I would think that one tile up would be sufficient. 6" or so should be adequate to waterproof. A good tile man should be able to blend the pebbles,,,,,grout matching might be another story.

Agree. Same comment as Avanti regarding the blending.

Do you where the leak is coming from? Drain? Hole in the membrane? Curb?

It'd help if you knew the basic layers in the wall too. Are the walls cement board with ply sheeting behind them? Some other type of tile backer board?

How about the floor? CPR-type of membrane over a sloped mud bed, wit more mud on top of the membrane, then tile? Or is there a topical membrane throughout the shower?

Too bad the floor has to be taken up. Yours is one of the better efforts I've seen in a pebble shower floor.

I feel your pain. We just had the same work done for the exact same reason. They took out the shower floor entirely, the curb, and one layer of wall tile. The glass door came off for storage as well. In our case, some kind of painted on waterproofing the first tile guy did had failed. The repair guy used a different system involving a membrane and poured concrete (I think).

The only problem with the whole job was that, because it had been over a year since the shower was originally built, the wall tile was no longer available in the same die lot. It's the same tile, just slightly off color with the rest of the wall tile. Here's my thread about it:http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3358947/watch-the-die-lots?n=11

In your case, I doubt they'll have to take off the shower bench. As far as the pebbled stripe on the wall, just express your concern that the replaced parts blend seamlessly with the rest of it. If it doesn't, have them do it again.

Did they seal up the weep holes between the two rings on the drain? Not all drains are the same, but if yours has weep holes between the ring and the membrane like in the photo below, make sure they didn't seal them up with pookey. Example:

I don't use RedGard, which is what that looks like.

This is their work, and that's the only way I can see anyone ever reusing a membrane that's had a demo occur on it, because it's still on their warranty.

Personally, if I demo'd on top of a membrane? I'd replace the membrane.

Is the membrane itself sloped to the drain? Should be about 1/4" pitch per foot of run from the walls to the drain. You do not want the membrane sitting flat on the floor.

The small patch, yes they can patch PVC. Hopefully they used the proper methods and didn't use RedGard as the sealant. Oatey makes a PVC sheet liner sealant, called "X-15" specifically for their membrane.

Yes, it appears the holes are plugged and the floor is level. No slope at all. It was very slightly sloped before, but I think they just created the slope with the whatever goes on under the tile.

Also after closer inspection, looks like the membrane was laid right over the subfloor. I guess that's not the right way to do it?

I checked the slope all the way around and there are places where it actually slopes away from the drain. Also, not sure if this is normal, but there is an area that is raised and soft from the drain to about 4 inches out. Feels like play doh underneath the membrane.

Certainly sounds to me like they are in no way ready to tile but start over. Now its up to you if you want them to be the ones to attempt this again............

It's a code requirement that the membrane or "lining material" itself be sloped to the drain.

P2709.3 Installation.

Lining materials shall be sloped one-fourth unit vertical in 12 units horizontal
(2-percent slope) to weep holes in the subdrain by means of a smooth, solidly formed
subbase, shall be properly recessed and fastened to approved backing so as
not to occupy the space required for the wall covering, and shall not be nailed
or perforated at any point less than 1 inch (25.4 mm) above the finished threshold.

Normally a preslope of deck mud is put down on the subfloor, creating the base slope from wall to drain.

The membrane is placed on the sloped mud.

Then another layer of mud is placed on top of the membrane. That becomes the base that the tile is adhered to.

"Also, not sure if this is normal, but there is an area that is raised
and soft from the drain to about 4 inches out. Feels like play doh
underneath the membrane."

Sounds like the leak around the drain compromised the integrity of the subfloor.

Not a good sign.

Ok, thank you for all your help. We told them we aren't going any further without an inspection.

If you want to be ready...call your town building office. Ask what version of the IRC code they are using. The code is updated every three years, so it might be 2012, 2009, or the 2006 version, etc. To a certain extent it doesn't matter, because the applicable section of code hasn't changed in quite a few years. But you want to avoid showing someone a 2012 code reference when your town still uses 2006. Even if the verbiage is the same. Your goal is to eliminate wiggle room.

Go to this website.

Click on the appropriate version of the code.

Click on Chapter 27 - Plumbing Fixtures

Click on Section 2709 - Shower Receptors

Scroll down to read the text. Sections that could be of concern to you are:

P2709.2.1 PVC sheets.

Plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet shall meet the requirements of ASTM
D 4551. Sheets shall be joined by solvent welding in accordance with the manufacturer’s
instructions.

That patch in your membrane? You want to make sure is was solvent welded per the manufacturer's instructions with a proper PVC sheet cement, and not stuck together with the red stuff which might be RedGard waterproofing membrane.

P2709.3 Installation.

Lining materials shall be sloped one-fourth unit vertical in 12 units horizontal
(2-percent slope) to weep holes in the subdrain by means of a smooth, solidly formed
subbase, shall be properly recessed and fastened to approved backing so as
not to occupy the space required for the wall covering, and shall not be nailed
or perforated at any point less than 1 inch (25.4 mm) above the finished threshold.

2709.3 specifies that the membrane or the lining material itself needs to be pitched to the drain at the rate of 1/4" per foot of run. Yours is not pitched, it's flat on the subfloor.

It specifies that the base under the membrane needs to be smooth and solid so moisture that gets below the tile can flow to the drain's weep holes. You wrote that the base around your drain appears to be swollen/raised up, soft, and spongy.

If that's the case, your membrane needs to come up and the base needs to be redone. Do NOT reuse the old membrane.

And the last reference:

P2709.4 Receptor drains.

An approved flanged drain shall be installed with shower subpans or linings.
The flange shall be placed flush with the subbase and be equipped with a clamping
ring or other device to make a water-tight connection between the lining and the
drain. The flange shall have weep holes into the drain.

Your weep holes are clogged with RedGard pookey. No good. The weep holes need to be open so moisture in the mud bed can flow through them and escape into the drain. A flat liner with no weep holes? Your mud bed will saturate with water and with it unable to drain, it can get nasty.

My opinion?

Neither your inspector nor the crew that built the shower can waffle if you can cite and show them the applicable code.

Code is simply considered the minimum standard for residential construction. Not that the following will occur, but If you went to small claims court, the code will be your best evidence that the crew failed to construct the shower using the minimum standards for construction.

Take photos, save emails, document the conversations by writing notes after you converse.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

I would love to be able to hire someone else. But it is not in our budget to pay someone else to fix a brand new shower that we already paid for. Unless we escalate this to small claims court, I think we are stuck with letting them fix their mess.

We'll see what happens tomorrow morning when my husband talks to the owner of the tile company.

The installers came back this morning with their boss. He said "in 8 years, we've never done a shower like that". Right. Then he suggested that they just build a sloped mud bed over the existing liner, then place a new liner on top of that. We explained that will not work because unless the new liner goes up behind the wall tiles, it won't accomplish anything. So they very reluctantly agreed to take out the liner and start over.

I am am terrified of what the end result of this will be. What can we do to make sure this is done correctly? I almost wish they had said no to taking out the liner because then we would be justified in getting our money back for the job so we could hire someone else.

After they take out the wall tiles, what do they need to do? Does the pre slope go directly on top of the subfloor?

I really appreciate all all the help and advice. I can't imagine trying to do this without your help.

So now they want to leave the old liner, remove the wall tiles, build the preslope over the old liner, put a new liner over the preslope and up to the top of the old liner. Is that acceptable?

BE ON SITE when the work is done. Take LOTS of pictures during the way. Pictures of the work in progress, the tools, the supplies; buckets, bags, and boxes close enough to read the labels. If anything looks wrong, ask questions and research on the NTCA website. Start a thread on the John Bridge Tile forum and post pics as they work to have the resident Pro's there keep an eye on the progress.

No, they cannot do this as the pre slope is BELOW the liner. Which means to fix the preslope they are starting over, which means a new liner. Have the instructions for each product printed for them to review in case there are problems.

Ok, so they did take out the liner and the first row of tile. They are taking a break until tomorrow when the shower door people can come take the door down.

Just as we thought, the subfloor around the drain is very wet. The floor is still firm to the touch. I think the squishy stuff I could feel under the liner before was whatever that white stuff around the drain is. Is this going to be ok? Do we need to let it dry out before they do any more work? Should I put beach on it or something to kill the mold?

Got a closer picture? Is it latex caulking (water soluble) or silicone?

Not sure. It seems to be disappearing as it dries. It has a pretty strong smell. Doesn't really look like silicone to me.