Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 1 Jan 09, 2009 9:22 pm Just after a bit of advice. As you can see (Pics below post) there has been moisture getting in behind the steel door frame. I drilled a hole in it and its dry now.
As we don't use this shower now it must have leaked through the tile grouting and behind the door frame when it was being used by the previous owners. This is good as it means we don't have a leaking pipe behind the wall. My questions are Is my theory possibly correct? If it is the tile grout, what is the best way to go about sealing them? If I dig out all the rust, use rust converting paint, fill and repaint the areas, what is the chance of fixing the rusting for good? Pics below Rust on frame Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Wall behind shower Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Shower Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Rust on other side of wall Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ wide view Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 2Jan 09, 2009 9:28 pm Has the water come out under the carpet in the other room? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 4Jan 09, 2009 9:57 pm I’m going to wait and see what someone else says.
Not a hundred % sure it’s just a grout issue. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 5Jan 09, 2009 10:20 pm Firstly
does your house have a brick frame??? If so i would say water is potentially leaking in the corner where you would have the white silicon (on the floor) bricks are pourous so the water could be being abosrbed by the bricks and giving you a case of rising damp so to speak. It is possible that they are leaking through the grout. This is why these days it is extremely important to apply a waterproof membrane, Throughout the shower before applying the tiles and grout. Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 6Jan 09, 2009 10:26 pm Marli I drilled a hole in it and its dry now. I am no expert but from you photos this seems a bit odd. Firstly you say you drilled a hole and it is dry now.....does this mean that water came out of the hole???? indicating some sort of water build up behind the metal door jam??? My first thought is that if there is sufficient moisture to cause this kind of rust in the zinc coated door jam then there should be evidence of water damage to the wall and surround but there does not appear to be any. The tile job looks pretty sound from the photos, if water had penetrated the tiles to the extent to cause decay to the door jam I would expect to see some sort of swelling in the Gyprock or paint bubbling or something in the surrounding area. What about this theory.....rust was already present when the door jam was installed (maybe sat outside onsite before installation)....rust only stops in the absence of air so a covering of paint will only hide it but not stop it, a quick lick of paint during the building process will hide a multitude of sins. This rust could have been growing since day one. I have had mixed success with rust killers but you are limited with the opitions you have (short of ripping the door jam out and replacing it) and rust killer is worth a shot. The rust has eaten the zinc coating (which offered rust proofing) so now you are down to raw black steel which will quite happily rust again in the near future (especially if you use a water based paint to cover over it) I would be applying a cold gal paint before the final finish to ward of future outbursts of rust. Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 7Jan 09, 2009 10:33 pm 2 things
2 You need to cut your toe nails. Ed Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 8Jan 09, 2009 10:44 pm I drilled the hole expecting water to either come out, or at least be evidence of water. I used a swab and poked it into the hole and the swab was bone dry.
The house is double brick and plaster. This wall is only single brick thickness. There does not seem to be any evidence of water anywhere else but the steel door frame. The mild rising damp suggestion was my first idea. I am going to have a look at tile sealers and maybe redo the corners in the shower. I will then try to fix the frame and see what happens. Appreciate the suggestions I will cut my toe nails Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 9Jan 09, 2009 10:56 pm Just asked the Mrs and she said there was a little bit of water damage on the bottom of the wall up to the level of the rust. She repaired it and repainted it. I was away at the time.
I am wondering if there was a leak where the shower head screws onto the fitting in the wall, or a tap could that do it? I have resealed these joins and if there was a leak, there isn't now Question Can the grout become porous? Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 11Jan 09, 2009 11:08 pm Don't clean this one much as you can see, its never used these days
mmmm I will redo all the silicon and check for any other holes/cracks. seal it as good as I can and see how it goes I think. Really appreciate the help. Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 12Jan 10, 2009 6:25 am I’d get someone in to do a moisture test of the area.
This looks wired to me. You say it’s not wet now…..but you are still getting the effects of the moisture. Get it done professionally, as Ed said, what ever you do will be a temporary fix. I see render walls???? Oh dear! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 13Jan 10, 2009 6:56 am Yes, me too, weird... or as Michelle says "wired"...
