I changed the entrance of my shower tub. The panel board was moldy; water was getting in between the top tiles and the panel board. the joint was not well sealed. I put new everything for the entrance, even a membrane between the plywood and the tiles. However, it seems to leak from the wall now. Water is coming out of the wall outside the shower tub. Would it be the grout, tiles...? Tiles and grout are probably 20+ yrs old ( turquoise tiles). I tried to put some ready grout ( in a tube), but it still leaks! Calking is well done. Should I remove the old grout and put new one everywhere? Thanks for your help!

Here are a few quick tips to find out how "correct" the install is (or isn't). Correct meaning 'will not fail' vs. looks pretty. Looking pretty and being correctly installed are two different animals. 1. Caulking is used at EVERY change of plane (ahem...corners). Grout is NOT allowed when tile goes around a corner or goes from flooring tile to wall tile. To check for caulking just poke your finger nail in there and push. If it feels rubbery = caulking. If it feels like hardened sand/stone = grout. **Hint** Look at the GROUT that is sitting all around the wall cubby and the grout that is running down the corner...check the marble floor/tile wall connection. Do you see more grout? 2. Did they use wood (raw wood) at the shower threshold? If you remember seeing a plank of timber being 'tiled' you have issues. 3. Water Draining out of the shower should be even. The shower floor should not have areas that are left 'wet looking' (ie. darker...marble is AWESOME at showing this...which means you can test this very easily for yourself) for hours while other areas look 'dry' very quickly. An uneven drying time tell us water is SITTING (ie. not draining) under the marble. Issues like a mentioned above can be a perfect storm waiting to come crashing down (through the ceiling? below?) around your head. They are also issues that point to a REDO (especially the shower floor stuff). The uneven wall tiles = uneven wall. They needed to shim the walls (when the studs were exposed) and/or float the tile (very difficult and expensive and requires an OLD FASHIONED Tile Pro to get it done properly). You didn't get either. In other words your General Contractor used 'guys' to lay the tile and not the EXPENSIVE Tile setters (ahem...GCs HATE using expensive pros...it messes up their bottom line/quotes).

Hey sam, what ended up happening with this? I just finished a bathroom reno a couple weeks ago and I noticed the same kind of thing on some but not all of my vertical subway tiles on the edges in certain areas of the shower. I noticed it after a long shower. I waterproofed everything behind the tile, used hardibacker with redgard and a quality modified thinset as well as one of the best grouts on the market (can be used in pools) Did you end up leaving it? Is it still holding up?

@Amir Ali - I just wanted to post a comment in order to: 1. Let you know that I completely understand what you are going through right now. I have TWO FAILING slate floors that are part of current bathroom renovations. The master bathroom floor had not been grouted due to delays on his part. I discovered that some of the tiles were COMPLETELY LOOSE - and some sounded like they were only partially bonded to the floor. This floor is failing - and it has BARELY been walked on because the bathroom renovation basically stopped due to issues - bathroom isn’t usable so the only use has been when I’ve gone in there to take photos or measure something = maybe some tiles had been walked on four or five times before I started discovering the loose tiles. It is obvious that the tiles failed to bond to the floor - the mortar must have skinned over or something. I am NOT reinstalling the loose tiles. IMPORTANT - my former contractor does not fit the definition of what people here on Houzz love to refer to as a “hack” (at least not the actual business that I hired to do the work) - however, his employee clearly did not know what he was doing (or just didn’t care) - and that makes the owner of the business liable for this work. The business has hundreds of Google ratings (4.9/5), owner is a member of TCNA, I had several reviews from people I know (and trust), and I DID NOT JUST TAKE THE LOWEST BID - I am NOT a CHEAPSKATE. I am so tired of people AUTOMATICALLY blaming the homeowner when they have ZERO basis to do so. Making assumptions and basically telling homeowners that they are IDIOTS and CHEAP really makes me upset. Okay, I’m finished with my rant! 😂 The ”fix” is this: The ENTIRE floor is being torn apart. Not only is the tile being removed, the cbu will be taken out. New contractor assumes that he will also find that former contractor failed to add the required second layer of plywood in order to make sure that the substrate was prepared correctly in order to have a natural stone floor installed. Based upon the above issues, I investigated the slate floor that was installed in one of the other bathrooms back in April. I noticed a few grout issues - and as I went around knocking on each tile, the sound on many tiles indicates tiles that are only partially bonded. This is what the floor looks like from a standing position: And this is what it looks like when I realized that I needed to inspect it after the failure in other bathroom: I have cracks and broken spots of grout in many places. I also have some grout which is stuck on my tile because the contractor failed to seal the tile (as required) prior to grouting (I found this out later - I was in the hospital while this floor was being installed) and made promises over and over to come remedy the issue. So, this floor will also be ”fixed” in the same manner as the first one - I’m just waiting to have it ripped out until after the other bathroom is completely finished. 2. I also wanted to let you know that regardless of whether (i) you have a written contract, and (ii) that contracts specifically provides (or fails to provide) a five year (or however long) warranty period, you still have recourse against the contractor who installed your tile. Most states (probably all but I haven’t done research on this issue in every state) have enacted statutes that protect homeowners for this type of issue. In my jurisdiction, there are specific statutes that relate to home renovation projects - these statues require (among other things) that all work must be done in a good and workmanlike manner. Following industry standards, as well as manufacturer’s specifications, are part of this requirement. Also, the consumer protection act in my state also protects homeowners against contractors who perform shoddy work. I am 99% positive that your state will have some similar statutes. If you want to share your jurisdiction, I am happy to take a quick look in order to point you in the right direction. MANY jurisdictions require the homeowner to provide the contractor with notice and a right of remediation. Unless you follow the requirements of your particular statutes, you won’t be able to bring an action against your contractor to recover damages. FYI - my former contractor has chosen to ignore the notice I provided, so I then was free to hire another contractor to do the remediation work. My former contractor will owe me the money I have to spend to correct his failure to properly install my tile (which will greatly exceed what I paid him - removing tile + cbu + buying new material (including nice slate tile - because I didn’t purchase cheap slate tile for the the project initially). I am sorry that you’re going through this because it is NOT fun. I decided to consider myself “lucky” because he hadn’t yet installed this tile on my laundry floor! Hopefully, you won’t have water damage that will require even more remedial work in order to fix it.