Examples of Design & Construction Failure

First let us give you some examples of water handling by builders. Now these are large builders, with architects, experienced crews and supervisors. They employ master craftsmen at times, and certainly master plumbers with experience.

Example 1. A builder delivers a new house with a bath stall just to the left of a very nice row of vanity cabinetry with a double sink. After about a year, water shows up on the ceiling below. Plumbers could find no leaking pipes, and the commodes did not seem to be the source of the problem. The builder had installed a shower and built a wall to the left of the vanities over the top of the right front of a 48" shower base. The builder had tiled the wall inside the shower and caulked it at the bottom against the base. The caulk held for a while, then gave way, allowing the water to spill under the cabinetry, causing rot and providing a source for the growth of mold. Incompetent design.

Example 2. A builder delivers a new house with a large shower with a fiberglass base. Just outside the base, he makes a large bench which the new homeowners just adore, as they can use the bench which is enclosed in the shower. Unfortunately, after a few months to a few years, water shows up downstairs, at first in the form of stains on the ceiling. It turns out that the builder provided no waterproofing on the bench, excepting the tile and grout. Of course it leaked. This is just an incompetent design and we see this example frequently in various configurations. One could install that configuration and waterproof it using sound construction technique.

OK, let's turn to the remodeling contractors. They are much worse than the builders. There are some outstanding remodeling contractors that do outstanding work. Let me give you examples from the lower 90%. They are not outstanding.

Example 1. The remodeling contractor builds a new bathroom and installs beautiful tile. Designer tile, in fact. Shower leaks. Upon inspection, find that there is not a drain in the shower. There is no liner in the shower. The contractor turned out to be a guy that had installed a lot of tile and the workmanship appeared very good. The great fallacy was that he didn't have a clue about how to handle the water. He thought that by pouring concrete and bringing the drain pipe to the top of the shower floor and tiling up to it, that the concrete will hold water and the water would go down the pipe. Good tile setter. Absolutely incompetent workmanship. He had the money and was gone.

Example 2. The remodeling contractor installs a new whirlpool where there was a tub. He set it directly against the wall, tiled down to it, and caulked all around it. The customer filled the tub with water, got in it, and started noticing small leaks downstairs upon occasion. Upon inspection, found there was a shower in this configuration, because the whirlpool replaced a tub/shower. Problem was, the whirlpool was not built to be mounted against a wall but was a drop-in unit. The contractor did not know to install a tiling bead so that it would hold water. When full of water, the caulk separated, and the shower flow was downhill toward the crack between the tub and the wall. Total incompetence with respect to the water issues. Licensed plumber. Those pipes didn't leak. Didn't have to.

Example 3. The remodeling contractor doesn't wrap the shower liner over the threshhold. Guaranteed to leak around the shower door over time.

Example 4. The remodeling contractor drives nails through the lower part of the liner in the shower before the concrete was installed. Found this is sometimes also a builder problem where different trades are working in the bathroom. Typically when the drywall crew was hired to also install the concrete board or backer board and doesn't have a clue about the water issues. Looks good to them because there is going to be concrete poured where they drove the lower nails. Causes a slow leak over a long time.

Example 5. The remodeling contractor installs "green board" instead of concrete board. Green board rots. Concrete board doesn't. Before concrete board became the standard, green board was installed across the nation. Green board was developed as a hopeful alternative to mudding the walls of the shower with lathe or wire. Most failure in tub or shower surrounds is the green board rotting bottom up (more water at the bottom), and providing a source for mold.