2 more things... (hoping you did cut your toe nails - otherwise it's 3 more ) It is not standing water - you have ruled that out. So,
2 Back to wired... how old is the house? Do you have a safety switch? This "may" be caused by electrolysis caused by a short circuit and the electricity is travelling to earth down this leg of your door frame causing the corrosion. Maybe get an electrician as if it is a lighting wire the safety switch won't work anyway. (if you have one of those electrical neon screwdrivers, try it on the bare metal of the doorframe... - but I would still get it checked) Ed Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 14Jan 10, 2009 7:27 am I've seen this many times before while having to deal with moisture problems on carpets. The damage is consistent with leaking grout.
The shower floor looks like it has been built at that same slab level and any water in the shower that doesn't go down the plug will seep out through the tile grouting and into the concrete floor and give you the rising damp effect. There is often a slight invisible leak between the tiles and the silicone as Borg suggested. Check all the grouting and regrout or touch up if neccesary and then seal the grout, including the floor. You would probably need to re-silicone the joins between floor and wall tiles. The shower probably was not water proofed behind the tiles originally so you either have to re-tile, or try to work with what is already there. There was probably insuffient liquid water to actually wet the carpet, but the carpet could be a bit mouldy on the back from continual moisture. The rust will be caused by the salt type chemicals picked up from the concrete as the water migrates through the floor and wall. Efflorescence I think they call it. It sometimes shows up as a white powdery substance. It's actually alkaline chemicals that contribute to rust not acids. (sorry Borg) Phosphoric acid (like in cola drinks) is used to get rid of rust. (CLR and rust converters) The mineral salts are usually alkaline and require an acid to remove them. The breather holes that you drilled will have let the moisture escape. Probably not a bad idea to leave them open when you have finished your repair as moisture can be difficult to stop altogether. Moisture always travels from wet to dry and if the wall behind the shower is sealed with paint, the moisture can only go up down or sideways to escape. It cannot get out through the paint. Sometimes it will even bubble the paint with the vapour pressure. The carpet will hold the moisture and disperse it and will slow down the evaportation of the mositure from the concrete floor. So leaving a little escape route for the moisture, above the carpet level may help . And apart from the toe nails, don't park bikes or other rubber products on nylon carpet. There is a chemical in the rubber which leaches out into the nylon fibre and after 6 months will change the chemistry in the nylon to produce a brown stain that is not removeable. You will find it is too late already as it only takes a few hours contact for the damage to start. Some rubber soled shoes left on the floor overnight can cause the same efect. cheers Col Nation For information on caring for wool and other carpet and upholstery go to www.woolsafe.com.au Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 17Jan 10, 2009 11:56 am I’ve had a good look at the photos of the shower base, there is no indication of leaking there that I can see. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 18Jan 10, 2009 12:05 pm Michelle I’ve had a good look at the photos of the shower base, there is no indication of leaking there that I can see. Yes, can't say here where the moisture comes form but rising damp is most likely cause of rust (though gal is usually very resistant)... moisture could be from leaking pipe or "o" rings on taps... Re: Moisture behind steel door frame in bathroom 19Jan 12, 2009 9:37 pm The leaks will usually be microscopic cracks or incomplete seal of the silicone in the corners, or it will be just the fact that the grout is pourous and allows water into the slab. None of these will show up in a photo unfortunately.
Water from the taps or shower head thread will usually show up as a pointed effect further up the wall. A re-grout and seal, as well as re-silicone the corners, is the cheapest way to start, and if that is not successful it could be a retile job after properly water proofing the walls before re-tiling. You need to consider using a fibreglass floor pan. cheers Col Nation For information on caring for wool and other carpet and upholstery go to www.woolsafe.com.au Hi I am wanting some opinions about the build of a steel shed I am going to get one about 4.5 x 2.5 m steel shed and the height will be about 2.3-2.4m high The one I am… 0 14442 This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 7989 |