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Alright, I hope someone on here has some knowledge of this. I"m getting a pro to ask but maybe someone knows off the top of their head.

The shower liner, does it go on the inside or outside of the drywall? My gut tells me they did something wrong in my shower, here is a teardown photo to try and find a leak.

The drywall however watter proof seems to be between the tiles and the liner, is litterally soaked and was instaled all the way below the base. I'm no expert but it just doesn't look right.

I always thought the liner went on the outside, and drywall is an absolute no-no in a shower.. it needs to be concrete board or something waterproof.

Apparently this is "wonderboard"...don't seem very wonderfull to me.

hardk0re,Oct 19 2007, 11:09 AM Wrote:Apparently this is "wonderboard"...don't seem very wonderfull to me.
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Quote:WonderBoard (1/2") has been rated by the Tile Council of America (TCA) for use as part of a ceramic tile installation system for plywood subfloors with 24" o.c. joists and 23/32" exterior grade plywood.

Similar to the other CBU's, WonderBoard must also be installed into a bed of fresh latex modified mortar, seams staggered, screwed or nailed every 8" o.c. and the seams taped with 2" fiber glass mesh tape and leveled with mortar.

I'm fairly certain that if you were to do a cut away of the wall the layering should go tilesner/drywall.

Even with the concrete board or whatever the liner is there to keep it from becoming water logged and having mold grow.

is David Suzuki fixing your shower? :)

habmann,Oct 19 2007, 11:25 AM Wrote:I'm fairly certain that if you were to do a cut away of the wall the layering should go tilesner/drywall.

Even with the concrete board or whatever the liner is there to keep it from becoming water logged and having mold grow.
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Mortar and tile won't adhere to a liner...

however, how a liner and concrete board are installed make a difference as well.

Don't take this as the final word in shower construction, but here's a link on constructing a shower bed (sloped), and a note about the concrete board

Quote:The General Contractor has installed the cement board leaving a gap between the bottom edge of the board and the liner. This will ensure there is no wicking of moisture up into the backer board.

I'm pretty sure meford would know a bit more about this than myself, but there's lots of stuff on the internet that can help.

home depot how-to

That is definately the old school way to build a shower and not what I would recommend or do to my new home.
The wonderboard is not wonderboard that I can tell. It's just a waterproof drywall(it's green drywall, correct?)
Wonderboard is a cementacious board. And that is what they should have used.
There are much better systems out there for insuring this doesn't happen. Ditra system is by far a better alternative, but it is expensive (around $1000 just for the waterproof system).
You are probably getting wicking from both below and thru the grout on the walls. Truthfully, I would rip the entire shower out and do it right. I bet your going to find mold on the backside of that drywall. Best of luck.

Thing is I never build the shower, if I were to do it yeah I would have done it right the first time. The builder is the one who made this mess, I doubt they are going ot spend the cash on doing it with a $1000 waterproof system. I AM going to insist they use actual cement board...but man this is something I don't want to see in a brand new home!

I'm try and call in a pro and see what they have to say....

yeah, make sure you get on it before the home warranty runs out... get it fixed for free..

Tarion warranty expired today for the 1year, but it has an additional year for plumbing issues.

hardk0re,Oct 19 2007, 02:08 PM Wrote:Tarion warranty expired today for the 1year, but it has an additional year for plumbing issues.
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If your warranty doesn't cover it, and I had the same problem 10 years ago, and back then it wasn't covered, your house insurance will cover it.
Unless the building code hasn't change, greenboard is acceptable, crappy stuff, but acceptable for showers.

actually they use concret boards in showers now as they are better, water proof, and don't absorb the water like wonderboard can.

to me it looks like that result is from a drainage issue. was your shower always slow to drain away?

if you watch the show Holmes on Homes you see a few episodes where the washroom (shower) was not correctly done and as a result you have something similar.

usually the part under your shower should be sub-floor, thin set, liner, shower tray, thin set, tile.

I'm having a new soaker tub with concreteboard and tiles installed on Wednesday. I hope Sam Harb's plumbing knows what he's doing (for the money he'd better).

If I were you and had to pay out of pocket I'd cut out that cardboard wall up to the third tiles and replace it with proper concreteboard.

Is the liner you're talking about the paper I see?

i'm going to find out the building code for showers such as this and have then follow that. My shower was subfloor, liner, thinset, tile. How do they think the water is to drain away once it gets to the liner...? cuz theres no slope to the drain....

bah this whole thing sucks, definetly if I ever buy a new house I want to visit it frequently to see what they are doing....

hardk0re,Oct 19 2007, 07:29 PM Wrote:i'm going to find out the building code for showers such as this and have then follow that.  My shower was subfloor, liner, thinset, tile.  How do they think the water is to drain away once it gets to the liner...?  cuz theres no slope to the drain....

bah this whole thing sucks, definetly if I ever buy a new house I want to visit it frequently to see what they are doing....
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that's what the shower trays are for, they are shaped to slope to your drain.

I looked into the building code, all it requires is that there is a liner/membrane of some sorts. Does not need to be sloped, only the final floor needs to be sloped. So apparently my shower is up to code....WTF.