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A leaking shower conundrum

It will ultimately be the direction of direct or deflected water too, but there has to be a gap somewhere, either all-the-time or with weight. A weight-opening gap is easier to solve than a water direction. It should be a watertight seal and clearly isn’t. Is there a bit behind the face of the shower surround that’s out of sight? You know if the surround meets the wall it could be about 40mm deep (perpendicular to the door). Between that and the wall is out of sight but could be where the uniquely directed water is being sent.
 
stevec67 said:
I had this in a rented place. They hired a plumber who retiled and replaced the grout, done.
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Aye but there's no point in doing something like that if that isn't the source of the leak.

Shower enclosures are murder for trying to pin down a leak, the water could be running down the inside of the enclosure frame and getting behind the tiles via a screw hole just as an example.

Bottom line is that you need to find the source of the leak per the post in the previous page re three different leaks.
 
Linds said:
It will ultimately be the direction of direct or deflected water too, but there has to be a gap somewhere, either all-the-time or with weight. A weight-opening gap is easier to solve than a water direction. It should be a watertight seal and clearly isn’t. Is there a bit behind the face of the shower surround that’s out of sight? You know if the surround meets the wall it could be about 40mm deep (perpendicular to the door). Between that and the wall is out of sight but could be where the uniquely directed water is being sent.
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That's true. There's no easy substitute for just getting stuck in and start hunting properly for it I guess.
 
twotone said:
Aye but there's no point in doing something like that if that isn't the source of the leak.

Shower enclosures are murder for trying to pin down a leak, the water could be running down the inside of the enclosure frame and getting behind the tiles via a screw hole just as an example.

Bottom line is that you need to find the source of the leak per the post in the previous page re three different leaks.
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Yes, I must admit I was surprised that the plu mber offered that as a repair, maybe he reckoned that it he was paid for that much work and it turned out to be a minor leak nearby, he could come back and fix it. Either way, it fixed a persistent problem. It was fine while I lived there but when my mate called it would leak like a sieve. Mind you, he's a big lad.
 
stevec67 said:
Yes, I must admit I was surprised that the plu mber offered that as a repair, maybe he reckoned that it he was paid for that much work and it turned out to be a minor leak nearby, he could come back and fix it. Either way, it fixed a persistent problem. It was fine while I lived there but when my mate called it would leak like a sieve. Mind you, he's a big lad.
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That's the thing in modern houses the building settles and contracts so the floor moves slightly but it's enough to develop a leak with a bath or shower above a bath or a shower enclosure that's why lead safes were used cause they never leak if they're made and installed properly, the shower base is sitting inside a container so any water that gets underneath the shower tray collects in the lead safe and then drains into the waste pipe via an outlet in the base of the safe but no one ever installs them now cause of the expense and the time it takes to make one on site, think I've only ever been involved with one of them in 45 years.

I can't make one cause they're made with lead sheet and lead burned (welded) into the correct size, you can buy 900mm lead but it's heavy and expensive so you would buy a roll of 18" and make one up out of that.

Actually you might be able to buy one made off the peg, I've no idea, but you can buy chimney pieces pre-made and pipe sleeves too, you just need the pitch of the roof but if you're into that sort of work then you'd make everything yourself.

I worked on new builds about 30 years ago and after about two or three months we used to go back into finished houses and jack up the baths cause the floors had dropped by about half an inch by then.
 
I think a thorough interrogation of your daughter’s showering habits is in order, as it only leaks when she uses it.
How she uses the shower head - handheld or not, angle she directs water etc.
Does she stand on the plug hole causing the tray to fill up more than anybody else?
Does she have long hair that comes off and blocks the plug hole?
Does she listen to music and boogie in there?

I can’t wait to hear what the cause is.
 
Ill have a word, and tell her if she refuses to answer I'll fit a web-cam.
That should get a result.
 
Big Tabs said:
:)

That is up there in the pfm top funny posts of the year.

