How to find the leak?

[michael48]

This is a confusing picture to me Not sure what I am seeing here.
Are you sure water is not just getting past the bracket and running down on the outside of the glass?

[pmcenroe]

Water test #3 (hand shower on lower wall bracket) failed again. I let it dry all day and did water test #4 - hand shower on the tile just above the curb. In the photo you can see the cracked grout. It is wicking the water horizontally. you can also see how these tiles have pushed away from the wall.

My conclusion is that the grout absorbed some water (normal). the wet grout got the drywall mud on the outside corner of the enclosure wet. That wicked behind the Kerdi, into the sheet rock and after 365x2 and then some showers it kept swelling and pushing the tiles out. This also caused the grout to crack, making it that much easier for the water to go out. The water soaked into the curb wood because I didn't extend the Kerdi 2" away from the curb in all directions and that caused the curb to expand, pushing the shower glass up and breaking the silicone caulk seal. That let enough water out that I took notice of the problem.

So now the question is...how do I go about fixing this? I was thinking that plan a would be to cut out the grout and replace it with caulk. I know that is not the 'right' way, but if it works I'm all set and if not the I go to plan b. Plan b is to take the glass out, replace the broken curb piece, take out the tiles in that area without wrecking the Kerdi underneath, install the Kerdi, then retile. Am I missing anything? Any other ideas?

[michael48]

So you think the water is wicking thru that grout joint and pooling on the floor outside the shower?

What does the underside of that cracked curb look like, maybe its wicking under the curb.

[pmcenroe]

Hi Michael,

When I did test #2 with the hand shower just in the corner no water came through (after 15 minutes). Test #3 and #4 had water come through in about a minute so I'm pretty sure that everything just above, at, or below the curb level is holding okay.

[pmcenroe]

I had some help this past weekend and took out the shower glass. We cut the center piece of the curb in the middle and took out the curb on the right side of the shower as well as some of the wall tile. On the wall where the shower glass bracket had been installed it was clear that water had gotten behind the kerdi membrane due to the 3 holes the shower glass installed drilled through the tile and into the stud in the wall. Same thing on the curb where the shower bracket was installed. We removed the wet/rotten stuff and rebuilt everything. New Kerdi installed and lapped over as best we could. I used Kerdi fix to seal along all the tops and sides of the exposed tile edges and along the edge of the kerdi band. Fingers crossed.

The question I have now is how to re-install the shower glass. It sounds like from some earlier comments I should drill holes in the tile but not through the Kerdi, install cut-off plastic anchors and then cut off the bracket screws to the right length and screw those in. The upper wall bracket is out of the water path so I will just screw that back in. I think that bracket does the lion's share of the work. Any comments/suggestions? Should I just raze the whole house and start over? . Thanks!

[Gozo]

Can you get a 2nd floor bracket to put near the wall section of the glass? Two bottom brackets and the top wall bracket would be stable enough to keep the glass in place. The water clear sealant also helps to stabilize it.
It looks like like you have a stone sill over the curb. They’re usually 1/2 to 3/4” thick. More than enough to drill into (almost, but not through) and cut some screws down to be just short of going through the sill with the bracket in place. Use a high quality epoxy to glue the bracket and screws to the sill and into the holes. Once it’s cured, you’d need a hammer to get it apart.
This way you’d not have any penetrations in the high water areas.

Edit: I see on a closer look at the pictures that the lower bracket has a cutout in the glass. I was thinking it was just a clamp. So you can’t get away without that bracket without changing out the glass. Two ideas to consider: maybe flip it and anchor it outside, or epoxy it as well. No matter how much sealant you goop in the screw holes, its eventually going to come back to bite you.

There should be a sticky with why NEVER to let the glass guys make holes in the waterproofing, with pictures like this one. By the time it goes sour, they’re long gone.

[Davy]

Pat, it's usually a good idea to take some measurements of the curb height before tearing anything out. You want the curb to be put back the same height as it was so the door will still work without drilling new holes for the hinges.

[michael48]

Do you have pictures of the new water proofing before tile?
I'd just glue brackets in place if possible.

[pmcenroe]

Thanks Gozo. I have room to flip the lower bracket but it will look odd unless I change the other 3 wall brackets and that would involve tearing out more tile. I'm inclined to try drilling just through the tile and using cut off anchors/screws and also epoxy the bracket as you suggest.

If the installer had flipped the brackets initially I think I would have been fine. My shower design with the ledge results in a fair amount of water streaming down in that area.

I have another shower going in a basement bathroom soon - I'll be sure to have the brackets installed with the screws on the non-water side.

[pmcenroe]

Davy - thanks. I removed the Kerdi, 1/2" sheetrock, and 1-1/2" LSL curb and replaced it with the same so hopefully everything will line back up okay.

Michael - I didn't take a picture before re-tiling. I should have. About the brackets...this shower has a piece of 1/2" glass held by two wall and one bottom bracket (and a ton of clear caulk) and then the door is hinged off it. I believe the most stress is on the top wall bracket (pull out force) and on the bottom (curb) bracket (shear force). The lower wall bracket also has shear forces acting on it. I think your suggestion of just glueing should work. If it doesn't, I'll go back to the plan of razing the whole building