The shower glass & tile walls came off as expected. We learned that the source of the leaks is that the walls were tiled on regular drywall. No Durock was used. No membrane to keep the water out. What??? No wonder we were sprouting leaks left, right and center.
We did have some mould in two different locations of the shower. Luckily they were not too bad. We were able to remove the materials that were mouldy and spray to kill and clean and remaining mould. All mould was handled properly and respirators were worn. We tested all our pipes before we removed the tray and they are fine, no leaks.
Removing the shower base was a whole other experience. It was spray foamed and cemented to the floor and then tiled on top. After a lot of swear words and major effort the base finally was pried loose in pieces.
And yet another surprise under the shower base. For some crazy reason they used Durock under the shower base and on top of the sub floor mixed of course with cement. Fun times indeed. Rob had to cut it piece by piece being careful not cut into the floor joists, plumbing etc.
After almost 2 days of demo work (!!!) we are finally ready to start putting the shower back together again. Thank goodness we have a separate bathtub that we can use.
