20% moisture content on plasterboard behind tile!?

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Some advice please on whether my logic makes sense!

I found a crack in the grout and a loose tile behind the shower bath tap recently, and have taken the loose tiles off (the bottom row of tiles above the bath - see photo).

The rest are stuck very securely so have left them be.

I've ran a dehumidifier and a separate fan in there for the last few days to try and dry everything out. I can't tell if the board behind the tap is plasterboard or concrete board, but whatever it is, the board behind the tap is still showing a water content of around 15% - 20% so I'm assuming its still wet behind where the studs are.

I cannot take any more tiles off without potentially breaking them.

So I think I need to:

1) Remove the tap and cut out some of the water damaged visible board - leaving enough there that I can attach some Abacus Elements Board to once ready.

2) Inspect behind the board and ensure it is dry and free from mould;

3) Cut and fit a new piece of board, then silicone between bath and board, then re-fit tile and silicone around the edge as normal.

Am I missing something or does this sound sensible?

The wife is not up for a bathroom refurb or long wait to get this sorted, so I will need to refurb and deal with any issues I can't tackle another time. For now I just need to make this reliably waterproof until then.

Thank you in advance.
 

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Your 3 steps you mentioned are sensible. I advise you to do that, it will extend the lifespan of the bathroom, but be prepared to potentially refurbish the whole thing in the future and do it all properly on backer board with tanking and sealing tape etc. If the tiles are on plasterboard or ply they will all fail at some point
 

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