Could you cut the bottom of the drywall and get it out of the shower pan? That seems to be what is wicking the water around.

If it were me, and no one else used that bathroom, I would literally use Gorilla tape to put heavy duty plastic sheeting over the whole thing. You'd lose the use of the shower niches but can buy a cheap tension pole with baskets for just that purpose in the meantime. The plastic would have to extend from the top of the shower wall down to the shower pan so that you've created an interior shower curtain.

Is it ugly? You bet! But if I knew I'd be able to fix the bathroom the way I wanted within 2 years I would just do this for now. Like you, I hate doing things twice (spending money twice) because it just means it takes longer for me to get the money together to do it the way I want it done.

Gorilla tape would run you $5 - $8, and the plastic will be another $10 or so (I'm guessing at the plastic cost, but $10 sounds about right and worst case you just buy a vinyl shower liner & use it). You'll have to replace it a couple times, it will probably mildew. But what an incentive to really save money quicker for the remodel, no? (trying desperately to find a bright side to this for you).

Call me crazy but I would try that black waterproofing spray that's being advertised on TV! You know... the commercial where the guy uses a screen door on the bottom of a boat, and it actually seems to work?

It couldn't hurt to try it!

There is also a black foam type of spay used to seal outdoor ponds. That stuff is more like the spray gap foam but black.

I have lived with the plastic sheeting setup pam is describing, and it's not as bad as you'd think. In our case it worked great when we were re-tiling a tub surround, in our first house, which had only one bath.

Interesting ideas I hadn't thought of, thanks for the suggestions.

Palimpsest, unfortunately the other wall of the shower is on an outside wall of the house and there's no way to access that drywall from the back.

just_julie, I haven't seen that ad, will have a look for it.

found a link.

Here is a link that might be useful: flex seal

The back of the drywall doesn't look bad in terms of water damage, which leads me to think that it's a shower-side leak. A leak between the door frame and the shower wall.

If it's caused by flex in the wall, then shim the backside of the wall. Shim between the drywall and the stud behind the door frame to prevent drywall movement over that stud. I see what looks like a single shim up high, then a couple of pieces of 2x4, was that the goal with those pieces?

I'd remove them all and sister a 4' long stick of 2x4 to the corner stud. Apply a generous bead of PL adhesive to the edge of the stud so it'll bed nicely to the back of the drywall. Then schmoosh it against the drywall and screw that 4' stick of 2x4 to the corner stud. Screwing is gentler than hammering.

On the inside of the shower, does water pool on the curb, up against the frame or against the shower wall? If so, pooling water can re-emulsify latex-based caulks...they soften up and become squishy.

If there is no pooling, then recaulking may help.

The thing is, caulk really shouldn't be considered as a final waterproofing solution. Pitch-to-drain (no water pooling) and proper overlapping flashing are primary. Caulk just makes it all look pretty.

But with you looking for temporary, have at it.

To recaulk, you need to remove all traces of the previous caulk for best adhesion. Traces of old caulk can interfere with the new caulk sticking. Also, if water pooling is an issue, move away from latex or silicon-latex caulks because of the re-emulsification issue, and look at a 100% silicon caulk.

Other than that, for a temporary fix, I'd still support the back of the drywall with that sistered 2x4. That'll eliminate movement. Then if you want, go with any of the topical products or methods the others have mentioned if you want to go that route.

I wouldn't add any caulk or sealant to the outside of the door frame. If water gets past whatever sealant you use on the inside, it's better for you if it flows freely out and on to your bathroom floor than for it to be encapsulated and held against your drywall or trim or inside a framing bay.

Whatever fix you chose, make sure it's water-tight prior to moving on to your downstairs renovation.

Best of luck!

Thanks, mongo, that's really helpful -- makes me think we might just be able to do this without having to rip it all out. No, we didn't do any shimming or blocking, everything you see is the bizarro construction done by the PO. I have no idea why they did some of the things they did. That thing that looks like a shim is a random scrap of wood, screwed into from the other side, not connected to anything else. Who knows!

OK, I'm back with more exciting pictures!

