Home Improvement
We recently moved into this place and the shower has this crack in the tiles.
I imagine this is quite bad in terms of humidity creeping into the wall?
Is there a way to fix this without having to redo the entire wall?
Thanks for thinking along!
fill the crack with grout, seal the grout once cured.
The tiles should have a water barrier behind them, or cement board, but if this is the US, it's a crap shoot.
That looks like a shallow crack. If the shower is constructed appropriately there is a moisture barrier behind it that does the real water proofing work.
If the shower is appropriately built then the moisture barrier is probably fine and will keep doing its job. I'd buy some white caulk and seal it up, or better yet an epoxy unsanded grout from a tile shop that matches the color (comes in a tube like caulking).
If the crack gets worse over time after sealing, then it might indicate some shifting or defective installation.
Could be something as small as insufficient mortar behind the tile as it was applied. If you tap the area and hear a hollow sound that could be an indication of insufficient mortar coverage. If you dont, then it could indicate some settling or shifting in the backer substrate, at which point id try to get in behind that wall and see what's up.
Im not an expert but I've rebuilt three showers DIY so just sharing what I've learned educating myself on how to do it right.
If you can knock out the one broken tile, you can replace the single one and re-grout
tiles are all drop shipped today, you can't find the same ones weeks later.
Depends on where you get them I guess. I got additional tiles at some home improvement store 5+ years later.
Coworker of mine had a plumber drill a hole in the wrong place, so now he had a tile with a hole in it. Plumber got someone in to fix it with colored epoxy. Says he can't see where the hole was.
I don't know how waterproofing gets done where you live, but if a customer here in Finland asked me about this, I'd just tell them it's mostly a cosmetic issue - and trying to fix it risks puncturing the waterproofing membrane behind the tiles.
You're also highly unlikely to find a matching replacement tile unless whoever did the bathroom stashed the spares in the attic or something.
Anyway, the point is this probably isn't going to cause water damage down the line - what actually keeps the walls watertight is behind the tiles, not the tiles themselves.
Had a crack like that... The wife said "it's only a 5 minute job"
Sadly the (correct stuff - we rebuilt the bathroom side of the wall when we moved in) wallboard had cracked for some reason so 5 minutes to yank out a tile and stick in a new one turned into a mission - chasing the crack in the wall board, cutting the damaged bits, repairing with new pieces then replacing 4 tiles instead of one.
It hasn't cracked again so I must have done something right (or the wall has decided to stop moving)
What's the moral? Do not expect it to be a simple job. If it turns out to be simple, fix it, get a beer and chill. You will probably need to get a bit more involved than just replacing the tile.
Just curious, did you end up removing enough material to observe any mold growth? I’m always wondering how bad these things actually get behind the scenes.
There was no mold - the crack wasn't there long and there was a relatively thick adhesive bed which stopped the water getting to the cement board.
Do you have any access to the inside of the wall, so you can view that section of wall from the back?
Repair will depend on several factors:
Was the correct type of wallboard used when building the wall? If not, and if it's been cracked for a while, a significant amount of water could have gotten through the crack. If significant amounts of water have gotten through, you may need to replace the whole section of wall.
Is there any water damage to the wallboard? Usually, if the correct type of wallboard was used, there won't be any water damage. But I've seen plenty of installers use the wrong kind of board. If the wrong board was used, you may want to replace the whole section of wall, even if there isn't visible water damage. Because if the crack gets worse, it'll be a more expensive repair later.
Does the shower-facing side of wall show any signs of crumbling? If so, it may be patchable, but you'll need to remove the crumbling portions first. Also, if it's actively crumbling, it could be bigger signs of structural issues, and you may want to get it inspected before doing any repair work.
Is the wall stable? Is the cracked area firm? Is there no sign of water damage? There are a few different types of silicone caulk or tile filler you can use to patch the crack. As long as it's patched properly, it shouldn't let water through, and it shouldn't continue to deteriorate.
There could be other considerations, but these are some of the common ones.
If anything seems off, get a professional to look at it. It'll cost more now, but it'll save you time and money later.