My Shower Caved In...

For several weeks we were living with this sign on the shower door in our master bath. Mainly it was for me so I wouldn't try to use it when we had a little problem...

Here is what I found when trying to take a shower one night. The tiles were popping off in one long strip at the bottom of one side.

We weren't really sure how to fix the problem, but removing the rest of the tiles that were falling off seemed like a good start. Fortunately, it was only 2 rows of tile at the bottom of the shower. And do you see what's under the fallen tiles? More tiles!

Why?

I have no idea. (In older houses, you just never know what kind of random things you'll find).

After removing the old tile, I busted out the big guns and throughly cleaned everything. Thanks to the double layer of tiles, we didn't have to completely re-do the bottom of the shower.

So we headed to Lowes and met a nice sales person who told us what we needed to re-adhere the fallen tiles. He also reminded us several times to apply the new adhesive to the tile like "buttering bread". My husband even learned that grout comes in several colors including white (like we needed) and gray (like we got- I assumed that he knew this, he didn't).

We cleaned the tiles and were able to re-use them. After buttering the tiles, applying the grout, and coating everything with sealant, we now have a functioning shower!

Even with the light gray grouting, it still looks pretty good. Like our sink, however, the shower is also a temporary fix until we have enough money to re-do the entire bathroom. But it keeps the water in the shower where it should be and didn't cost too much so I won't cry when we finally take a sledge-hammer to it!

If anyone has any tips or stories about bathroom renovations, I would love to hear them!