If I correctly recall your saga, you had a supposedly well built mud bed with supposedly well installed marble tile over it. Then you brought in a friend to seal it. After sealing is when you had the issues. If I recall, when the drain was later pulled, there was evidence that the sealer had percolated down into the mud bed. In a properly working shower, tiling over existing tile can be done. My understanding is your shower is broken. My understanding is that what forensic work has been done to your shower has not resulted in a cause of failure. It has only resulted in people pointing fingers at the other guy. The sealer guy points at the tiler. The tile guy points at the sealer guy. The GC shrugs his shoulder and points at you because you brought in the sealer guy on your own. You point at the GC and ask when will my shower be fixed? If no one can define the problem, how can they come up with a solution? They can't, so they all wink at each other and say "let's cover it up!" The only way to properly install new tile over bad tile that is on a bad mud bed is to completely isolate the new work from the old. There are three important points of contact: That means a NEW membrane has to be installed on top of your old work to prevent water from percolating down into the old work. That means that around the floor perimeter, the new membrane has to be tied into the wall's drainage plane or the wall's membrane that was installed behind the current wall tile. That means that the new drain has to be properly detailed into the old. So, what can you do? You can simply do what has been recommended. Simply cover over what you have. Bury it. Fingers crossed. Hope for the best. It's the easiest. You might have no further bad symptoms. Or the pan might start showing problems, 6, 12, or 24 months down the road. Or you can cover it up keeping the three points of contact in mind. Do understand that this route would require a conscientious and competent mechanic. Or go with the choice that over the long run will likely involve the least amount of labor, be the least expensive solution, and have the greatest chance of success: Have a competent mechanic remove the failed bed and install new. I wrote too much. (sigh) Good luck!

Glass tiled shower floor? I sure hope nobody ever does that. Not only is glass too fragile for a floor but also way too slippery for a shower. EEK! Creative Tile - Thanks for the info. The tile is 18" x 36" does that make any difference? It will only be on the walls of a larger shower in Southern California. I mention that because I think those things reduce the possibility of cracking due to thermal shock, which as I understand it means suddenly going from very cold to very hot. The glass will never start any colder than room temperature and the shower spray will not reach the walls, it will always hit the floor first. But I don't know how low a glass tile's tolerance can be, so perhaps even this is a potential risk. I can say that I have handled a sample of the tile and nothing about it seems/feels cheap (including the actual price). Without someone telling me it is OK, I will definitely avoid the epoxy grout. If I go forward with this tile, that tip is invaluable! Regarding setting material, isn't there a product that you can just know will be good enough for any glass tile? I'm not trying to pinch pennies here, the tile is expensive and I don't want a repair job later. So I'll spend whatever I need to spend now to avoid problems in the future. The price difference between using quality materials and lesser materials pales in comparison to a future repair. And thank you for taking the time to share you knowledge with people. So many folks like you make Houzz an incredible resource. There are a lot of people here that I owe a beer to. And there are some I owe a fancy dinner!

We are doing a similar update. Originally our shower was tile that leaked after 8 years. So we replaced it. That leaked after 7 years. We had planned to do tile again but at the last minute switched to flexstone/sentrel panels. So very happy we did. I think this shower is going to last alot longer than tile. Here is a thread on our remodel. Not done yet as we are slow as molasses but so far we are impressed with the ease of installation and the overall look of the product. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5918286/flexstone-sentrel-panels-calacatta-white-pictures#n=8 Their product can either go over existing tile or be put on new wall board. You can buy direct from the company to get the taller walls, upgraded niche, corner seat etc. Or you can buy from Home Depot that has a subset of the products and the kits. Home Depot also has lots of reviews so you can see what other people think of it and see their finished showers. I don't know if I would go with their shower base due to the material. However I think it is plenty rugged enough for shower walls. We went with Swanstone solid surface and strongly considered Onyx but theirs didn't come with the drain hole in the right place while Swanstone's did.

I believe the difference in color is too great with the white and brown. Why? 3 reasons 1. The products that are cemented to the building you will not redo anytime soon. Messy , dirty, expensive and just not worth the trouble  2. When you add a product to the building structure. Windows , floors they must last a long time. Durability, wear and tear, and STYLE. All equal a story of when the home was designed.  The look over a period of time 10 years + and the home will become "out of date" Needs a face lift . 3. The homes we admire, the Museums, Churches, Libraries, Opera House have one common thread. At a glance they are timeless. Built in 1940, 1990 etc  The crystal clear item is not seen  For this reason I would not go "trendy". Generally our first choice is the right one. Simple and elegant  How do you change this ad time moves on. Color Bedroom a change of bedspread. Bathroom towels become a dark navy or  deep forest green. Yellow for spring  Paint a wall blue, hang a piece of art  The change is simple and your money well spent for resale  Take a moment to do another board  Remove the brown and replace with a neutral. Try an Odegard runner - There are so many options  Enjoy