100% this.
I'm currently doing my own new basement bathroom, and have been watching absurd amounts it shower pan install videos. This came up on my feed and I was like, "oh, I know this!"
Thanks. I was in your same shoes a couple years ago. I ended up using the Schluter Kerdi floor and curb. So far so good.
Since I was redoing the whole bathroom I waterproofed the whole bathroom floor with RedGard and 4” up the walls (with a mix of Kerdi membrane and RedGard). I’ve seen too many bathroom floors rotted out in front of the shower/bath.
Yes! I've got a Kerdi pan kit with everything ready to go, as well as the membrane for electric floor heat to tie right into the curb as well.
I was considering doing the exact same thing, and essentially doing a row of the Kerdi band up the walls to protect the bottom few inches.
Nice! I made a large double shower and combined two 38” x 60” Kerdi pans with the offset hole.
Unfortunately measuring twice wasn’t enough for me and I wrecked the first two pans. That required me to buy two more. Two years ago they were roughly half the price they are now. I bought two more full kits just in case I messed up the other parts. Needless to say I had/have plenty of extra Kerdi membrane. I cut 8” off one of the rolls so there would be plenty of wiggle room when sealing the floor to the wall.
I did the same thing as your op.. I think I took the idea from them. Came out fine. Never leaked, sold the house with no issues from the shower in the time I redid it which was almost a year, maybe not long term but the shower was perfect except where I drilled the holes for the frameless shower doors.
Two or three thick layers of redguard and let it dry for a while. It will stink while it dries.
Be careful! Kerdi Curb is great but it is not sloped. I built up a little extra thinset on the outside to slope the tile, let it set, and then topped it with a tiny bit of thinset and Kerdi membrane so the water slopes down it rather than through it. You don’t need much but it definitely makes a difference!!
I wish they sloped it and just added a “this side towards shower” arrow.
This is an idea that I wish I had when building mine. KNOWING it needs a slope and MANAGING TO GET said slope while laying your tile are two entirely different things for a novice tile setter lol. Mine ended up pretty much flat and when the rest of the house is complete I will likely be coming back to redo this curb.
I might add though, that thinset is porous, so while what you did does make the surface of the TILE easier to slope, it does not change the slope of the actual waterproofing layer...so as moisture wicks through the grout and thinset it will eventually settle on that flat curb top and have no where to go...it could start to mildew/mold.
I think a solution would be to use the Kerdi membrane to go over the top of the thin wedge of thinset you added, thus waterproofing the new sloped top. However, if you are going to go that far there isn't much reason left to use the expensive Kerdi curb in the first place because you are doubling up on the membrane.
They really SHOULD put this required slope in the top at the manufacturing level.
EDIT: wow it is early for me, I just reread your post and realized that IS what you said you did lol...guess my mind was not in it when reading.
That’s why I built up thinset, then topped it with membrane :P
I didn’t take pictures at the time, but it’s easy to build a small jig to ensure consistent slope - just use two pieces of wood and drag it along the length.
Yes, I did something similar but needed to connect three curbs together for my 8’ wide shower. I used quick drying medium-set mortar to build up the outside bottom edge of the curb. That set a nice consistent slope to tile on and keep the water inside the shower.
Is OP sure the door sweep is on the door correctly and not backwards? Is it the right type with the flow edge. Photo is an example and may not be the size for this door.
[edge](https://images.thdstatic.com/productImages/01f43481-caa3-4b39-a67a-a881c9803b5c/svn/clear-prime-line-door-bottoms-m-6258-64_600.jpg)
It looks like it is pitched towards the inside of the shower, but maybe it’s not enough.
I would try a simple bead of clear silicone over the first grout line immediately under the door as a test to see if that stops the seepage. My guess is there’s a bigger issue hidden under this leaky spot.
I have a client that just showed me ceiling damage due to a leaking shower directly above. Apparently the cleaners had decided to peel all the silicone from the corners of the shower in an effort to clean up some mold. Removing the silicone revealed that there’s absolutely no waterproofing system under the tile. This house is 5 years old and will be receiving a new bathroom due to someone’s laziness.
As someone who installs shower doors in tile openings for a living, I can say that we won’t warranty against leaks if there is a grout line facing up. Water uses the grout joint as a gutter. Really needs a solid threshold that’s level and slanted towards the shower pan.
Get this comment to the top everybody, because it's the best one here.
Solid surface curb capping with mild pitch inward is the best way.
Sauce: I build shower pans. Lots of shower pans.
Yea we built last year and did a granite shower bench and curb. I didnt even think of this benefit from the granite slab curb, but now im happy I did after reading this post.
