Shower Walls not Square

10 years ago

We are in the process of building a home with a building company in the area. When tiling the master bath, we noticed that the ceiling is not level ( making the top tiles on the shower walls uneven). Their correction for this is to shim it out, and add another piece of drywall. Instead of removing the top tiles, they left them in place. I'm worried that this may not be water tight and could cause some concerns in the future.

Also, the walls are not square and bow out approximately 2" at the bottom of the shower. Our builders is blaming the bow on the shower liner and told us that "houses are not manufactured in a warehouse but instead wrapped like a present" They also told us it was the tile and grout we selected, and took no ownership for the mistake. I can understand slight variations but this is extremely visual when walking into the shower. Also the enterance to the shower is unlevel by 1/2 inch on the top and bottom. We have paid A LOT $$$$$$$ on this house and we are extremely disappointed in this work.

Any suggestions on how to address this with them as the are unwilling to make the necessary changes. I can't believe a custom home builder would put their name on this type of work.

Featured Answer

MongoCT

10 years ago

Your builder isn't a builder. With excuses like that he falls under the definition of "ass clown".

Sorry if I've offended anyone. I'm just tired of lame excuses.

If your builder is a builder, I'm guessing they are in charge of the whole structure, from foundation through roof? Crooked tiles due to crooked tile backer board. Which is due to crooked framing. Which is due to...your builder. It all comes back to him.

You find a mistake? You fix it. And you build plumb and level from there on out.

If that's standard drywall on the shower ceiling, I'd rather see moisture resistant board up there.

Furring down the ceiling will be fine. Just use the proper number of furring strips so the new drywall doesn't sag over time.

If it was me, I'd cut the existing drywall out, sister new lumber on the ceiling joists to get the ceiling elevation you want, reset the can lights and whatever else needs to be reset, then finish it from there.

Good luck.

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Comments (11)

User
10 years ago
I certainly hope you haven't paid them in full. Withhold final payment until they make it right - that is terrible work. If you didn't withhold payment, you may have to get the courts involved. You could always threaten them with the court of public opinion if they insist that this shoddy work is the best you can expect.
millworkman
10 years ago
My real concern would be what you don't see if they consider that and their "fix" acceptable.........
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User
10 years ago
The shower walls need to be torn out as well to fix that bow - you need square, flat, true walls.
PRO
Creative Tile Eastern CT
10 years ago
Standard drywall on a shower ceiling with a header. It can't get much worse. But wait. Install another layer of standard drywall shimmed to create a void in between for moisture to collect. Brilliant. Never say you've seen it all. Have you inquired what waterproofing was used on the walls? I strongly suggest you have a local professional tile installer evaluate your shower before any payment is made. So called builder should eat this one. Sorry
monicakm_gw
10 years ago
That's really unfortunate :( Hope you're able to find a solution.
bjb817
10 years ago
It sounds like your builder could use a new framing crew.

My guess is that the wall issue is due to the way the tile guy folded the corner of the pvc pan liner behind the cement board. They should've notched into the stud to avoid this problem.

The curb, no excuse there. It's up to the tile guy to make that level across with 1/8" or so of pitch back toward the shower.

It's a real shame since the overall tile work doesn't look too bad in the pics.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
I'd mud that ceiling down to parallel with the tile and feather it in. If you can live with the curved walls, I'd expect a huge discount. Having the job inspected independently is excellent advice and well worth the money.
User
10 years ago
If he finds this acceptable, then your issues here are the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of non visible things in a home build that you have to trust that he knows how to do. That trust is broken here.

I would be asking about his waterproofing methodology. And not just for the shower. I'd be concerned about the house wrap, window and door flashing, and entire drainage plane. Enough so that if he could not provide me with proof that those things were done correctly, I would walk from this transaction entirely.
geoffrey_b
10 years ago
Even a novice tile setter knows no to leave a 'thin' row of tiles. What you do in cases like this is to split the difference with two rows of tile.

Seeing the tile setter didn't know this is a big red flag - which makes me wonder what else was done wrong with the shower construction.
Adam
10 years ago
Weird, our house was built in a warehouse (really a factory) as it's modular.

Sorry but your builder is terrible :(