Shower tile on drywall

pisbouts

So the tile in the shower stall in my home was built by the previous owner over drywall. There is serious damage up the bottom foot of drywall which I've torn out already. However further up the remaining 5 feet the drywall and tile appears to be fine. I have not demo'd that portion yet. I know drywall for showers is sacrilege but was pondering adding cement board to the bottom foot and retiling over that. Am I crazy or could this work?

oh'mike

It is a patch job---and will look like one----if you can live with that---yes--it can be done if the tile ---backer board seam is under the center of a tile---

If you can afford better than a patch job-----replace the enclosure---waterproof the backer with a membrane---I like Hydroban--Red Guard works well--there are others,too.

Change the shower mixer valve---and you have a shower that will last a long time---------------

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Blondesense

This is exactly what I found when I redid our shower. When I tore it out there was mostly greenboard, with cement board under the bottom two rows of tile.
Apparently the previous owner tried this fix. I don't know how long it was like this, but it was leaking badly and the remaining greenboard was full of mold.

If you try it, I would consider it temporary until you can do it right.