I recently had a bathroom remodel done, and it looks like the contractor did a less than stellar job. Part of my shower floor tile is lifting up around the glass door area. I suspect they didn't install a proper moisture barrier or seal the grout correctly. The contractor has gone unresponsive, and while I'm considering legal options to recoup some costs, I need to find a way to fix this issue. Is it necessary to completely redo the shower floor, or are there any alternative solutions?
3 Answers
It sounds like water may be seeping through the corners where the tile meets the wall. If that’s the case, and you can clean and re-grout that area, you might avoid a bigger mess. If the subfloor is getting wet without any obvious leaks at the glass partition, it could mean the contractor skipped some key steps. You might want to start by removing just the tiles at the edge to explore the issue further, but be prepared that more extensive repairs could mean taking out the glass partition and a chunk of the tiles. Sounds like a ticking clock situation to me!
Do you have any pictures of the waterproofing process before they laid the tiles? Ideally, the problem could be limited to the transition area by the shower door. If that's the case, you might only need to redo that section. Worst case, they may not have waterproofed the entire shower properly, and you could be looking at a full redo.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any progress pics. I do believe they placed a moisture barrier, as it's just the transition area that’s affected. If that's correct, would pulling up just that section and extending the barrier work?
Without checking what's beneath the tiles, it's hard to say precisely what's gone wrong. It’s likely that the underlying material has swollen, causing the tiles to lift. If the tile's popped up, you should definitely remove those first. That way, you can see what's really going on under there. Good luck!
If it’s indeed just water seeping out in that corner, then pulling up those tiles to extend the moisture barrier underneath sounds like a practical start. Just make sure you get it sealed properly this time!