Big problem in new shower.......

Try to make a long story short as I'm looking for information. Contractor installed a tile shower, walked off job before sealing and grouting. New contractor comes in and asked was it water tested? Well I say no I dont believe so. He says I need to test it before I can tell you what it will cost to finish it as I wont put my name on someone elses work if its bad. OK understandable right? He plugs/corks drain does standard water test....water leaks into my garage ceiling. Now old contrator says its leaking because the drain wasnt glue or sealed? Now I'm no expert but wouldnt you do the pipe work before you laid the floor on top? He says that because the grout wasnt sealed that is why water leaked down a story. Old contractor says I now am the one that breached contract because I had someone else do the water test. Is any of this true or is the old contractor just trying to turn the tables on me? Bottom line, I'm out a few thousand $$ and have been out of my shower for weeks! Any help would be appreciated!
Hap

Shower should hold water before any tile work is done. Perhaps there is an unfinished drain connection below the shower; is it accessable through the ceiling below?

Hi Dee,
What more info are looking for? You are not going to get any different answers to your shower question here than you did at www.johnbridge.com.
That thread is 5 pages long.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=111367

This is a great site for plumbing questions,not so great for tile and stone questions. Your shower was built incorrectly and needs to be redone. The leak test is a mute point.

In many places, a leak test of the shower pan BEFORE the setting bed or tile are installed is required. As said, sealing has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether a shower will leak or not. If the only place it is leaking is at the drain to drain pipe, you can probably fix that from below without tearing out the shower...if there are other problems, those can't be done from below and a tearout is called for.

Was a building permit pulled? Were there any inspections?

The test showed you that there was a leak. Whether the shower has to be "redone" or not depends on WHAT is leaking and WHERE it is. IF the original contractor completed the shower without doing a leak test, HOW is that a breach of contract when you did it? When was he planning to do it under his contract, since his contract should have stated, or implied, that it would be done BEFORE the tile work was even started.

I can empathize. I think your initial contractor is at fault. At the same time, you will be well advised to take care of the leak, even if you end up losing some money now. I have been dealing with a somewhat similar problem for quite some time (1-2 decades). A lot of money and heartache wasted.

My impression is that you have some idea of what is causing the leak (possibly the tiling or related stuff). Maybe better to deal with it now, you may avoid a lot of expense and trouble later. My only other thought is make sure you really know what is causing the problem before redoing things. In my case, walls/tiling were redone (didn't solve problem), pipes were redone (didn't solve problem), and now I am told it has to be taken out and the tub replaced. If someone could have really put their mind to it at the beginning, I have been a lot better off.

Good luck, Ruth

Justadrip said:

Hi Dee,
What more info are looking for? You are not going to get any different answers to your shower question here than you did at www.johnbridge.com.
That thread is 5 pages long.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=111367

This is a great site for plumbing questions,not so great for tile and stone questions. Your shower was built incorrectly and needs to be redone. The leak test is a mute point.

Click to expand...

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Wow! Sharp comment. Just looking for plumbers take on the drain. I did get great info from bridge site and all of them were very helpful without being condescending at all.

Drain problems, assuming it is secured in the shower floor properly, are, or should be, easy to take care of. BUT, they would not leak during a shower pan test. even IF a "joint was not glued or sealed". That tests the integrity of the pan liner, which, around here, is a tile company installation, including securing it to the drain that the plumber previously installed. I NEVER install a pan, nor do I do the water/leak test. Part of the reason, besides being a "pain" is that after you finish doing it, someone will puncture it and it does not get repaired. THEN sometime down the road it starts to leak and they complain that it "was not installed properly", meaning someone, namely the installer, has to spend a lot of time and money proving he was not at fault.

A plumbers take on the drain in this situation is that its not the plumbers problem. Onus falls on the tile setter.

Hi Dee.

Not sure any of us know precisely where the leak(s) are coming from. Can you post photos showing water dripping from the drain, a pipe, or joint, or something?

As said, precisely where the leak is coming from will determine who is responsible and allow for us to explain possible remedies. Without this info, we're all just guessing...