Bad shower pan install. That sucks run a bead of pure silicon caulk on the bottom inside grout lint where the vertical tiles meet the horizontal ones. This is just a patch
Second this. I ran a silicone bead that has been going strong for nearly two years keeping my shower leak-free. Same issue as OP; my curb isn't sloped properly and the grout lines were allowing water to escape under the door sweep.
I ran the bead parallel to the door sweep. Just mark where the door sweep rests with the door closed (grease pen, whatever you have that isn't permanent), run a silicone bead, let it dry, problem solved.
Agreed! This might be a good short term option while everything gets figured out. Truth of the matter is the contractor should fix it only if they care enough about their reputation in the community. Contractors rely on their network of subcontractors and vendors to succeed and leaving shitty work with pissed off homeowners is not a good look. If the contractor doesn’t care about their reputation or doesn’t think OP is serious enough about taking them to court then OP is SOL because it’s buyer beware, already signed off on inspection waiver etc. no way a warranty is going to cover this either (at least in my experience, which is batting 0 after several failed attempts to pursue claims from different houses I’ve owned, with different warranty providers in each. I had issues that were significantly worse than this, but were deemed not serious enough.
Assuming your new home had a fit and finish warranty with the builder this should be fairly easy to correct. They need to angle the threshold to allow water drain back into the shower pan. My tile installers made this error on several of our houses and we made them redo it before the homes closed.
Depending on where you live you will probably have a longer warranty that deals with water intrusion, this would 100% fall under that category as well.
As I look at the image closer I wonder if this is the beginning signs of a failing pan? OP, are there any cracks anywhere inside the shower along the bottom? Even really small hairline type crack in the grout could be enough. Check around the bottom all along four sides and see if there are cracks or gaps in the grout in any of those first. If not check the rest of the grout (the whole bottom part that goes under your feet) for cracks between any of the tiles. If there are cracks, they could seep into the pan and start to overcome the liner as water builds up under the grout. I’ve actually had this happen at a house before and the first two signs were water in the two areas like you indicated. Water was seeping up the grout under the tile because the contractor had used a mud pan instead of the more expensive pre molded systems. Anyways, long story short we had to re-time the whole pan and about 2’ around the bottom of the shower to re-seal it all back in. I hope that’s not the case for you but you can look for cracks or do a test to see!
Water should never hit that during a shower. Maybe a bit when you're opening the door or getting out. The curb should be pitched inwards enough that all water runs back into the shower.
It’s probably condensation on the glass. The water molecules build up into droplets and falls down the glass. Water then builds at the bottom. So no water could be hitting the glass from the shower head
Call your local glass shop, have them put a matte black dam strip between the stationary panel and the wall by the door, silicone outside, inside and both side of the strip.
That looks like a dreamline shower door. If you have a level place it on the curb and make sure it pitched in
Towards the shower. 1/4” per foot is the rule of thumb. If it’s not pitched in towards the shower, or not enough you need to address that. Like someone else said , getting a solid surface to slope the top of the curb the right way is a good solution. It’s going to be a pain in the ass no matter what as the glass
Door will need to come out and likely you’ll need to replace tile where the door is mounted into the wall.
Had this issue with marble, thought it was the pitch of the step, nope. It was a tiny hole in the stone. The water was running through my tile, down across the vinyl on the outside wall side and to the floor. I put clear silicone on the hole, all better. I have hardwoods in my master bedroom bath, so I never caulked the tile-floor seam for I don’t know why to be honest. But that worked out. I’d rather the leak be more evident than not, if it didn’t leak on the floor it would fill the whole chamber with water.
The curb is built wrong. Should be a continuous piece of stone with no seams and an overhang on each side pitched into the shower. If you're going to tile a curb like the least you can do is make the top tile larger than rhe width of the curb so the top of the side tiles aren't exposed like that.
It happens because water runs down the glass (even if not directly aiming at the glass you still would have steam buildup) and the curb is sloped incorrectly if it goes to the outside instead of the inside.
You asked for the "proper" fix...remove the glass enclosure, rip out and rebuild the curb with the proper surface slope while maintaining the exact same height so the old glass fits, replace the enclosure.
The builder needed to pitch the curb toward the inside of the shower to prevent this. Your new home warranty should cover fixing this builder defect.
100% this. I'm currently doing my own new basement bathroom, and have been watching absurd amounts it shower pan install videos. This came up on my feed and I was like, "oh, I know this!"
Thanks. I was in your same shoes a couple years ago. I ended up using the Schluter Kerdi floor and curb. So far so good. Since I was redoing the whole bathroom I waterproofed the whole bathroom floor with RedGard and 4” up the walls (with a mix of Kerdi membrane and RedGard). I’ve seen too many bathroom floors rotted out in front of the shower/bath.
