On Sep 2, 12:47*am, Red Green wrote:
Joel wrote in news:acf74d59-905c-4edc-8878-
:

It was caused by improper construction techniques on the part of the
home builder.
Using the proper techniques that I described is the solution.

The techniques you described is not the solution to the original problem.
It is the solution to repairing the existing damage.

The original problem is:

* * * * How did the water get behind and do damage?

The water should not get behind the tiles. What is behind the tiles is
just a matter of how long it takes to do damage.

It's like a basement that is getting water in it. Patching from the
undesired water side (inside) is not a solution. It's a band-aid.

Right now I am working on an tiled ceiling to floor shower that has
damaged drywall, backing, etc. The water getting behind the tiles is a
result of grout that was never resealed (or resealed) and got wet. It
then started to fall out. It was ignored. More water got behind. More
damaged occured. It was ignored more. It then failed beyond use. It takes
a bit of time and a lot of ignoring to do severe damage.

Why was your shower being used if it was that close to failure? From the
extent of the damage you described, there was no indication of a problem?

Why was your shower being used if it was that close to failure?
From the extent of the damage you described, there was no indication
of a problem?

I had the exact grout problem you described when we moved into our
first home. I didn't noticed anything wrong with the shower walls.

It was when I was in the backyard and saw water running down inside a
basement window while my wife was showering - on the second floor! -
that I knew we had a problem. It was an exterior wall and the wall
opposite the shower head. The grout looked OK, and the wall seemed
solid, but once I started really pushing on it, you could feel how
mushy it really was behind the tile.

And no, my wife wasn't very happy when I burst into the bathroom and
turned the water off!