At least in the top 50.
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I have a leaking shower to repair today, the one the students to whom I rent rooms use, who are all away next 48 hrs only : I can see hairline cracks in parts of the grout, but cannot buy any grout as stores all closed, so I'm going to gun some silicon in and prob remove / retile in the summer.

As for Bob's comment, it's a good one, but I still laugh every time I remember his "Ooh, Matron !" response to something Tony wrote, possibly as long ago as last January :D!
 
The way showers have been constructed over the years just isn't compatible with volume of water that runs down them in a student house, even a family house really. They're usually dependent on a bead of silicone somewhere and are built on a moving, flexible base of some sort. Most grout, and certainly adhesive, isn't waterproof and isn't meant for situations where it doesn't get a chance to dry out completely between uses. More modern installations have a waterproof backing e.g. Schluter Kerdi, which is a polythene membrane, and even then they will fail if not installed correctly or are punctured, to the extent that some people are even using a waterproof coating over the polythene membrane.

https://www.schluter.co.uk/waterproofing_1.aspx
 
twotone said:
That's the thing in modern houses the building settles and contracts so the floor moves slightly but it's enough to develop a leak with a bath or shower above a bath or a shower enclosure that's why lead safes were used cause they never leak if they're made and installed properly, the shower base is sitting inside a container so any water that gets underneath the shower tray collects in the lead safe and then drains into the waste pipe via an outlet in the base of the safe but no one ever installs them now cause of the expense and the time it takes to make one on site, think I've only ever been involved with one of them in 45 years.

I can't make one cause they're made with lead sheet and lead burned (welded) into the correct size, you can buy 900mm lead but it's heavy and expensive so you would buy a roll of 18" and make one up out of that.

Actually you might be able to buy one made off the peg, I've no idea, but you can buy chimney pieces pre-made and pipe sleeves too, you just need the pitch of the roof but if you're into that sort of work then you'd make everything yourself.

I worked on new builds about 30 years ago and after about two or three months we used to go back into finished houses and jack up the baths cause the floors had dropped by about half an inch by then.
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That kind of work surely must have gone the way of the wiped joint, mustn't it? In this age of modern composites and sealants nobody could ever justify the cost of tanking in lead unless it was absolutely essential. Even then you'd do it in fibreglass for loose change, just as is now done when a lead roof is stolen.
 
twotone said:
Doesn’t matter what your daughter is doing in the shower it leaks that’s the bottom line.
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its true, but the actions of a shower head used in an unusual way might lead to splashing in an unexpected location, which will direct the search and may find the leak.
 
stevec67 said:
That kind of work surely must have gone the way of the wiped joint, mustn't it? In this age of modern composites and sealants nobody could ever justify the cost of tanking in lead unless it was absolutely essential. Even then you'd do it in fibreglass for loose change, just as is now done when a lead roof is stolen.
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Nope it's still done but only where the cost or usage justifies the installation of a lead safe, usually in hospitals or public buildings or as I said previously expensive hotels or even expensive private residences especially where there's a lot of shower use or with deluge showers etc.

About forty years ago I worked for a small plumbing contractor and we were installing coffee machines etc in rooms in Howdens engineering in Renfrew, the rooms were Xray rooms where they tested welds etc and the entire room was lined with lead panels so we had to be careful that we didn't screw through the lead when installing pipe brackets.

God only knows how much those lead panels (the lead sheet was sandwiched between 8 X 4 foot plywood sheets) would have cost to manufacture and install
 
-alan- said:
^ Why would that make a difference Ian - just the shower tray overflowing ?
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That may narrow the leaking point to the shower tray seal, but the that should show up when the OP looks underneath after daughter has used it.
 
At this stage your piece of plasterboard is knackered and in my experience are really hard to paint over the stain even when dry just keeps coming back through.

Rip it out and see what's up and replace it with new.
 
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