Yup. Tear it all out. Likely an improper preslope, no waterproofing, and possibly an improper drain connection as well. No patch attempts. Gut it all. 5-10K later, with someone qualified to do all of the above, and the problem will be fixed. With water damage, bet closer to 10K.

Just because that's where you see the water coming out from underneath, does NOT mean that's where it's originating from. Simply put, that's the easiest opening in the subfloor for the water to escape. Usually, when you start getting what LOOKS like leaking 5 years afterward, it's due to a combination of 3 things. First there's no preslope under the membrane under the mud pan. This allows a small amount of water to sit in the pan, being the bottom piece of the drain sits about 3/8" above the subfloor. Secondly the weepholes at the base of the drain have most likely clogged, trapping enough water in the pan, that it reaches the bottoms of the cement board backings behind the wall tile. Once that happens, water will whick up the cement board, like a giant straw, until it reaches the top of the pan membrane and then it will spill over, appearing like your shower just sprung a giant leak. Once that happens, the MINIMUM that should be done is to tear out the base of the shower, and about 2 feet up each of the walls, and reinstall it. But I'll tell you right now-- at this point, if you were to ask me to do it, only way I'd do it is to replace the entire shower, and use a topical waterproofing system that will go up atleast 6 feet high, instead of the 12" or so that you get with a conventional shower pan system. Also, with a topical system, the only thing that gets wet is the tile and grout. The waterproofing covers both the cement board AND the mud pan.

Thank you all for your replies. It looks like I will have to find someone to rebuild the pan and first row of tiles. How do I make sure that I don’t end up with a leaking shower again in 5 years? The people bidding for the project all say they are experienced, but that’s what the original contractor said as well. I heard that Schluter Kerdi will give a 10 year warranty if their product is installed correctly. Is this true in reality? Is it worth paying more to have their products used in the rebuild? Also, what should I expect my insurance to cover from the repair? Thank you.

3 things.
1) Make sure they put a mud preslope UNDER the pan liner.

2) When they re-install the cement board on the walls, make sure they don't let it rest on the liner-- it should be about an inch short of the bottom of the liner

3) Make sure they put some gravel around the base of the drain. That'll help keep the weepholes from blocking up again.

As for the Kerdi, it's 5 years, and you'd have to redo your entire shower, not just the base. Laticrete will take it a step further. Although you'd still have to take the entire shower down and start again just as with the Kerdi, they'll back their Hydroban shower with a 25 year warranty.

The whole thing needs to be redone, not a halfway halfass.

Is it better to install a prefabricated shower pan from fiberglass instead of building a new pan and tiling? I don't want it to leak again in 5 years, and the installer may or may not do correctly the shower pan, so using a prefabricated pan seems safer. Is it really?

Hiring an Actual Competent Licensed and Insured Contractor whomunderstands water proofing is the only way to not end up in the same place in another 5 years. Bubba's can screw up everything they touch, including a cheap fiberglass pan.

No matter what you use, whether it be a prefab receptor or built and tiled in place-- if it's not done correctly, you're going to have problems. Where abouts are you? I might know someone in the area.

Coral Spring, FL

The guy who taught me custom installation lives in Homestead. Not sure if this would be too far for him or not. But I'll contact him and see if he'd be interested.

I am posting an update to my shower leak repair, in case anyone is interested. The person I hired is in the process of repairing the leak – see attached pictures. He said that the leak was caused by water backing up the drain and sipping under the liner. The drain seems to have calcium buildup. The liner was not sealed to the drain well he said. So he removed the tiles, mud and old drain, and installed a new drain and glued a patch of liner over the old one. There was no slop under the liner, but he said that this should ok (the original contractor should have slopped it). If anyone had done a similar repair, it would be interesting to comment on the reliability of it. Also, what would be the best way to remove the calcium deposits – I was told CLR. Thank you for your help.

Not the time for bad band aids. Gut that mess now.