Help with resealing shower drain

[gigi9999]

I removed the "grate" from my shower drain cover for cleaning and saw that the cover/grate combination was not sealed into place. It sits low enough that it is flush with the tile, but I was able to lift it out with no resistance. Below there are pebbles, which I believe is something like a weep hole? I don't see any leaks so far. My question is, should I seal this cover/grate combo to the structure below and next to it, and if so, with what kind of product?

 

[Jeff H Young]

It certainly is wrong , The object is for water to go down the drain , the secondary plan is for any water that for a variety of reasons leaks past grout or caulk either on walls or pan should go to bottom of pan and slope toward drain weeping throu7gh the gravel and through weep holes in bottom of drain .
Im not familiar with the drain or sure its a proper drain for this installation . it should be in mud pack and grouted in place . I think something might be wrong . is there a liner or hot mop? do you have an image of the entire drain assembly?
what about the tile what is under the tile? never seen one quite like this

 

[Sponsor]

 

[gigi9999]

It certainly is wrong , The object is for water to go down the drain , the secondary plan is for any water that for a variety of reasons leaks past grout or caulk either on walls or pan should go to bottom of pan and slope toward drain weeping throu7gh the gravel and through weep holes in bottom of drain .
Im not familiar with the drain or sure its a proper drain for this installation . it should be in mud pack and grouted in place . I think something might be wrong . is there a liner or hot mop? do you have an image of the entire drain assembly?
what about the tile what is under the tile? never seen one quite like this

Thanks for the response! As you can see in the pictures, some of the grout has also come out between tiles so I asked the developer about what risk that presented. He assured me there was an underlayment that would prevent any leaks but I'm sorry I don't know what kind of material or process was used. I am guessing a liner.

I was hoping if I sealed around the metal cover, water would be forced through the grate and down the drain. It sounds like I need to have someone come in and evaluate the whole thing!

 

[Jeff H Young]

yes it should be grouted with the tile my opinion. I havent seen everything it might be ok to have no mud under the drain Maybe get in touch with the tile setter

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

I don't recognize what sort of shower system this is. Is all of that gravel loose? Can you dig through it? Is this shower on the bottom floor, like a concrete slab? When you say "Developer" are you implying that you purchased a New home in a sub-division from a company who built a bunch of homes? Or did you hire a "contractor" to build you a shower?

 

[gigi9999]

yes it should be grouted with the tile my opinion. I havent seen everything it might be ok to have no mud under the drain Maybe get in touch with the tile setter

Thanks!

 

[gigi9999]

I don't recognize what sort of shower system this is. Is all of that gravel loose? Can you dig through it? Is this shower on the bottom floor, like a concrete slab?


View attachment 96723

 

[gigi9999]

The stones were gunky but not attached. I removed them so you could see the setup below. It is a second-floor shower. Yes, the developer has built multiple homes and I bought it new.

 

[gigi9999]

I hope this picture makes some sense! Under the tile is a layer that is cut out in the shape of the yellow line.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

OK.. I've heard of using Pea Gravel around the shower strainer throat to prevent mortar from filling the weep holes, but this looks like much larger stones and no mortar at all. If the mortar fills the weep holes water pools up under the tile and discolors the grout in a circular shape that tile guys refer to as a Halo.

What is the label on the back side of the plate in photo 4?

 

[gigi9999]

Please see the label picture attached.

 

[Jeff H Young]

the pea gravel is a regular thing on hot mop or vinyl liners. but the tile dosnt sit on gravel , the gravel is just to keep the weep holes clear from what I hear.
Ive seen the the showers after the mud work is done and just befor the tile floor goes down but there wasent gravel visable .
Anyway it looks like the finished tile is only like an inch or less from the flange on the drain and Im wondering if there are even weep holes ? maybe have a good tile guy look at it . might be the best system ever but my glance at it makes me skeptical

 

[gigi9999]

the pea gravel is a regular thing on hot mop or vinyl liners. but the tile dosnt sit on gravel , the gravel is just to keep the weep holes clear from what I hear.
Ive seen the the showers after the mud work is done and just befor the tile floor goes down but there wasent gravel visable .
Anyway it looks like the finished tile is only like an inch or less from the flange on the drain and Im wondering if there are even weep holes ? maybe have a good tile guy look at it . might be the best system ever but my glance at it makes me skeptical

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

the pea gravel is a regular thing on hot mop or vinyl liners. but the tile dosnt sit on gravel , the gravel is just to keep the weep holes clear from what I hear.
maybe have a good tile guy look at it . might be the best system ever but my glance at it makes me skeptical

Yep. Big red flag to me. I think they didn't follow the instructions of the Latticrete pan or normal installation protocols.

There is a Tile specific forum similar to this one that will likely be a good resource for figuring out what went wrong and how to mitigate it.

Tile Forum/Advice Board - Ceramic Tile Advice Forums - John Bridge Ceramic Tile

Tile, stone and other things that are hard to cut and difficult to install. "Weekend warriors" (newbies) check in here. :-)

www.johnbridge.com

 

[Jeff H Young]

Water proofing showers ,roman tubs etc , has a lot of complicated things you can do and cant do, along with new methods and then we have renegades that do thier own thing and maybe it works or dosent.
Ive been on John bridge site its really interesting thought about building a shower but never have

 

[gigi9999]

Yes, I posted the same question over there but haven't had responses yet. I have a line on a tile guy and thankfully have another shower available since he is "very busy". It's hard to get help with smaller jobs so I will be patient

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Yes, I posted the same question over there but haven't had responses yet. I have a line on a tile guy and thankfully have another shower available since he is "very busy". It's hard to get help with smaller jobs so I will be patient.

Is this beyond your warranty? I would be looking to either have your builder remedy the situation, or let them know that you will be sending them a bill to replace their faulty non standard installation.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Is this beyond your warranty? I would be looking to either have your builder remedy the situation, or let them know that you will be sending them a bill to replace their faulty non standard installation.

I dont know all the legal stuff but id try for co operation, He hasent reported any leaks or problems my guess is they might just want to put thin set and grout .
gigi9999 let us know what happens im interested on the work an unbiased tile setter recommends