That is about the most I can handle when it comes to construction. Knowing that can I do this myself?Thanks again, Mike
Removing the old tile can save considerable money vs paying the plumber or tiler to do it. But who hauls off the debris? I would be tempted to demo all the tile, have the plumber install a new preformed pan and drain, and then retile it myself. I second the suggesstion to post this at John Bridge."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Removing tile can be easy or hard - depends on what's under it and how well it's stuck. Either way, you probably won't do any better or worse at it than the plumber. Just be sure to wear protective clothing and, especially, good eye protection. That stuff can shatter, sending sharp tile flak all over.
If your floor is in decent shape under the tile, i.e., and still strong altho' not waterproof, Kerdi is pretty easy to do. It just glues down with unmodified thinset, a bit wetter than usual, and the tile goes over that. (More unmodifie thinset.) Just be sure to follow the instructions with respect to what types of thinset you can use. Once you have the materials, it's kinda like wallpapering, but easier, since you overlap the seams instead of matching them. ;-)
If you're doing Kerdi, and you strip the walls as well as the floor, I'd consider using it on the walls as well. Have the plumber hook up the drain if you must, but I've never met a plumber that's a good tile guy. Not sayin' they ain't out there -- I just never met 'em. He may be using a sub to do the tile tho'. If so, get some references for him. Kerdi is a snap for someone who does tile.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
John bridge is an excellent source for tile info,as others have already said. Very friendly to amateurs.
http://www.schluter.com/media/brochures/ShowerHandbook2008.pdf
hope this is helpful
edit- meant to address to OP
Edited 8/5/2008 2:49 pm ET by jimk
"The neighborhood does not warrant a total tear down and remodel job unless that is easier and therefore less expensive."
And you mentioned brown stains on bottom of the tile.
It is hard to tell what kind of construction that you have for that shower walls. It might be floated or it might be mastic over drywall.
In any case there is a good chance that at this time that the walls need to be replaced anyway.
And it might not be possible to remove the tiles and still have leave the walls in condition to be reused.
If the cost of redoing a tile show is out of line you can use one of the better acrylic shower insert systems.
Also cultured marble/oyxn.
And then there are solid surface panels and bases for shower. Swanstone is one source. But that might be getting too expensive.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"The neighborhood does not warrant a total tear down and remodel job unless that is easier and therefore less expensive."
Save yourself time and money! Take it all out and start again. Any repair with old tile left on the wall looks bad. Are you selling soon? Get 5 years of use and its more than worth it.
You can do the demo if you have time and some care to keep the "damage" in the bathroom. Use the skilled people for the tricky stuff.