Re-attaching loose shower enclosure

I was cleaning & caulking the shower stall. Two walls are what appears to be fiberglass or some other synthetic material. The other two walls are plaster. There is a tile wall base and floor. I was re-caulking where the walls meet the tile wall base and discovered that one of the synthetic panels is not firmly attached to the wall near the bottom. Caulking would do no good because that section of wall is loose. What can I use to firmly reattach the panel to the wall. Should I use mastik or "Tough as Nails"?

As usual, whenever I tackle what appears to be a simple task, I always end up discovering something that makes the whole procedure more time consuming than anticipated.

 

baylynx,

What you describe appears to be a problem with the substrate or the adhesive material that was used on the panels. I would suggest removal to ensure that you don't have other issues.

The other issue is how do you propose to get Liquid Nails behind to even make it work.

I assume moisture has gotten behind the panels, the effort to reattach is simply a waste of time. This would not be healthy if you have mold behind this and you didn't check it out first.

Hope this helps!

 

You're right Doug. There are other issues. I took a look at the wall on the other side of the bathroom shower stall and discovered areas that are bulging, soft and spongy. Incredible as it may sound, I had a termite company do an inspection in July. They issued a report disclosing problems in other areas, but they totally missed this even though on close inspection it's pretty obvious . They actually corrected all the other problems and issued a clearance. I'm having them come back out and take a look at the situation today.

Worse case scenario... I expect the whole shower enclosure may have to be replaced, along with any damaged framing inside the wall, as well as the sheetrock on the other side. What a mess!

The house is on the market, and tomorrow is my broker's open.

 

baylynx,

Sorry to hear that you saw more problems. I would postpone the open until you have things back in order. Nothing worse than having an open and those reviewing see problems and if you get a request for a showing, it's hard to get them to forget what they saw.

Try and complete repairs as soon as possible. I would recommend a fiberglass remodeler shower kit, 3 pc plus new base, it can be easily installed, not expensive, and done quickly by a professional if you can't do it yourself.

Good Luck and have a fast sale!