HELP, any tilers out there?

[augustus]

I haven't found a dedicated tile forum yet and thought I'd try here first. I am finishing up a complete remodel of our masterbath. It's finished enough that we've been using the shower everyday (two people) for about 2.5 weeks. After maybe a week we started noticing that the bottom row of tiles (these are lowes subway tiles 3x6) are darker than all the rest, and the grout around that row is darker as well. It now stays that way from shower to shower, never drying out. I know from installation that this is what happens when these tiles get waterlogged.
Tiles are on hardiboard. Installation is studs, vapor barrier, hardiboard, thinset, tiles/grout. There is physical separation between the hardiboard and the shower pan, but I put the vapor barrier over the lip of the shower pan.

I don't know what to do, here are some clues I can think of:
1) Bottom row consists of cut tiles (bottom long side)
2) Bottom row was installed at a different time than the rest
3) I have sealed the grout with that spray sealer (lowes) maybe I missed the bottom?
4) Bottom row spans the wall and lip of shower pan (big deal)

So, it's definitely water, but why just the bottom row? If it's running down the wall, it'd be the bottom X rows fading up toward the top, right? So, is this some capillary action stuff? If so, how do I fix it? Would that mean there is pooling on the top ledge of the shower pan? Shower pan is level by the way.

Thanks for reading, and I would really appreciate any help. It's taken a very long time to get this far, it is killing me that this is happening. I've done other bathrooms, and never had this problem. We are halting use of the shower until I figure this out.

 

[ScaldedDog]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

Post your question on johnbridge.com.

Mark

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[jhelrey]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

When you tiled the shower, did you leave the tile up off of the tub by 1/8 to 1/4 inch? If not, it could be doing exactly what you say.

Plus, if your tub is like mine, the rim doesn't drain properly so water sits longer. As long as you are not seeing water leaks anywhere else, leave it.

Did you put Redgard or anything on the Hardi before tile?

 

[workhurts]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

I second John Bridge. Terry Love for plumbing.

Keep in mind that if you follow the recommendations from John Bridge you will likely build something that will outlast you, your house and the city you live in.

Out here our builders (other than the main shower) do not do anything but slap durock/hardi up. No vapor barrier or anything. On the main shower they schluter everything 5-6' up.

I've always wondered about vapor barriers over the lip and then caulking that space. Where's the moisture supposed to go? I guess it just keep it from attacking your studs and it eventually dries out through your tile and grout.

 

[workhurts]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

I supposed you could remove the caulking and see if it dries out ...

 

[augustus]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

Thank you all for your replies, I'll check out johnbridge, that sounds familiar, I'm guessing I've been to the site before.

jhelrey - I did leave about 1/8" between the top of the shower pan and the bottom of the tile (this is the gap that I caulked), however, there is a chance that some of the tiles are contacting the shower pan lip behind them, well, actually it'd be the vapor barrier then the shower lip.

workhurts - I've always wonder that too, but this is how I've done it every time (not that that makes it right) so I'm guessing I read that's how to do it from some/several sources.

I've got a heater in there and I'm seeing if that will expedite drying it out some, if I don't see much progress I'm going to remove the caulking as I think it is failing. I wonder if the grout sealer coated the shower pan and I caulked on that, and now it's not really adhered to the shower pan? That's my leading theory. Ugh this makes me want to puke.

Also, I was wrong about it only being the bottom row, while it's by far the most saturated, upon very close inspection, in daylight, I can now see that other tiles (randomly) all over the walls are darker/lighter, and I know from the non shower walls in the bathroom that the color doesn't vary that much.

Leading theory: Caulk failure, and poor sealing.

 

[big.jim]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

is your caulk a silicone based sealer or a water base sealer , remove it, let it dry ,reseal tiles and then recaulk with a silicone based sealer

 

[augustus]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

big.jim, I used a water-based acrylic caulk "with silicone" because I hate pure silicone caulk, it's such a pain. However, I'm thinking I used the wrong type of caulk and you might be right about going with the silicone. I'm going to start removing the caulk soon, at least the water based is easy to remove!

 

[Boomer343]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

Well the caulk you used didn't do you any favors but I am curious about the tiles changing appearance. Are you sure the tiles are OK to use in a shower?

The only way I'll do a shower these days is with full porcelain tiles and epoxy grout.

I think you'll be pulling down your work and starting over with different tile.

 

[That Man's Mustache]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

+1 on johnbridge.com. I demo-ed our shower and re-did it in marble. This guy has a good site as well. http://floorelf.com Both sites are good with responding to questions.

 

[augustus]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

Boomer343, I didn't know there are tiles that can't be used in the shower, I presumed these can be, is there a way to know? You made my stomach turn talking about pulling out the tiles! These are on all walls of the bathroom, not just the shower.

 

[mred03875]

Re: HELP, and tilers out there?

There are tiles that are not sealed I had never seen them but a friend bought some without knowing and the grout color went into the tile. I have no idea if this is your problem or not I doubt that subway tiles are not sealed