Cracked Tile on Shower Curb

[MSF5]

Hi,

I had my bathroom renovated about a year ago, and I have two tiles on the inside of the shower curb that are cracked. Unfortunately, I just noticed them, so I have no idea how long the cracks have been there. They are not in a spot that is easily seen when taking a shower.

My contractor used a piece of quartz for the shower curb, and the two cracks appear in the same place on either side of the curb, running from the quartz piece to the floor. These are two separate pieces of tile. We used 18" x 6" rectangular ceramic tiles on the wall, and the contractor cut the tiles to fit the curb. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a grout line in the middle of the curb that separates the two tile pieces. The cracks are not straight lines.

I don't have any pictures of the installation, but I know that my contractor used a Wedi curb and a normal shower pan liner w/ cement floor. He used Wedi board on the shower walls.

I wanted to see if anyone has any idea why these cracks are there. My only thought is that cutting the tile down to fit the curb weakened the tile, and the pressure of either installing the quartz piece or stepping on the quartz piece caused the cracks. I know that cracks will often appear at joints in cement boards, but I don't think there are any joints underneath, as the contractor used a Wedi curb.

Anyways, since discovering the cracks, I have been going back and forth about what to do. If the cracks are purely cosmetic and won't be an issue in terms of water problems, then I'd rather just leave them there. You have to search for them to see them, and I don't want to risk messing up all of the surrounding tile (in addition to my very expensive frameless shower door) to fix a cosmetic issue. If the cracks are a sign of a serious problem, then I will call my contractor and get him out here to fix it. I know that tile and grout do not provide any water protection, so I'm not sure if this is really anything more than a cosmetic issue.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions!

[katilicous]

If they turn out to be cosmetic, you can fill the cracks with a color matched epoxy filler that will blend them in.

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[Davy]

If built correctly, The cracked tiles shouldn't effect the waterproofing, all that is behind the tiles. Cracked tiles is caused from movement But, without knowing exactly how it was built, It's hard to say what is causing the movement. If there is a small leak and the wood is getting wet, the swelling of the wood can cause it to crack. I'm just guessing. I will say that the curb area is where most leaks start, mainly because the installer drives nails or screws thru the waterproofing. That, and the lack of pre-folded pan corners.

[jadnashua]

did the installer wrap the Wedi curb with a liner? I'm not sure how he could get a conventional liner to properly become waterproof unless he wrapped the curb, then proceeded more like it were a conventional curb. Any attempt to bond the liner to the curb would, I think, likely be a source of leaks, and with wood around, that will swell after it gets wet, giving you that sort of a problem. If that's what it is, it will only get worse over time.

Wedi is a good system, but it relies on using all parts to become fully waterproof.

[MSF5]

You know, it's been a year so I don't remember all the details. All I remember is that there was a Wedi curb as part of the pile of supplies. Thinking about it, I understand the issue you raise. I'm going to call the contractor and figure out what's going on. Thanks.

[MSF5]

Actually, just did a little reading and it seems like a Wedi curb can be used with a liner, as long as the curb is fastened to the liner on the side of the curb outside of the shower.

https://www.wedi.de/en-us/product-sy...rbs-and-ramps/

Either way, I have no clue how the install was done, so I'm going to call the contractor.

[wwhitney]

My first impression on looking at the photos was that the gap between the curb and the tile is too small in a couple places: in the first photo, the gap on the side of the curb, and in the second photo, the gap on the bottom at the corner.

Cheers, Wayne