Found water damage behind my bathroom tile after a shower leak last month

Last month I noticed a musty smell in my main floor bathroom after a shower. Turns out water was seeping behind the tile because the grout cracked near the base. I ripped out a 3 foot section and found mold on the drywall behind it. Cost me about $400 to fix with new cement board and fresh grout. Has anyone else dealt with hidden moisture issues in Edmonton homes with all the freezing and thawing?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley_west2mo ago

I mean $400 seems steep for a few feet of cement board and grout.

ryanh562mo ago

Wait, hold on... are you saying someone actually charged $400 just for cement board and grout for a small area? I gotta be honest, that sounds crazy to me. In my experience, even with labor included, that price is really high unless they used some super premium materials or did a custom layout. Cement board isn't that expensive per sheet, and grout comes in cheap buckets too. Maybe it was a rush job or they had to do a lot of prep work, but still. I'd double check what all was included in that price, your mileage may vary but that seems like a lot.

wyatt_green311mo ago

Dude. My buddy had the same thing happen in his Calgary place. Thought it was just a small leak. Pulled the tile off and found rot going up the whole wall. Cost him like $1,200 to fix because the studs were wet too. The freeze-thaw cycles here are brutal on exterior walls. Pulls moisture inside through any little crack. That $400 sounds about right if they had to replace the backing and seal everything proper. Grout cracking is never just a small problem. It always hides bigger garbage behind it.