Shower leaking out the grout

Question

First off, I am not very handy, and my husband is even less so.

We have lived in our house almost 2 years and it is 13 years old. During the inspection, I believe the grout in the corners was cracking, so the seller's contractor fixed it. With what, I am not sure, but it matches the grout in color, while being softer than grout.

In the past few months, I noticed some dampness outside the shower, but I thought it was just related to kids taking showers and not being careful. Nope, not the problem. I discovered that the carpet near the shower was wet (see picture), so I investigated further. It appeared that the water was leaking at the joint where the shower door connects to the wall. It seemed to follow the grout line, then follow the baseboard to the doorway carpet.

I also took a look at the other side and found enough dampness to wet a paper towel after taking a shower.

Well, me being the unhandy person that I am, thought maybe a little silicone in the corners might fix the problem. After letting the shower dry for a day or so, that's what I did. I waited over 24 hours to let it cure, and then I tried the shower out. Not as much water as before, but definitely still getting wet. The grout was dark, indicating that perhaps the water was seeping through the grout.

I took a look at the condition of the inside of the shower and discovered what looked like gray caulk peeling in the corner. My first thought was to put some silicone on the corners on the inside, but if the water is coming through the grout, then silicone will not fix the problem.

Does the shower need to be recaulked in that area? Will silicone help? Is there something else that needs to be done? I suppose I really just need to call someone who knows what they are doing and have them fix it, but I don't like not knowing what I need when I call someone because I don't want to be tricked into having more work than actually needs to be done.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

Truthfully it looks like the original tile was not done with decades of service in mind.

You have two options

1. You could simply remove the existing caulking and pull out any loose grout from the inside of the shower. I wouldn't worry about the caulking and grout on the outside of the shower. The water shouldn't be getting past the first layer of protection anyway. Clean it up well, dig at it, use a brush and a vacuum. Let any damp spots dry. Then re-caulk will some tub and tile caulking. Make sure you get a mildew resistant caulking.

2. This is the long term fix. It's expensive but if you are going to do it right, do it fully right. Remove everything. Replace it with a waterproofing system like Schluter or Wedi. Some of the tiles on the outside of the shower door are showing signs of water weeping behind them. You can stop it by following the method outlined above. But when you are ready use Wedi or Schluter. Either of those systems would have to be done by professionals or friends who are fairly handy.

Wedi shower kit masterwholesale.com

Schluter shower kit www.homedepot.com