I was going to say the same thing as Bill only because we have that problem right now in our shop. Our new house will have a water softener but it sounds like you are describing calcium build up. I would have the water tested. Just take a sample to a pool place or look in the yellow pages for water testing places.

Hi. I can't answer all of your questions, but I have gotten quotes to remove our ceramic tile in entry, kitchen and hallway. The quotes run from $2.00/sq ft to $3.50 sq ft. We live in the midwest, so not sure how it would be in your area. Unfortunately, it is pretty pricey and messy, but should be worth it!

Back in the summer, when I asked about how the shower was constructed, the contractor didn't mention a specific brand, but he did mention there was mud, a liner, and then mud. ( I'm sure I am oversimplifying what he said, but at the time I wasn't concerned about shower failing.) GreenDesigns, that is my thinking as well. Since this has happened, I've found instances that seem similar to mine, and the weep holes were to blame. Here are a couple of pictures I have. Unfortunately, I don't have any others to "fill in" the installation sequence. This post was edited by boots23 on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 10:30

Minpho, the grout they added does nothing. Grout is not waterproof. It is like a placeholder between the tiles that directs the water downhill to the drain and then when it does let small amounts of water through (because it is porous), it also allows that same water right back out again as it dries (because it is porous). Grout has worked fine for centuries despite this if the shower is built correctly underneath the tile. A properly sloped and waterproofed shower floor never looks like yours did after 8 days of drying out. Even with marble ("hard sponges") and grout (which lets water in and back out), your shower floor has an obvious problem. You can see what it is. The wet area is not sloping enough toward the drain to dry out, or it is not built on a waterproof bed - and the soggy bed underneath it is full of stagnant water that is keeping your tile wet. Or both. Your builder is responsible to give you a waterproof shower that does not leak, does not pool water underneath the tile, and dries out after showers. There are things that can help you in this situation, but you must act now to handle this correctly. Listen to the people here who have "PRO" under their pictures. Most of them have great advice - especially anyone having to do with tile. You may also have help available from your building inspector. Was your shower inspected as it was being built? Does your town do that? Did they okay the pre-slope and the waterproofing method? Go read the things that Creative Tile Eastern CT linked you to read. Ask more questions if it does not make sense to you. You MUST at this point make yourself understand how a shower is supposed to be built because you are now in negotiations with a builder who is not going to want to tear the whole thing out and redo it. Re-read what Creative Tile told you. He is telling you how to talk to your builder about this, what to ask about how the shower was built. You first have to read up on showers and understand terms like "pre-slope," "waterproofing," "shower pan membrane," and "clamping drain." Because otherwise, you can't discuss this and negotiate with your builder. That is why sometimes having the building inspector on your side about whether the shower was inspected during its construction (or not) is good. But if your building inspectors don't do that with new houses, then they are useless to you. Calling the town building department and asking if the inspectors do inspection on showers to ensure they are sloped and waterproofed properly before they are tiled in new home construction will tell you whether the building department will be any help to you. If they are supposed to do the inspection and your builder did not have it done, then the building inspector may come look at your shower and tell the builder to fix it.