Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Apr 18, 2010 8:43 pm The carpet just outside my ensuite is getting wet after shower. I have pulled up the carpet and underlay to dry it quicker. I cant tell where the water is coming from, but only certain areas of the floor board is moist - its not spreading. Anyway, a couple days ago, I hired one of those waterproofing guys. He could see some separation from wall to floor and some cracks in the grout. He re-sealed the whole floor of the shower. I waited till the next day to use the shower but its still leaking!!! Now Im worried that wasnt the problem all along......I have some theories what else it could be. I will be calling them out again to see why its still leaking but I thought Id ask here to see what you guys think the problem could be. 1. Guy didnt do a good job so its still leaking. 2. Is it possible for water to leak behind the tap, down the wall? The reason I ask is because the shower head was recently dripping. I took the tap off and replaced some parts in it. The dripping has stopped but the leaking started shortly after. 3. When I open the shower drain grate - I see water there - is that normal? Same goes with the drain in the ensuite 1.5m away.....both always have water in them about 20cm down. Could that be causing some leaking? Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 2Apr 18, 2010 9:06 pm Couple of things: Check to see if there is any grout loss on the wall tiles. The water in the 'trap' is normal and designed to stop smell coming up through the grate. Did the repair method smell like drycleaning fluid? A clear solvent smell? Could water be leaking through the tap set? Yes it could but unlikely. If the water stopped leaking when the shower was off, then I would be leaning towards tile grout errosion. Ask what the repair method employed ie liquid impregnation of siloxane/silane. That being the case it doesn't void fill so will never work. the fact is that you likely don't have an waterproofing membrane and since the grout has erroded needs to be replaced. Onc Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 3Apr 18, 2010 11:10 pm Thanks for your reply. Your notes - The water being in the trap is normal - great - less to worry about. Unlikely to be leaking from tap - what you said makes sense - when I left the tap off for a few days the carpet dried up. Is it possible for it only to leak when its turned on? Its difficult for me to check now because the waterproof guy actually took the taps off, checked them and put new silicone on - so not easy to take off now. The grout on the wall looks fine - no cracks or anything. The only thing as I said was the separation between the floor and the wall.....which is fully sealed by white sealant now - so I doubt thats the problem. Also, any cracks in the grout is also now gone. I dont know what was used but he said he injected some stuff into the cracks and then some clear coating on top - i think. The shower now looks really good so its annoying not knowing where the leak is. I'll check with the guy in the morning and see if we can find it. Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 4Apr 18, 2010 11:42 pm auswill Thanks for your reply. Your notes - The water being in the trap is normal - great - less to worry about. Unlikely to be leaking from tap - what you said makes sense - when I left the tap off for a few days the carpet dried up. Is it possible for it only to leak when its turned on? No but later you mention the taps have been siliconed on, so it is not leaking from the tap body nor from the penetration through the tile. Its difficult for me to check now because the waterproof guy actually took the taps off, checked them and put new silicone on - so not easy to take off now. The grout on the wall looks fine - no cracks or anything. Have a closer look at the join of the grout and the tile... I suspect the grout has broken away from the tile. The only thing as I said was the separation between the floor and the wall.....which is fully sealed by white sealant now - so I doubt thats the problem. The walls also have a tendency to crack and leak. Also, any cracks in the grout is also now gone. I dont know what was used but he said he injected some stuff into the cracks siloxane or silane..The latest so-called cure all... but it still doesn't void fill and so won't prevent leakage and then some clear coating on top - i think. The shower now looks really good so its annoying not knowing where the leak is. I'll check with the guy in the morning and see if we can find it. How old is the house? Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 7Apr 18, 2010 11:57 pm When I said floorboards....I just meant ur standard wood under the carpet - its not concrete. And shower is just fully tiled. I actually wanted the whole floor re-grouted but they said they dont do that because the builders would have used cement and it would be a huge job to re-grout. Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 8Apr 19, 2010 12:13 am Gday ash... If the house is 4 years old then still under warranty. The whole wet area should have been waterproofed. Obviously not the case. Since the floor is timber I'd be suggesting to remove the tiles and provide a waterproof membrane where there should be one and then retile. The flexablity of the floor and walls are not reflected in the grout and tiles. ...you will have this problem for ever. you might be better off to get an inspector to report on the waterproofing system and have it repaired.(installed) Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 10Apr 19, 2010 12:40 am If you are the original owner then you might have a shot?? Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 14Apr 19, 2010 9:11 am Theres a few things you should check. Sometimes the o rings on the spindles leak. The water runs out along the spindles and into the wall and first becomes apparent at the base of the wall. Try to remove the flanges of your taps and see. When the taps are open, water runs out from the spindles. Secondly, you may have a leak on the pipe from the taps to the shower rose. The way to test this is to remove the shower rose and cap off the thread coming out from the wall. Once its charged with water youll hear a hissing and water will begin to flow from the wall. If these dont give you any signs of a leak, you need to plug off the outlet pipe of the shower and fill the base up with water. If its the water proofing, the leak will become more apparent. (best to do this one after not having used the shower for a few days. If its the water proofing, the company you called to reseal the tiles isnt really the best one to deal with your problem. They seal the shower base and it may be ok for a while, but as the building moves the leak will begin again. A better method is to remove the tiles from the base including the first row of tiles, waterproof the area and then retile the base and first row. I deal with this problem on a weekly basis and have a tiler that does this for roughly the same cost as the resealing people. If youre in Sydney, his number is *********. His name is henry. A PM is good Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 15Apr 19, 2010 11:23 am Ok. At this point I'm really hoping its the tap that is leaking. As I said, I'm pretty sure the leak started shortly after I replaced two things. Don't know the proper names but I guess 1 is the o ring. I'm also thinking my showers are properly waterproofed because the main shower is even worse... A lot more separation but no sign of any leaking. I'm going to try and test the tap now to see if I can tell if that is the source of the leak. Fingers crossed it is. Edit - I find the proper names for the parts I replaced is O ring and jumper valve. Is there different types of jumper valves? If the wrong one is installed - can it cause an internal leak? As I mentioned, when I turn off the water - there is no dripping at the shower head AND no water coming out of the tap area. I just took the whole tap apart and cant see where it would be leaking. Replaced all the parts again and its still leaking. Another thing I noticed but not confirmed is that when I turned the cold water on at first - I didnt notice the timber getting wet. A couple mins later I started the hot water and then I could see it leaking. But that could just be because it took a bit of time for the leak to get there. