Custom-tiled showers are a sizable investment, and should last the lifetime of your home. Unfortunately, if you tear up shower tile that was installed in the 1990s and earlier, as I often do, you'll find a host of catastrophes, including horrifying mildew and mold growth as well as failed framing-rotted through after long-term exposure to water. The culprit is bad building science. From a construction standpoint, the function of a shower is to protect the wood structure of the home by capturing water and directing it into the plumbing system. Old substrate systems fall far short of this goal. The trouble is that tile and grout are water-permeable, meaning they let water through to the substrate. Unfortunately, without a waterproofing layer, the substrate soaks up water. The hope was everything would dry between showers, but in bathrooms that are used regularly, that doesn't happen.
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