Shower pan dilema (large picture warning)

[Gibbelstein]

Ok, so after investigating a leak through the kitchen ceiling, it looks like we have a leaking shower pan upstairs. There appears to be a 90° tear along the corner of the pan. It roughly follows the head of the arrow in this picture:



The shower is tile, and the house is 77 years old.  I've been watching how-to's etc. and this is the kind of thing I'd like to tackle post FIRE, but don't have the luxury to do it now.  So, instead, I really have two questions:

1) Does anyone know what I can expect to pay to have this fixed?  (I know it varies widely, but I'm in the LA area if it helps)

2) Can you tell me the scale of what we can expect?  The reason I ask is that this bathroom is pretty large and we have been considering cutting it into two smaller bathrooms and attaching one to a bedroom "someday".  This unwelcome development with the shower pan has made us wonder if this project might reach a scale at which it would make sense to pull the trigger on the remodel and get it over with now.  I would assume not, unless there is sufficient water damage to the joists that would require extensive work.

Here is a picture of the wood I am talking about, if it gives you any insight.  It doesn't look that bad to me, but I'm no expert.



I guess I am trying to gather information to figure out something like "If the shower pan alone costs below $X, we should just do that, or if it costs above $Y we should divide the bathroom while things are torn apart."  Or something to that effect. 

There seems to be a diverse experience among the folks on this board, so I thought I would check with other people not inclined to do "upgrades" unnecessarily.  If you have expertise with the work itself, or opinions about deciding to go one way or the other, I'm curious to hear it.

Thanks!
Chris

[lthenderson]

I'm doubting you will get any good answers on this forum. To answer your question, you really need to get two quotes, one for fixing the current shower and one for dividing them into two. Once you have the numbers, then you can make the decision. For us to determine those numbers based off two closeup photos is all but impossible. Other information I would want to know: What is the general condition of the bathroom, i.e. is it dated and need updating anyway? How does your current big bathroom compare to the market and would two smaller bathrooms make it better or worse when it comes to sale price of the house?

[Gibbelstein]

Thanks for the thoughts.  I had not yet considered those.  The dated bathroom is not an issue for me, and it didn't occur to me that someone would be disappointed to not have an oversized bathroom, if that's what the rest of the area has.  I just assumed that increasing the number of bathrooms was always a good idea.

I'm sure you're right about this post being an impossible task.  I should have specified that it was a bit of a hail mary question to begin with. I was mostly looking for outside opinions. I was somewhat worried that if I get quotes for both, there is the potential that someone could inflate the cost of the shower to encourage us to do the whole remodel instead.  But that is starting to sound like paranoia.  And ultimately, if I can't do it myself, I'm limited to the options that I can find.

Thanks again!

[Drifterrider]

I couldn't get the pictures to load.

[sokoloff]

Get a long screwdriver and poke at the discolored wood. If it feels mostly solid, you're good. If the screwdriver goes in up to the handle, it's bad. ;)

The actual repair could be done by a handyman if you didn't care that much about appearances, or any tile contractor could handle this as their bread and butter. This is not a big job, assuming it's just the shower liner and tile, and no wood is rotted.

[GilbertB]

Get a long screwdriver and poke at the discolored wood. If it feels mostly solid, you're good. If the screwdriver goes in up to the handle, it's bad. ;)

The actual repair could be done by a handyman if you didn't care that much about appearances, or any tile contractor could handle this as their bread and butter. This is not a big job, assuming it's just the shower liner and tile, and no wood is rotted.

I would net even try to fix, better rip it out, ventilate to dry, replace rotten wood, treat any wood you can reach, install a new RIGID pan (ceramic or filled fibre or concrete) with a water proof underlay.

Won't cost an arm, but the good stuff comes in big cans, so you will have enough to start working on that dream kitchen.

[Drifterrider]

Pictures of the bathroom??

Are we looking up in your pictures.

Do you have artistic skills?  I don't (they weren't calling me Artistic as a child :)

One thing I can recommend for anyone planning to do ANY remodeling is to get design software (I have a disc from HGTV).  It allows me to design and "preview" what the work will look like before I do any work.  It is a great investment and if you have computer skills (or a teenager) you see the finished computer "walk through" like they show on the Property Brothers, etc.

[Gibbelstein]

Thanks for the input, everyone. 
Sokolof, I literally saw our inspector do that 'disappearing screwdriver trick" on our windowsill... Yikes.
Gildasd, Nice suggestion.  I knew they had to make some kind of "prefab shower pan" but didn't know what to call it.
Drifterrider, I didn't know that was a thing.  I have been mapping it out in excel (one cell = one square foot) and it helped a little.  That is a good idea if we decide to go much further. 

We were finally able to get someone out to take a look and he said it had been replaced at least once before.  He said he would send us a more legit quote but, if anyone is curious, he estimated about

• $1k for the pan
• $2500-$3000 for the whole shower, if necessary (have to wait to see condition of things when it is torn out)
• $500+/- more if the structural wood damage needs addressed
• $500+/- more for fancier tiles
• And he gave us some contractor references if we want to do the full remodel

This is not great, but better than I'd feared. 

[Drifterrider]

Not sure where you live (labor rates) and have no picture of your shower but have you considered a free standing unit?