Frank wrote:
On Sep 1, 10:33 pm, Joel wrote:
My daughter was taking a shower and part of the tile wall fell down.
Underneath there is drywall and it is wet and rotted. The studs are
also rotted.
I plan to rip it all out replace the rotted studs, cover with moisture
barrier, cement board and retile.
Is there a good description / tutorial on replacing studs? I wonder
why builders are allowed to construct bathrooms like this, you would
think it should be against the building code.

Thanks

My builder was crooked too. Unfortunately it took years for problem
to develop but replacing dry wall with cement board solved the
problem. You may try going after builder as he probably violated
local code. If your county, like mine, is full of crooks, you will
have a tough time. Also home owners insurance may or may not cover
damage - probably not.
Current code and best practice is cement board, but there were several
years after mud-bed died out where greenboard behind tile was pretty
common. They had excessive faith in the then-new miracle mastics and
caulks. In 1950s cookie cutters, the era of plastic bathroom tile, a
skim coat of mastic was often the only real waterproofing the wall had.
(Does anyone even make plastic 4x4 tile any more?)

Realistically, there is no point in going after builder. Time and lawyer
money will more than eat up any award. Cuss a little, rebuild it
correctly, and move on. I'd try the icepick test on the studs- unless
they were real mushy, I'd just stabilize them with epoxy or something
and call it good. Changing them will mean patching the wall on the other
side.

--
aem sends...