My house was built in 2009. The GC made every possible effort to cut as many corners as possible, and hired the lowest bid contractors in every area.
So my bathroom has an all tile shower. The tile guy forgot to waterproof the walls before the tile was installed. Also, the walls are not backerboard or concrete board, or whatever they should be. Just regular white drywall.
Two walls of the shower are exterior walls. They are 2x4 walls, filled with fiberglass batts, then a plastic sheething vapor barrier, then the drywall, then the tile directly on the drywall.
Shower leaked horribly, especially down the walls. The drywall behind the shower was so wet that I tore the entire shower out by hand, without the use of a hammer or pry bar. Simply pressed my hand through the drywall next to the shower, and started pulling off tile by hand.
It's almost tore out now. I'm going to be replacing all the destroyed wood and replacing the wet insulation. Now, what do I do? I've been getting mixed answers online. Some say keep the vapor barrier then install concrete board, and my tile to that. But without waterproofing the whole wall, wont I have the same problem as before? Then, I could put the concrete board directly on the wall without vapor barrier, and waterproof the concrete board. I've read that if I shouldn't use a vapor barrier and also waterproof the concrete board.
The poured base he put in is also leaking. The tile floor will need tore out, his uneven poured floor will need to come out too, and then the subfloor will need replaced. My original tile guy didn't understand the concept of a sloped floor, at least not sloped in the correct direction. It was higher in the middle, so all water sloped to the walls.
I know everyone is going to say hire a tile guy, and I wish I could afford it, but I cant. And of course the tile guy is avoiding my calls at all costs once he found out that his work sucked. I'm fairly good at building and DIY stuff, I just want to make sure I do this right.
Thanks.
So my bathroom has an all tile shower. The tile guy forgot to waterproof the walls before the tile was installed. Also, the walls are not backerboard or concrete board, or whatever they should be. Just regular white drywall.
Two walls of the shower are exterior walls. They are 2x4 walls, filled with fiberglass batts, then a plastic sheething vapor barrier, then the drywall, then the tile directly on the drywall.
Shower leaked horribly, especially down the walls. The drywall behind the shower was so wet that I tore the entire shower out by hand, without the use of a hammer or pry bar. Simply pressed my hand through the drywall next to the shower, and started pulling off tile by hand.
It's almost tore out now. I'm going to be replacing all the destroyed wood and replacing the wet insulation. Now, what do I do? I've been getting mixed answers online. Some say keep the vapor barrier then install concrete board, and my tile to that. But without waterproofing the whole wall, wont I have the same problem as before? Then, I could put the concrete board directly on the wall without vapor barrier, and waterproof the concrete board. I've read that if I shouldn't use a vapor barrier and also waterproof the concrete board.
The poured base he put in is also leaking. The tile floor will need tore out, his uneven poured floor will need to come out too, and then the subfloor will need replaced. My original tile guy didn't understand the concept of a sloped floor, at least not sloped in the correct direction. It was higher in the middle, so all water sloped to the walls.
I know everyone is going to say hire a tile guy, and I wish I could afford it, but I cant. And of course the tile guy is avoiding my calls at all costs once he found out that his work sucked. I'm fairly good at building and DIY stuff, I just want to make sure I do this right.
Thanks.