We decided to replace the tile in our shower and began demolition today. There has never been a problem with the floor as far as I know but a few hours after I chipped off the floor tiles, I noticed that there were darkened areas due to moisture which has apparently seeped up from the membrane level through the mortar. The water isn't pooled up, only moist along areas which I'm guessing might be small cracks in the mortar. I would have thought that if there was a moisture problem we would have seen discoloration around the tiles but we never saw any sign of a problem. Can I install new tile or am I covering up a problem? Should I seal the mortar first to reduce seepage?

Thanks

Seawaest:

You did not say what kind of pan..

Hard to say until I know what kind of pan.. about how old... that kind of stuff... BUT..

Shower pans are designed to allow WEEPAGE anywhere along the edges of pan (pan should be higher than threshold). Tile grout lines crack and when they do water will definitely seek out the lowest spot and trickle down into pan. GOOD NEWS is that the shower pan had a specific drain with WEEP HOLES that accept this water and allow it to drain into the DRAIN instead of collecting/pooling.

So.. seeing moisture at edges may not be need for concern... especially if no moisture issues underneath.

However if pan is older copper type pan... may want to replace this with newer membrane type pan now so never have to think of it again! Hard to say.

Get back to us with pan type and how old and any other questions... Mark

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Have you ran a test bon the pan by sealing off the drain and filling the pan with a inch or so of water and letting it set overnight? Regards, Tom