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Need some help with marble replacement

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Can anyone give me an idea on the labor cost to tear apart a 3' by 5' shower (with extra tall walls) that has marble walls and floor? Ours is leaking.

Last year I brought in a contractor to give me some options, as a last resort he said it would have to come out, or at least the whole bottom of it and the lower wall, then rebuild. The problem of course is that we tried everything to stop the water migration and it looks like we are heading toward a rebuild. And of course matching the marble will be difficult at best.

So I need to get some handle on the labor cost to tear out and rebuild the shower.

I realize the marble costs will vary wildly depending on the type of marble we pick to replace the existing marble. That is why I am hoping someone can give me an idea on the labor costs to do a job like this.
 
Bob,

Are you looking for a price just to tear it out or for a full re-build?

Tearing it out is pretty easy if you aren't trying to save the existing marble. If you put on an old Hawaiian shirt, jeans, good boots and eye protection, you can do it yourself. Remove the fixtures and doors then take a hammer and bar and have at it. Rip out everything down to the studs.

Now, after the water issue has been addressed, putting things back together is a little more difficult. There are several ways to put up a new wall. I would recommend that whomever does this puts a vapor barrier up this time...
 
I need the labor to rebuild the underlayment, floor pan/membrane, etc. Basically starting at the studs and going from that point to the finished shower. Water is leaking onto the membrane layer under the marble. We have no damage to the ceiling below, but we have a constant minor problem with damage to the lower part of the wall at the top of the membrane, water seems to find its way very very slowly to the drywall and wicks into the drywall.
 
I don't have a direct quote, but we had a 3x4 shower built with a "cultured" marble base and tiled walls and the labour was $1000. This was not done to my liking - I would have preferred cement board instead of green drywall and the epoxy grout that you don't have to seal - but the contrator assured me he had done a ton of these installations. No problems yet, but I need to seal the grout every time I think of it.

John Bridge forums is a great place for tiling advice. Touting themselves as the friendliest DIY forum on the internet, and I'd tend to agree.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1
 
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