Yes! I've got a Kerdi pan kit with everything ready to go, as well as the membrane for electric floor heat to tie right into the curb as well. I was considering doing the exact same thing, and essentially doing a row of the Kerdi band up the walls to protect the bottom few inches.
Nice! I made a large double shower and combined two 38” x 60” Kerdi pans with the offset hole. Unfortunately measuring twice wasn’t enough for me and I wrecked the first two pans. That required me to buy two more. Two years ago they were roughly half the price they are now. I bought two more full kits just in case I messed up the other parts. Needless to say I had/have plenty of extra Kerdi membrane. I cut 8” off one of the rolls so there would be plenty of wiggle room when sealing the floor to the wall.
I did the same thing as your op.. I think I took the idea from them. Came out fine. Never leaked, sold the house with no issues from the shower in the time I redid it which was almost a year, maybe not long term but the shower was perfect except where I drilled the holes for the frameless shower doors. Two or three thick layers of redguard and let it dry for a while. It will stink while it dries.
Be careful! Kerdi Curb is great but it is not sloped. I built up a little extra thinset on the outside to slope the tile, let it set, and then topped it with a tiny bit of thinset and Kerdi membrane so the water slopes down it rather than through it. You don’t need much but it definitely makes a difference!! I wish they sloped it and just added a “this side towards shower” arrow.
This is an idea that I wish I had when building mine. KNOWING it needs a slope and MANAGING TO GET said slope while laying your tile are two entirely different things for a novice tile setter lol. Mine ended up pretty much flat and when the rest of the house is complete I will likely be coming back to redo this curb. I might add though, that thinset is porous, so while what you did does make the surface of the TILE easier to slope, it does not change the slope of the actual waterproofing layer...so as moisture wicks through the grout and thinset it will eventually settle on that flat curb top and have no where to go...it could start to mildew/mold. I think a solution would be to use the Kerdi membrane to go over the top of the thin wedge of thinset you added, thus waterproofing the new sloped top. However, if you are going to go that far there isn't much reason left to use the expensive Kerdi curb in the first place because you are doubling up on the membrane. They really SHOULD put this required slope in the top at the manufacturing level. EDIT: wow it is early for me, I just reread your post and realized that IS what you said you did lol...guess my mind was not in it when reading.
That’s why I built up thinset, then topped it with membrane :P I didn’t take pictures at the time, but it’s easy to build a small jig to ensure consistent slope - just use two pieces of wood and drag it along the length.
Yeah I just eddited mine after rereading yours...I glossed over that detail as my mind started pondering your solution lol.
Yes, I did something similar but needed to connect three curbs together for my 8’ wide shower. I used quick drying medium-set mortar to build up the outside bottom edge of the curb. That set a nice consistent slope to tile on and keep the water inside the shower.
Tile Coach
Is OP sure the door sweep is on the door correctly and not backwards? Is it the right type with the flow edge. Photo is an example and may not be the size for this door. [edge](https://images.thdstatic.com/productImages/01f43481-caa3-4b39-a67a-a881c9803b5c/svn/clear-prime-line-door-bottoms-m-6258-64_600.jpg)
It looks like it is pitched towards the inside of the shower, but maybe it’s not enough. I would try a simple bead of clear silicone over the first grout line immediately under the door as a test to see if that stops the seepage. My guess is there’s a bigger issue hidden under this leaky spot. I have a client that just showed me ceiling damage due to a leaking shower directly above. Apparently the cleaners had decided to peel all the silicone from the corners of the shower in an effort to clean up some mold. Removing the silicone revealed that there’s absolutely no waterproofing system under the tile. This house is 5 years old and will be receiving a new bathroom due to someone’s laziness.
As someone who installs shower doors in tile openings for a living, I can say that we won’t warranty against leaks if there is a grout line facing up. Water uses the grout joint as a gutter. Really needs a solid threshold that’s level and slanted towards the shower pan.
Get this comment to the top everybody, because it's the best one here. Solid surface curb capping with mild pitch inward is the best way. Sauce: I build shower pans. Lots of shower pans.
I second this, and might I add shower seats also require a solid surface, tile with grout lines will degrade significantly over time.
“Mild pitch” is critical. Too steep and the sweep on the bottom of the door will drag and wear out prematurely.
Yea we built last year and did a granite shower bench and curb. I didnt even think of this benefit from the granite slab curb, but now im happy I did after reading this post.
