Master Bathroom Tile Drama

I had to think long and hard before naming this post. Nothing seemed to fit quite right, except for the word “drama”. Problem is, I really, really, really dislike drama of any nature. I don’t want any part of it. Unfortunately, our master bathroom has decided otherwise, and we’ve been dealing with its tile issues from the first day we moved in.

I’ve never really shared pictures, or details, of our master bathroom, so bear with me as I explain our experience and frustrations. In order for you to understand the full story, I’ll start at the beginning.

Since we moved in in 2012, we’ve had issue, after issue with our master bathroom shower and floor tile. A month or so after we moved in, the bench in the shower leaked, causing us to rip out part of the shower walls (and bench), which then led to a part of the flooring around our vanity to be ripped up as well. Turns out the water from the shower leaked underneath the actual shower, and underneath the tile flooring.

That was not something I wanted to hear after just moving in to a brand new house. I was so upset. Our contractor who built the house is a great friend, and I’ve known him for many, many years. He doesn’t specialize in tile work, but gave us a big discount when we built the house to help us cut costs. We so greatly appreciate it, but now, we are really dealing with our “penny- pinching”.

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage-6

Without going into too much detail, I can say our contractor has been great. Any time we have an issue, he comes right over and helps us fix what’s going on. I couldn’t ask for that to be better. But unfortunately, we’ve had sooo many issues with the tile in our bathroom. It hasn’t been fun.

A few weekends ago, I noticed a couple funny things happening behind this chair…

Fall Home Tour by The Wood Grain CottageWe had screws that were popping out of the wall, a part of our hardwood flooring had swelled and lifted up, and there were a few areas where it looked like water had been running down our wall. Anthony started pressing on the drywall and it was soft.

Well, behind that wall is the back side of our shower. Anthony looked around a little bit more and realized the majority of the leak looked to be coming from a shelf inside the shower that rarely gets used. Our contractor come the next day to investigate and remove the drywall in that area…

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage

You can imagine my excitement. As of today, the wall is still drying out. Thank goodness I caught it as fast as I did, because there isn’t any mold in the wall. I credit that to my obscene desire to repeatedly move furniture around. See, I knew it would be good for something! 🙂

All kidding aside, we’re going to rip out the shower and start over. If you look hard enough at the picture above, you can see the first patch job on the bench. We had a tile specialist over to the house a few nights ago to look at the shower, and he pointed out several things that were done wrong the first time. At this point, there is no way to save the shower and prevent future leaks, so it’s coming out.

And not only has the shower been a problem, but the floor has as well. I mentioned above that the shower had leaked water underneath a section of the flooring by the vanity, so there’s already been one patch job. We’ve also had a bad time with the grout. Several sections have chipped out from regular walking, and we’ve had a few other loose tiles that have been lifted up, and glued back down. Even with all of that, we are still having issues…

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage

The grout in the image above was just scrapped out and redone a few months ago. It’s already chipping away, and the tiles are moving. We know something isn’t right, and while there are several causes, like: the hardibacker wasn’t screwed down to the sub floor, it was nailed, the thin set was bad from the start, etc., they could be the cause of all the trouble we’ve been experiencing since we moved in.

And to be frank, we’re tired of having all these issues. You should not hear tile “pop” as you walk across the bathroom floor. The shower shouldn’t leak as many times as it has, and we shouldn’t be having these issues in a brand new home.

So, we’re having the bathroom tile ripped out. That means, the shower, the floor, and around the tub…

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage

We don’t see another option, and we certainly don’t want any other leaks popping up. We’ve had our fill of them. We’re ready to have a new bathroom, free of worry.

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage

I do find parts of this very interesting though. I have been wanting, and hoping, to work on this bathroom since we moved in 4 years ago. And as much as I had planned to “work on it”, it just never worked out. I’m so relieved I didn’t. If I had spruced it up, planked a few walls, re-painted, installed a shower door, only to be ripping it all out a bit later, I would be really upset. As it is now, in a sense, I’m getting a blank canvas to work with. I’ve been busy trying to pick out new tile, think about design flaws, etc.

Master Bathroom Tile by The Wood Grain Cottage

It’s going to be a messy job, and I really don’t want to drag out the process anymore than we have too, so I am in full planning mode. I’ve been gathering a bunch of inspiration (if you follow me on Pinterest you may have noticed) and hope to have the design all buttoned up in a week. Tile installation is about 2 weeks out, so that will give me just enough time to pick out the tile, purchase it, and remove everything from our connected closet, and clean out the vanities to be moved to our other bathroom.

This certainly isn’t what we wanted to be doing, but since it’s here, we’re going to make the best of the situation.

Here’s to a new master bathroom. Stay tuned!

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7 Comments

  1. You are brave and patience. We’ll my bathroom re-do is not as urgent as yours. It needs attention sooner than later. And we’re bracing for surprises behind the walls. But the delay is party mine. I see so many tile designs I like. But I have to think will I still love it in 5 or 10 years. We have a small condo and major changes are not possible. But I went with white marble with grey veins. Glass inserts that has clear and sea glass effects. And grey stones for the shower floor. Are you doing tile on the bathroom floor too? My bathroom is so small I wanted bamboo floors but may just end up with the long tile that looks like wood. Like I used in the guest bathroom. Any experience with wood in a bathroom?
    Barbara Ann

    1. Thank you so much, Barbara! I am still in the process of picking out the new tile. Wood as a bathroom floor isn’t ideal, but the wood tile is a great alternative. I’m considering it for our flooring! 🙂

  2. Oh wow, sound like you have had your share of hot mess’s, well at least you caught it early .
    Sounds like you are on your way to a new bathroom.
    Sometimes we just have to every step one day at a time.
    ??

  3. Just wondering if your bathroom was water proofed before any tiling, shower etc was done? I know water proofing wet areas is a must when building or renovating bathrooms here in Australia. I am sure everything will work out. We’ve just moved into our new home and love to be inspired through your beautiful home and blog.

    1. Hi Tanja! I’m so happy you enjoy our blog and ideas! Yes, the shower was installed with the water proof “bladder”, but unfortunately it’s still leaking. On to a new shower! 🙂

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