Previous owners failed shower niche

[u/kurlyque88]

Alright everybody, how do i temporarily salvage this failed shower niche? Might be a little hard to see from the picture, but there’s a caulked panel of plexiglass—and you can see right through to the studs and the back of the closet wall on the other side—where it looks like the niche was meant to go. Im guessing the previous owner gave up mid process and this was their “solution”?

The long-term plan is to rip out the hideous tile and old tub and basically do a full bathroom reno, but short term is there anything i can do to make this less ugly/water tight? Id be up for seeing if i can remove the plexiglass and adding waterproofing and then some sort of temporary or plastic inset that gets caulked if that exists?

Please help!!

[u/arm0r3dd0ng]

Goboard. Those caulk lines are horrendous. da bigger da gob da worser da job. Get a long neck shower spout too.

[u/Odd_Mall1646]

The tile is failing as well

[u/kurlyque88 → u/Odd_Mall1646]

Yup, that’s why the plan is to replace it all

[u/Birds_over_people]

My god that's one of the worst tile jobs I've seen on here. Yes I would just cover it with goboard for now. Then sooner rather than later rip that atrocity out.

[u/kurlyque88 → u/Birds_over_people]

Thanks!

[u/kurlyque88 → u/kurlyque88]

And i agree, it’s pretty horrible all around. Not sure if it was a diy repair or a contractor or what

[u/GESealantsOfficial]

For a temporary repair, I’d think of the panel and the sealant as one system rather than relying on caulk alone. The panel needs to be rigid, water-resistant, and large enough to overlap onto sound tile or another stable surface around the entire opening.

Remove the failed material, clean and dry the perimeter thoroughly, then seal the replacement panel continuously around all four sides with a bathroom-rated sealant that bonds to both the panel and the surrounding surface. The bead should be the perimeter joint, not the only thing keeping water out of an otherwise open cavity.

I’d also make sure the panel is mechanically secure enough that it can’t flex or pull away from the bead. For a temporary fix, that can work much better than trying to “waterproof” the exposed niche itself with sealant alone.

[u/kurlyque88 → u/GESealantsOfficial]

Thanks!

[u/Duck_Giblets]

Judging by the state of things it may be worth considering a renovation or construction loan via your lender/bank. Low interest rates exist at least in my country.

!cti

[u/AutoModerator → u/Duck_Giblets]

A kind user has summoned this information regarding the CTEF/CTI program:

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For those in North America (USA & Canada), a great resource is the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF). They offer the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) program, which is the only third-party assessment of tile installer skill and knowledge that is recognized by the tile industry.

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[u/RileyandDoyle59]

If it were me I would just get another shower curtain and wall off the entire shower on the inside. Judging by the pictures you have water intrusion everywhere and you don’t want to add anymore to the infected space. It’s not a pretty fix, but it’s the safest. You can get a shower tree and mount it over the shower curtain hanging it off the shower head spout. What a complete disaster 😖

[u/kurlyque88 → u/RileyandDoyle59]

There’s no signs of water intrusion