New build home master shower needing completely replaced due to poor waterproofing?
Hello everyone, I wanted to start by saying I am very new/ignorant to a lot of the issues in this text and overall I want to make sure I am handling this situation correctly. I have spoken to many people and have done research online but I think Reddit can also give me some good insight. This has caused a great deal of stress for the past few days.
Background, wife and I purchased a new build home four years ago. We had to move last year and were fortunate enough to find tenets and rent the home out. About a month ago our tenets notified us of a small water spot on the ceiling of the living room - under the master shower. We had a plumber come look at it but it was decided to watch it before opening the ceiling. A few weeks later the spot got larger and expanded, plumber came back out to open the ceiling. He did not find any leaking pipes and took a look at the shower and thought the leak was due to cracked/missing grout in between the tiles. We then had a tile guy come look at the shower, he took photos and noted multiple areas where grout was missing/cracked. Ultimately though he said that even though the grout is missing in spots, the water should not be leaking into the ceiling below and basically the shower has failed due to poor waterproofing from either poor installation, wear and tear, or both. He gave us the choice of regrouting it which is a "band aid" or a complete demo and basically redoing the shower. We then got in contact with a contractor and he was able to give us a quote of ~$25,000 for the project.
I then filed a claim with our insurance and am waiting to hear back from them. I also reached out to the builder multiple times but they obviously want nothing to do with the ordeal. Their one year warranty has ended and our 2-10 year warranty we currently have only covers major structural damage.
First, I guess does this assessment from our tile guy seem accurate? From reading online it unfortunately does.
Second, is there anything I can do regarding our builder? Seems insane to me that a shower in a four year old home would need to be completely redone due to normal wear and tear and this is more of a shitty installation.
Third, we are still waiting to hear back from our insurance. I like to think this will all be covered but I also read HO insurance won't cover slow leaks.
Finally, any other piece of advice for me? Thank you for taking the time to read this, any and all help is appreciated.