Flooring Tile - Leaking tile issue in shower?

hi

i have a stand up shower, tiled stall (ceiling, walls and floor). the drain is poorly positioned and the water from the shower pools next to one of the sidewalls and does not go down the drain.

i suspect, that over time, this has reaked havoc on the tiles. the grout lines and caulking have cracked and are showing strong signs of mold.

i need to investigate the problem and possibly relocate the drain or reslope the subsurface so it drains properly.

i assume the shower stall has a pan behind the tile to prevent water from running behind the walls. i see no water damage in the bedroom below the shower.

should i just tear it all out. deal with the drain. then, retile with all new stuff? or should, i tear out only the bottom of the walls and the floor tiles and fix that area, then re-use the tiles to match the ones that i didn't take out?

thanks a lot

If you haven't found a source of water outside the pan, it probably isn't leaking. Although you could test the pan first. Then, what you could try to do is remove the layer of tile on the floor, then reset with more thinset to form your sloop. You may have to sloop the floor with thinset first, then when it dries, set the tile as normal.

Unfortunately this will not show if the pan has a presloped floor. If not, the water will always pool in the deck mud and cause mold and possible tile and grout popping out.

If you really don't like where the drain is, then you will have remove the tile about 8 inches around each wall then tearout the floor and all, set the drain in the new spot and build a new pan, etc.

Hope this helps