In a wet area like the shower, water management is vital to construction quality.
In today's marketplace, custom-sized, tile showers are in high demand. The beauty of these showers has an appeal that's hard to match with acrylic, especially in the master bathroom. In response to this high demand, many builders are installing custom showers.
Tile showers look great, but because they're installed onsite, they have a tendency to leak. Water stains, wet grout, and trapped water within the assembly are a few signs that water management has gone awry during the shower installation. A poorly designed or improperly installed shower is a likely culprit. For instance, if the shower pan liner leaks, it can cause a significant amount of damage long before the leak is discovered. You can't assume a tile shower is waterproof simply because you see no visible signs of damage. A lot may be going on behind the scenes before you notice mold growth on the grout, cracks in the tile floor, or other water damage around and below the shower unit.
Tile grout
Tiles are naturally water-resistant, but the grout between them is porous and absorbs water. Most water from the shower is immediately directed to the drain and drained away. The water absorbed by the grout, however, has to be able to dry or drain away.
Water at the sidewalls
When water wets the wall tile, a small amount of water saturates the grout joints between the tiles. When the grout joints become saturated, water-resistant backer board guides the water toward the shower drain. Behind the backer board, building paper acts as a last line of defense, preventing any water that moves through the backer board from reaching the framing. Water that does reach the building paper moves downward to the shower pan liner and eventually into the drain.
Water at the floor
When water wets the floor tile, a small amount of water saturates the grout joints between the tiles. From the grout joints, the water moves through the tile base and wets the mortar bed. Typically, the water dries from the mortar bed over time. But like grout, the mortar bed can become saturated with water if the water is unable to dry quickly enough. Just beneath the mortar bed, a waterproof shower pan liner is available as the last line of defense against any water that saturates the mortar bed. The shower pan liner collects the water and directs it toward the drain. All of these materials have to be designed and installed properly to prevent water damage.
