badgolferman wrote:
It appears the remodeled shower stall in the master bathroom is leaking
water below the floor of my one-story house. The shower has marble
tile on the wall and granite-like tile on the floor. The grout on the
floor has separated from the wall and water is getting past that.
Investigation by contractors reveals there is no shower pan under the
shower and the subfloor is damaged. There is some mold under the house
also. I am told the shower was constructed incorrectly and that this
problem has been going on for a long time. Evidence of clear caulk at
the junction of the floor and threshold supports that idea.

The home inspector that I had look the house over before purchasing it
13 months ago missed all this despite there being no insulation under
the house at the time of inspection. The owner of the company which is
reputable in this area claims if there was a problem at the time his
inspector would have seen it. He hints since the house was vacant
there is no way he could have determined any trouble with leaks or
copper pipes since the pressure wasn't fluctuating due to use. He also
reiterated several times the 12 month liability has passed and refused
to come inspect it himself.

I have contacted a lawyer to inquire of my options and am awaiting
word. One contractor has provided a quote for repair of $1700 plus
cost of new tile so it appears the damage isn't large. Considering the
estimate is lower than I expected it will probably not be worth
litigation.

Let my experience be a lesson for potential home buyers. Go into the
crawl space with your inspector and look for yourself. You may save
yourself some trouble later.


Cannot imagine inspector being able to see that shower pan was missing.
He could not lift the tile floor to see if pan was there.

I had same problem with new construction and was fighting with the
builder. Shower floor had been installed over torn pan. I went to the
plumber and tile installer that contractor had used and convinced
plumber to replace pan and tile installer to put in new floor. A couple
of years later I had to redo the whole shower as tile walls were
installed on regular dry wall which eventually came apart.

I sued builder over the other problems, settled out of court but never
got a cent. Builders know how to hide their assets. Who would you
sue: previous owner/builder, plumbing contractor or tile installer?
Also lawyers don't work for free and you may need to hire expert
witnesses. But, if you do decide to sue, you could go through small
claims court and act on your own for cheap. I actually did this with
Ford and a Ford dealer and got a good settlement.