Inherited Unfinished Tile shower -please HELP!!

[Mel45]

I inherited a cabin from my father who was working on finishing the bathroom. There is a tile shower and the floor and wall tile's are quite a ways apart on the bottom 3/4 inch? There are also some issues with the grouting as far as being inconsistent and possibly having gaps. Also, there are quite a few tiles that have tried grout on them. I would like to finish the project. However I am uncertain on how to deal with the gap between the floor and the Side walls of the shower. Also are there any ideas on how to get the excess grout off of the tiles? Any help would be appreciated. I am including some photos.

[Kman]

Hello, Melissa. Welcome to the forum.

Not really a good way to cover up a gap that wide. I'd be concerned as to why it was left there to begin with.

Any idea how the shower was constructed with regard to waterproofing, wall board, and adhesives?

[Mel45]

I believe it was all done correctly with regard to the preperation and shower pan liner, etc. I think the issue was just the actual laying of the tile. My dad's wife apparently became impatient and decided to attempt it herself and the result was big gaps where the floor meets the walls, grout left to dry on the tiles, and sloppy rough grout lines that were not smoothed out with a sponge. At the time he had asked me to try and fix it, but I was at a loss and it just sat there. He became ill and died a short time later. The cabin just sat for a about a year during the probate process. I have now ended up with it and I don't know if I can fix it or if I should start over.

[Pfeffer]

I spy unwaterproofed concrete board in the niche that appears to be attached with drywall screws... If that is any indication of the entire shower construction, I would start over.

[dhagin]

Hi Melissa.

Is there a shower valve hole you can peer into the wall through? If so, take a photo or 2 looking into the wall so we can see the edge of the hole to determine what layers you have there.

Floor looks flat. Those tiles with drain cuts and the apparent evenness of the all the tile edges are a give away.

Can you see the backs of the walls at the floor anywhere? If not, can you cut some drywall (or whatever wall finish) away and take some photos?

[MAPEI - Technical Service]

This looks like a mess (I know, I'm not telling you anything new). The grout haze isn't going to be easy to remove, but it can be done with an acidic grout haze remover. Because it has been there that long, figure on allowing the grout haze remover to sit on the surface for quite awhile. Try to keep it away from the grout where you want grout. It will require multiple applications and some elbow grease. Our product:

http://www.mapei.com/public/US/produ...ver_lr__EN.pdf

The best you're going to be able to do is to get a few years of use out of this shower before you'll have to rip it out and start over. The water is going to pool on the floor due to lack of slope and get behind and under the tiles where it will damage whatever is back there. If you're cool with that, you can grout the big grout joints with a product like our Ultracolor Plus that can go up to 1". I'll warn you ahead of time, it's going to crack because it's at the change of plane, but there isn't a flexible adhesive that is going to do much good here. Product info:

http://www.mapei.com/public/US/produ...lus_tds_ea.pdf

It's really up to you, if it's a cabin that won't be used often and you're OK with trying to stretch it until you can afford to do it right, there are products that can fill the gap and clean the tiles. If you're at a place where you can tear it out and have someone do it right, it would be a better choice.

[Kman]

If the floor is sloped properly, and the waterproofing is adequate, there's nothing wrong with leaving that gap open. If you want to hide it, you could fill it with grout as suggested above, or you might even find some tile quarter-round that will work. You'd need a little tile saw to cut it at an angle for the corners.