First, so it doesn't get lost below -- marcolo -- I read installation instructions for a different one of these shower kits to get an idea of how they are installed, and they said do NOT use 100% silicone caulk. I don't know why. Also, it said NOT to caulk the interior where the frame base meets the pan, only the exterior seam. Why is that? Before I ripped this out, it was caulked (and coming loose) on both sides.

Anyway, I decided to partially disassemble the shower frame to get a better idea of what is going on and how to fix it. Here's where I am now:

First, as you can see, the wall panel was not plumb when it was adhered to the wall. That would be, of course, because they didn't level the pan when they put it in, so when they lined the wall panel up with the pan, it ended up crooked. Duh. Pretty sure whoever installed this never heard of a level.

A closeup view shows it even better. The jamb (metal frame part that was screwed to the wall) only barely overlapped the wall panel by the time it reached the bottom. The screws at the top of the frame went through the wall panel, while the screws at the bottom did not. The pan is badly out of level in all directions (the other wall is even more out of plumb, sigh).

Now we can see the state of the drywall underneath the panel...

...and it is really not good. Crumbling drywall and scary black stuff (mold?) extends several inches up behind the wall panel.

Here's a little drawing I did showing how the studs/drywall/shower wall come together -- or don't, as the case may be. The studs are badly out of plumb too. Easy to see how the slightest gap in the caulk inside the shower meant water getting under the edge of the shower wall panel and wicking up into the green board.

Sooo....now I'm not sure where to go next with this. One thought is to cut away (from behind) the edge of the drywall that is sitting down inside the pan, and then insert some kind of extra flashing behind the wall panel so that any water that got behind it would not get any further. Another would be to cut away all of the damaged drywall (several inches) and patch it, adding flashing as in the first option -- again, this would be from behind. No, I don't exactly know how I would do that, but maybe there's a way to McGyver it. ;)

I could try to remove the wall panel (it seems to come away from the green board pretty easily), replace the studs (they are not plumb either) and all the green board, and re-adhere the wall panel. The studs are only there to support the shower wall. This could help solve the fact that the wall flexes where it doesn't meet the studs. The risk of course is that I could break the wall panel, and then I'd really be in trouble. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get just the one panel out without having to take the corner and the other panel as well. Removing only the one panel wouldn't address the other wall of the shower which doesn't seem to have leak problems (probably due to the slope of the pan and the fact that the shower head is on that wall) but I would not be surprised to find water damage to that side as well.

And of course there's always the chance this is just a complete waste of time and I will have to bite the bullet and replace this shower kit with another. I don't think there's any way to get the pan leveled, and the fact that it's not level really throws the rest of the installation off. I'm not clear on whether removing and leveling the pan would mean having to do something with the drain height, which might be outside of my DIY abilities (though I do have a great plumber I could call). I'm just not too confident this shower can be made watertight enough to not leak into the room beneath. I haven't even shown the issues we have with the seal thingy at the bottom of the door, where water can easily leak out onto the bathroom floor, and I know that if a good bit of water ends up on the floor, that alone can mean a leak downstairs -- water that goes under the baseboard pretty much goes right on through the subfloor.

Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. As is my usual habit, I decided to dig into this problem while my husband is out of town, and I'm going to be nobody's favorite person in my house if I don't restore this bathroom to working order pretty soon! (The other shower is in the basement, and none of us really likes using it -- plus it's the same shower kit and I'm betting it isn't installed any more accurately than this one was!)

Oops, of course I meant mongoct, not marcolo

OK people -- I have no patience, as evidenced by the fact that I couldn't wait even 24 hours to get advice from the forum before I decided that the next step had to be removing all the shower walls.

So here it is, in all its moldy, ugly glory:

The corner is particularly hideous:

And the other wall did not escape damage:

I noticed that the base wiggles. I'm guessing it's not held down by much. Debating whether to try to remove it...that's getting a bit over my head, maybe.

Now, unless someone here tells me (soon, I'm impatient, remember?) to back away from the drywall saw and call in a pro, I'm planning to cut out the damaged drywall, probably the bottom 8-10" should do it. Then I will cut and install new sections of drywall there. Is green board the best thing for this? Might be time to google for more info. I'm assuming I do not need to tape and mud since it will be entirely covered by the shower wall panels, but I could if it would be better. I think I need the drywall to be flush with the top of the pan -- thoughts on that?

