Tub to wall leak

[Denray]

A couple of weeks after getting out of HI school 10-05 my wife says "What's this black stuff on the floor of our towel closet"? The wall just opposite the shower fixtures.

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Previous to all this we were getting tired of the silicone seal around the tub getting all ugly looking so I had the bright idea of grouting it. After all I was uncle Buck on the tile installation. The grout was easy to clean. Looked good. The shaving mirror above the tub corner dripped hot water down on top of the horizontal corner surface of the tub.

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Capillary action along with some water pressure had water being drawn over the inner lip of the tub and down onto the subfloor. The fly in termites had a health spa going on. With the dry wall removed you can see little white vertical stripes all along the tub rim where water was being sucked over elsewhere as well.

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So, grout works just like stucco at the weep screed. Look for it around tubs cause it could be causing a big mess.

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[Jim Baird]

Tile on top of drywall isn't the best way to go either.

My tile installation had thin joints, due to cheapness of tile, and cracks there led to my having to remove a cpl of courses and redo. I used hardiboard instead.

[Jim Katen]

. . . So, grout works just like stucco at the weep screed. Look for it around tubs cause it could be causing a big mess. . . .

Yes. And replacing it with silly-cone isn't a solution. If I were inspecting that house, I'd be recommending ripping out the tile surround and starting over.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Denray]

I've seen grout at the tub a few times on some home inspections. And I know it can be bad.

The studs showed no water damage. The dry wall was ok other than the stains creeping up the bottom 2 inches. The grout between the tiles has not cracked. I'm sure I will be doing it the right way as soon as it starts to fail. I look up every once in a while thru the P-trap access in the sub floor and all looks dry. I was ignant when I ok'd it being installed that way. We had the house built and I did a lot of finish work on it during my ignant days.[:-paperba