Why is the drain all the way to the right? Was this a tub before and they just kept the drain in the same position? Put a level to it ... does it all slope towards the drain?

The dark grout lines which the fan dried were on the wall--- I'm pretty sure I felt to see if the wall was wet or condensation---it was dry. The water seemed to be feeding from where the floor meets the wall. The GC also said there is definitely no leaks. I also dried the floor with a towel and used a fan for 5 hours and put new paper up and the pictures shows what happened over the course of 24 hours HELP, what do you think this is????? Thank you.

Hi Chispa, This was originally a corner shower and yes the floor does slope at 1/4" per foot.

Thanks Suzi, The thing is there are no pipes along that wall. The pipes are to the right of the drain. He took off the shower panel and didn't see any leaks.

I just walked over to our new shower and told our tile guy about your problem. He says they probably didn't slant to the drain enough and water is just piling up. One option, but he's not there to see yours. He promised that won't happen here.

That can't be the case here because I actually dried the whole area with a towel and a fan---I put new pieces of paper down and the water reappears. Plus I measured --there is a slope of a 1/4" per 1 foot. Thanks

I should also mention, towards the end of the 3rd day the water seemed to dry up in some places on the white pieces of paper.

What type of waterproofing is behind the wall tile? What type of pan or pan system did he use? Any pictures of the shower during construction (before tile), maybe?

Is it possible they just did a crappy grouting job or used the wrong grout and so the water got behind the tile and is slowly leaking out --where the floor meets the wall?

Unfortunately millworkman -no pictures during. I think he said he used a pre sloped pan--if that makes sense and I know he put mud or something down because my dog happily put his paw prints into it. I'm not sure what he used behind the tile.

Grout is not waterproof, there needs to be a drainage plane behind it which directs the water that gets back there where it needs to go. And it sounds like this is not happening. Tough to say from here what may the problem then. But definitely leads towards the pitch not being correct in my opinion.

Well Todd, because of your problem, we asked the guys when will they seal the grout. They didn't plan on doing so. Hubs didn't know to buy grout with sealer in it, so now they are coming back next week to do that. They love how the shower is turning out and so do we. I'm just happy we'll get one little hurdle crossed thanks to your issues. Now I hope your issues can be resolved easily!

Again sealer does not make Grout waterproof, it helps aid in the prevention of stains.

Todd V

As I am not sure in your original post whether the water puddle appeared to be expanding. If this is the case I would check where the water supply lines are. Is it possible a water line is leaking. There are a number of tools you can use to check find the lines. If the pipes a copper you should be able to check with a scan tool designed to locate pipes. The one problem with water in a blind spot is the water can run along a route of its own. Ask any roofer.

Thanks Fred Flintstone :) Yes the puddle was expanding but veeeeery slow--it took about 20 hours to expand before i changed the papers. The wall where all of this seems to be happening do not have any pipes behind them. The pipe to the shower panel comes up about 18" off the floor and then attach to the shower panel at the bottom--which is on the right wall of the shower. Is it possible the that hairline cracks have occurred on that big wall and water has just accumulated behind it and is slowly draining out the bottom?

Todd V

Yes, as I stated water can travel along a conduit to accumulate and begin to get through at the weakest point. Depending on access point this is going to be very challenging determining what is going on behind the wall.

Sorry Fred Flintstone I didn't get back to you sooner, hopefully you see this. I was away this weekend and so therefore haven't used the shower for 1 week total. There is no longer any water showing up on the sheets of paper. Can I eliminate the possibility of a leak in the pipes? And just focus on a grouting problem? Sorry if I'm sounding ignorant about this whole thing. Thanks

Todd V; While you can almost eliminate the water supply line leaking. I would be a little concerned with where the water is coming from behind the grout.

You've been told several times that it is not the grout. Grout is not waterproof. Did you use real stone or porcelain that looks like stone? Real stone is porous and will let water through. You also haven't identified what type of waterproofing they used. There could be a breach in that, or if it's a traditional pan with liner the weep holes of the drain could be clogged, soaking the pan underneath the tile.

"There is no longer any water showing up on the sheets of paper. Can I eliminate the possibility of a leak in the pipes?"

That may indicate that there isn't a leak when the shower valve is off.

Leaks behind the wall are rare, but they do occur. You could troubleshoot leaks behind the wall by unthreading the shower head from the arm that comes out of the wall. Crack the shower valve so water starts trickling out of the arm, then close the valve. Now thread a 1/2" cap on the arm (in place of the shower head) and turn on the shower valve. That'll pressurize the plumbing between the valve and the cap.

Leave the supply valve on for a while. If water starts showing up within a few hours or the next day, then there may indeed be a leak behind the wall.

You can try to get a visual on it at the same time be sliding the shower head escutcheon plate off the arm, that'll allow you to put eyes on the union that the shower arm threads in to.

You can also remove the escutcheon plate that covers the shower valve.

With the shower head removed, the shower arm capped, the two escutcheons removed, and the water ON, you may be able to see or even hear a mist or spray from any faulty unions. If visibility is restricted, you can also poke a Q-tip or something like that into the holes and see if it comes out wet.

But again...leaks behind the wall are rare.

I'd be interested in finding out if the floor membrane itself is sloped to the drain.

Many installers who use CPE or CPVC membranes improperly lay the membrane flat on the floor, then set sloped mud on the flat membrane and tile on the sloped mud. However, it's a code requirement that the membrane itself should be sloped.

Lastly...sometimes these weird water things can disappear on their own over time. Fresh mud beds become wet with their first use, and on these forums we've had a few instances of water behaving badly while the bed saturates over the first few uses.

Good luck with it.

Plug the drain. Fill to the top of curb with buckets of water from another source.(kitchen sink, etc. ) Let sit overnight. check water level is the same then drain. This has eliminated the plumbing from the equation. If the problem shows after draining, it will be a liner or mud job issue. My guess from your photo's is the mud job is not properly pitched. Lay a level from the drain to the wall to check for flatness. Dips will pool water. Improperly installed membrane as Mongo pointed out is a good possibility. The floor tile should be level around the shower where it meets the wall and pitch to the drain from there.

I agree with Tundra. My point of flood testing now was to eliminate the plumbing as a concern.

Sorry Mike! didnt mean to contradict youre expertise.

I needed to clarify. I think we covered it:)