What about the faucet area? Does this look like it needs anything done with it? I don't see mold, just some rusty discoloration. I noticed there was moisture behind the escutcheon, although it was caulked all the way around. How do I keep moisture out of here? (I suppose it could be a leak from the handle rather than shower water getting in -- jeez, I hope not.)

Would love to hear any thoughts on my plans or suggestions for other ways to approach this. The goal is just to have a non-leaking shower for the short term (a year at least) before we gut and remodel, so if removing and reinstalling the pan is critical, let me know and I will swear a little and then get to work on it.

OK, duh moment. The back of the drywall says "green" on it so I assumed it was green board. But now that I've pulled the shower wall panels down, it's pretty clearly not green, therefore (I gather) not green board. Just your every day sheetrock.

Now my mad Google skillz inform me that green board isn't to be used in showers anyway. Oy.

Have never worked with cement board. The plot thickens.

Cement board isn't that bad to work with, just heavy & dusty. You've gone pretty far in tearing out the old shower walls at this point ... had you planned to remodel this bath in the future? Might be that your future is now :)

Well, your ambition is impressive and I totally understand your impatience. Hope the pros weigh in quickly for you. I would be worried about what's under the pan. It would be a shame to try to cobble a fix together and still have problems. I do remember reading here that you should only caulk the top part of the escutcheon so that moisture can escape out the bottom. Sorry, I'm no more help than that.

Pam, if only now were the time...I'd love to get this remodeled sooner than later, but we are not ready to go for it. At least as it is, there is still a working toilet & sink in this room. I'm leaning toward Hardibacker for the areas I replace, as it seems to be easier to work with than cement board.

Thanks, olychick -- impressive or really dumb, I don't know which! Thanks for that tidbit on caulking the escutcheon.

Impatience wins again, of course -- here's the latest. I'm thinking I might have to post a separate thread with a plea to help me through this part as I don't know how many people will wade through my thinking-out-loud tomes above.

I cut away the drywall about a foot above the pan. Surprised I did not find the supply pipes, I suspect I may need to look at pics of my kitchen when it was gutted to figure out where they come in.

The pan is crooked with respect to the walls. On the right side, the pan is well behind the drywall:

While on the left side it is about flush:

I decided to do a test of the pan itself to be doubly sure it isn't leaking. Seems to be fine, but I could really tell where the low point of the pan is and it ain't the drain.

I'm getting more comfortable with the idea of pulling the pan up. Since nothing was put under it to support it, it flexes and creaks when we are in the shower. This is compounded I am sure by the fact that the subfloor boards under it have been cut.

Anyone want to tell me how to remove whatever needs removing here to pull the pan up from the drainpipe? I watched some YouTube videos, and I think I get the gist, but I wouldn't mind some guidance anyway. It might be easier than I'm thinking, or it might be much harder -- the odds that it was installed correctly are pretty low. Here's a shot of the drain (I pulled the very icky glob of hair and muck out before snapping the pic. You're welcome.)

I'm reposting my sorry saga on the John Bridge forum. Yep, impatient, that's me! Feel free to read along over there if you want to or chime in here, I'll be checking both places. Thanks!

Looks to me like there are 4 notches at 12,3,6 and 9 positions. Using a hammer and punch at an angle inside one of the notches, gently tap counterclockwise. If no luck, you might go to a hardware and see if they sell a tool for this.

Goole "shower receptor drain repair" of something like that. Googling your questions might get you your answers more quickly.

You might just go buy a cheap shower pan and surround, $300 or so and start fresh; keep you showering for a year or so till you remodel this bath like you really want it.

That drain looks clogged, too.

Thanks, Bill. I've been so busy working on this I haven't had a chance to follow up here.

We opted to leave the pan for now. Trying to lift, level, and square it just had too many potential issues, including the fact that leveling it might bring the bottom of the pan up above the level of the floor tile. (Have I mentioned that the floor tile is installed directly to the subfloor?)

I don't think the drain is clogged -- it drains like a champ.

Anyway, I'm at the point where the side wall panels are back up. Just have to clean up the rest of the parts and reinstall. House guests arriving possibly as early as Monday, so I'm motivated!