Add this to my previous: If the glass will be pulled, then work out the scope of work and responsibility ahead of time. In writing. In a perfect world you'd have the glass company come out and remove the glass, then when the repairs are done, they come back out to reset the glass. That'll usually cost $$$. That money does not come out of your pocket. Your tiler can pay for them to do that. He may insist he can do it himself, with the caveat that he is accepting full responsibility for damage to any of the glass panels. And that's where the problems arise. Will he pony up $500 or $2500 for new glass if he shatters a panel? I'd let him have that responsibility only after he gives you a deposit of the $500 or $2500 that the replacement glass would cost. The glass breaks, you have cash on hand for new glass. If the repairs go fine with no damage, he gets the full amount back.

Mongoct & jerzeegirl - thanks for your replies! Mongoct - I was hoping you would write!!! I'm sorry, I should have clarified that no one has ever confirmed for me what exactly is backing the tile. I just assumed it was greenboard based on my limited observation skills and because I thought the use of greenboard only was code compliant. (In my old apartment, the tile contractor used greenboard in the tub surround and swore it complied with code.) Despite my grievances, I actually do not think the current contractors would go so far as to violate code. Operating under this assumption, I would not expect the contractors to do more than to repair the water penetration issue. You all have given me food for thought, though. I will ask the GC on Monday what is backing the tile. If they are violating code, I certainly will make them replace our shower! Other than that, I'm guessing from your post the repair was already completed? Did they dig out the mud along the entire length of the shower (along the glass door and along the fixed glass panel) and repair the membrane to completely isolate the shower mud and thinset from the bathroom floor mud and thinset? Mongo - the work is not done. The mudbed was still damp today so we are running a fan all weekend and hopefully, the tile workers will be able to do the waterproof job on Monday. They have digged out the mud under the saddle the full length of the shower. Their plan is to paint the waterproof mastic vertically on the mud that is on either side of the saddle. I am going to ask them to use the mastic on the perpendicular sides (i.e., the walls) as well, although they may already be planning to do this. I really hope this works...

If that was directed to me, I wasn't hateful. I want to help people. I spent a lot of time responding to him on his first thread. And it wasn't as if I was an outlier telling him what he had needed to be completely removed and hire a competent contractor. For whatever reason he didn't heed that advice. Now It's leaking again, and of course nobody can tell him where that's leaking. We only know that the job was poorly done. We know that because it's leaking. We know that because it was patched. We know that from looking at the tile work and the curb. We all know pretty clearly that you can't "repair" these things (unless it's the shower door, for example). I'm serious when I say that I don't understand why he is posting here now - it's not hateful... we can't help him. Anything that anyone would say is a guess. We have no idea what's going on under the tile (other than it's not right). The most helpful thing we CAN do is reiterate for anyone else in this position is that you don't want to do what was done. I was a little miffed that he didn't identify himself upfront as having posted before about this project - could have saved some of the "Caulk isn't waterproofing" stuff that he's already heard. On a broader scale, I'm not happy with the situation in general - and that's not the OP's fault... but he's not really hearing what's being said either. The bigger situation is something that Sophie and Creative Tile have talked around the edges about: A custom tiled shower is expensive and requires a lot of skill and workmanship to do properly. Period. Full Stop. No wiggle room. No, "It's not in my budget". Homeowners are watching HGTV and have come to believe that things like curbless showers, custom tile showers, steam showers, multi-head showers, garden tubs, etc. are "normal" and baseline, rather than a luxury that requires a premium cost to do properly. I think the influence of HGTV has driven the cost of housing up tremendously. A lot of what is being "sold" is really trendy crap that will be dated by the next season - but the mortgage will go on for 30 years. There's a TON of really bad showers out there. House flippers in particular have done shoddy work installing these kinds of amenities that doesn't show up until the drywall behind the tile disintegrates several months later. I am really sorry the OP bought one of these houses that had shoddy as hell construction in the bathroom -- but the whole HGTV / flipped house thing is a scam and young home buyers, in particular, need to wise up. They are spending a lot of money on homes with a lot of flash and really poor construction. They will be defaulting on those loans if they aren't careful. But more to the point, the OP in this case was able to see why the original construction was crap, had good people telling him it couldn't be done on a low budget, we went into detail on the proper way to do things... and then the OP reverted to the doing things the wrong way and it didn't go well. I can't help him.

What they are all trying to tell you, is that it is nearly impossible to replace a floor pan and tie it into the walls. Usually to replace a floor pan, all the tile is removed from walls, and all new waterproofing installed and then everything retiled. Yours probably was not done right in the first place and thats why it cracked. When it leaked, he put some type of repair on the old pan, and it just cracked again. In other words to get it right, and protect the rest of your house from water damage and mold, which could get very expensive, you need it all torn out, and completely redone. (not by him), Get someone new, and when you ask them how they do things, make sure all waterproofing is done correctly, and that tile is installed correctly. Ask to see work he has done, and talk to the owners of the house that work was done in. Get everything in writing as to how he does waterproofing. Take your time, and get the best person you can find.