Starting At Day One.
By: Harry Dunbar

The tiles here are installed over a raised area of the floor because the builder or renovator chose not to embed the drainage system into the concrete, therefore had to build a subfloor over the whole area. My intentions are to rebuild the drainage system in such a way as to have one level throughout the bathroom and hall areas. This may not be possible but after the floor is ripped up I'll have a better idea.

Notice the colour of the grout lines. The black shade is a strong indication of water damage and mold. There are similar indications along the walls and in the shower. A musty smell is also a strong indication. So I'll keep digging away until I get to the source of the problem.

Because of the mold, a complete demo is emanate.

After the shower stall has been removed you're able to see that water has been able to collect under the stall and create a perfect environment for mold. The wood has decayed and will be removed.

No surprises here.

The joists which are sitting directly on the slab are water damaged, moldy and must be removed. The customer can be grateful that the sump-pump is just on the other side of the wall with a positive slope from this area to the sump-hole, otherwise the damage would be spread out and harder to correct.

I'll decide what all the options are after the floor is lifted. At this point my thoughts are to sink the plumbing (if I'm able) and then install a waterproof mortar bed, but we'll have to wait and see.