Water damaged drywall

[Jimmie D]

While repairing some plumbing I found an area of water damaged drywall from inside the wall. The drywall has completly disintergrated due to misture from a washer drain. The other side of the drywall has ceramic tile and is showing no signs of the damage but apparently is only being held together by grount and mastic. Damage is limited to the area between two studs. I know what should be done to them and in about a year the whole bathroom will be ripped out and most of the drywall replaced with backerboard but that cant happen right now.

Source of the water damage has been repaired.

I am having some insulation work done within the next couple of days with spray foam. I was thinking about mounting some metal bars between the studs and getting the insulation guy to spray it. I figure the foam has got to be at least as sturdy as the drywall.

Any opinions

Jimmie

[Mikepier]

You could just laminate a piece of backerbord to the damaged area. That way it will be water resistant and give some strength to the wall and tile

[beecrofter]

Wire mesh and mortar, just like stucco is the first thing that comes to mind. Thinset would probably work too. Slather some on, imbed the wire and fasten it to the studs, and slather some more on. Probably get you by for a long time.

[Mike Paulsen]

The expanding spray may exert pressure on the tile, even if it doesn't fill the wall cavity. You can image what would happen.

This may be a good time to leave well enough alone. You're planning to do a tear out in a year and can make a temporary repair if it fails before then.

[Jimmie D]

Ive thought about the expanding foam pushing out the wall and I just got through placing a plywood backer on the tile side of the wall. I figured this would be a good idea no matter how I am trying to fix it. I am going to wait until I see how rigid the foam is before I try anything. I may go with the thinset and metal lathe.

Several years ago I saw a guy give a demo on the foam, he sprayed a 1/2 thick piece of OSB with 3 inches of foam placed it acroos sawhorses six ft apart and stood on it. His point was that not only is his product a great insulator but it also adds to the structual integrity of the building.

I may run this by my insurance company and see how far they will go on repairs. It would be nice If I could get all the tile ripped out and replaced for the cost of my deductable.

Jimmie

[Bob F]

My insurance company doesn't cover this kind of "slow" water damage anymore.

[noname87]

I would really think twice about calling the insurance company. If it is covered, they are only going to pay for repairing the small (from your description) part of the wall that was damage even if the new tile doesn't match. They are not going to pay to rip out all your tile and replace it. The amount you get will be probably be small after the deductibles. The real concern is that some insurance companies have a habit of dropping customers who make small claims. Do you really want to take the chance that the next time you file a claim that they decide they don't want you as a customer? Another issue (not as likely) is that the insurance company will see something they don't like and require you to fix it or lose your insurance. This happen to my neighbor who filed a small claim to fix some damage due to a small kitchen fire. The insurance company paid but noticed his sidewalks were not level and gave him thirty days to fix it or lose his insurance. Needless to say, the cost of new sidewalks exceed the cost of the kitchen repairs.

On Mar 18, 12:32=A0pm, "Jimmie D" wrote:

[Jimmie D]

Well I got it sprayed with insulation this morning and it seems to have worked OK. The guy that did the work did it for gratis since he was already doing my garage. He wanted to see if it would work. I really think this is close to having concrete backerboard installed. Much better than greenboard..

Jimmie