Background: Was leak from shower to the floor in the toilet area. Plumber last year said leak was from old controls that could not be repaired. Added all new. seemed to be OK, this summer tiles in the toilet area began coming loose. Called a new, highly recommended plumber. He said before we tear out the wall lets check the toilet. He found a small leak in the back of the toilet that he said you had to be a plumber to find. Repaired that, but since we knew the subfloor was wet we pulled up the tiles and the subfloor, down to concrete slab and prepared to lay new subfloor - over concrete slab - then new tile. The day we began, I noticed water on the concrete again, a small area but was there. Called the plumber again, he found real problem was the water was coming under the wall from the shower floor, it's an old place,the grout was old, the shower floor was not installed properly so water ran to the back wall rather than down the center drain.
His Solution: Do it right have the entire shower ripped out and check for any damage then put an entire new shower in. This shower is 56" square with a built in bench on two sides. Looking at several thousand dollars. The person he recommended has not gotten back to us yet to look at it. I got down on the shower floor and could see the entire perimeter was sealed with clear caulk. I could put a fingernail under the corner caulk and it lifted right up. Was not visible standing up.
I removed the caulk from around the entire shower, cleaned the grout with a brush and bleach, no mold anyplace. When dry I applied new silicone caulking around the area, and feathered it out more than necessary. Let it set 24 hours. Showered this morning, squeegeed water all to the center drain. Used flashlight, no leak anyplace - not immediately, not later. Drywall on the toilet side is 1.5" above floor level, there is no water damage to drywall and I can see no damage to the wood subfloor under the shower. It appears to be dry with no mold etc. I can tell from the location the leak was primarily from the back corner where the floor/wall/bench met.
Question: I'm trying to think of a solution that might avoid having to tear everything out right now. Since this is all cultured marble walls, doubt there is any way to remove it without tearing it up - but could take care of the floor right now and leave the walls in place. We could dig up the old tile, have it prepared to slope properly and retile. Or, clean out all the old grout and have someone prepare a proper slope and tile over the old tile (found online). Or, also online, a place that will custom make any size shower pan that can be set in, tiled and guaranteed not to leak. Has anyone tried any of these repairs? Suggestions that might be better?
Thanks Much for any advice.
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