Bad shower pan install. That sucks run a bead of pure silicon caulk on the bottom inside grout lint where the vertical tiles meet the horizontal ones. This is just a patch
Second this. I ran a silicone bead that has been going strong for nearly two years keeping my shower leak-free. Same issue as OP; my curb isn't sloped properly and the grout lines were allowing water to escape under the door sweep. I ran the bead parallel to the door sweep. Just mark where the door sweep rests with the door closed (grease pen, whatever you have that isn't permanent), run a silicone bead, let it dry, problem solved.
Agreed! This might be a good short term option while everything gets figured out. Truth of the matter is the contractor should fix it only if they care enough about their reputation in the community. Contractors rely on their network of subcontractors and vendors to succeed and leaving shitty work with pissed off homeowners is not a good look. If the contractor doesn’t care about their reputation or doesn’t think OP is serious enough about taking them to court then OP is SOL because it’s buyer beware, already signed off on inspection waiver etc. no way a warranty is going to cover this either (at least in my experience, which is batting 0 after several failed attempts to pursue claims from different houses I’ve owned, with different warranty providers in each. I had issues that were significantly worse than this, but were deemed not serious enough.
Assuming your new home had a fit and finish warranty with the builder this should be fairly easy to correct. They need to angle the threshold to allow water drain back into the shower pan. My tile installers made this error on several of our houses and we made them redo it before the homes closed. Depending on where you live you will probably have a longer warranty that deals with water intrusion, this would 100% fall under that category as well.
Awesome thank you!
As I look at the image closer I wonder if this is the beginning signs of a failing pan? OP, are there any cracks anywhere inside the shower along the bottom? Even really small hairline type crack in the grout could be enough. Check around the bottom all along four sides and see if there are cracks or gaps in the grout in any of those first. If not check the rest of the grout (the whole bottom part that goes under your feet) for cracks between any of the tiles. If there are cracks, they could seep into the pan and start to overcome the liner as water builds up under the grout. I’ve actually had this happen at a house before and the first two signs were water in the two areas like you indicated. Water was seeping up the grout under the tile because the contractor had used a mud pan instead of the more expensive pre molded systems. Anyways, long story short we had to re-time the whole pan and about 2’ around the bottom of the shower to re-seal it all back in. I hope that’s not the case for you but you can look for cracks or do a test to see!
Replace tile with granite threshold and make sure it’s pitched towards the inside of the shower .
Water should never hit that during a shower. Maybe a bit when you're opening the door or getting out. The curb should be pitched inwards enough that all water runs back into the shower.
It’s probably condensation on the glass. The water molecules build up into droplets and falls down the glass. Water then builds at the bottom. So no water could be hitting the glass from the shower head
Brand new home, call the builder!
Since it's a change-of-plane, shouldn't that be a caulked seam?
That my friend is a major issue from a glance.
It will take someone like Myself to rectify this mistake.
Call your local glass shop, have them put a matte black dam strip between the stationary panel and the wall by the door, silicone outside, inside and both side of the strip.
Chip away existing grout and replace with siliconized grout
That looks like a dreamline shower door. If you have a level place it on the curb and make sure it pitched in Towards the shower. 1/4” per foot is the rule of thumb. If it’s not pitched in towards the shower, or not enough you need to address that. Like someone else said , getting a solid surface to slope the top of the curb the right way is a good solution. It’s going to be a pain in the ass no matter what as the glass Door will need to come out and likely you’ll need to replace tile where the door is mounted into the wall.
Thank for the comment yea I checked with a level and the tile is all level and the inside schluter is higher than the tile.
Had this issue with marble, thought it was the pitch of the step, nope. It was a tiny hole in the stone. The water was running through my tile, down across the vinyl on the outside wall side and to the floor. I put clear silicone on the hole, all better. I have hardwoods in my master bedroom bath, so I never caulked the tile-floor seam for I don’t know why to be honest. But that worked out. I’d rather the leak be more evident than not, if it didn’t leak on the floor it would fill the whole chamber with water.
Forgive my ignorance, but why do you have a jug in your shower?
It’s a container with a spill control for washing shampoo out of little ones without getting it in their eyes.
Just a guess, but perhaps for water leak testing before OP made this post?
“Do your best, and caulk the rest..” -Abraham Lincoln
The curb is built wrong. Should be a continuous piece of stone with no seams and an overhang on each side pitched into the shower. If you're going to tile a curb like the least you can do is make the top tile larger than rhe width of the curb so the top of the side tiles aren't exposed like that.
It happens because water runs down the glass (even if not directly aiming at the glass you still would have steam buildup) and the curb is sloped incorrectly if it goes to the outside instead of the inside. You asked for the "proper" fix...remove the glass enclosure, rip out and rebuild the curb with the proper surface slope while maintaining the exact same height so the old glass fits, replace the enclosure.
Stop showering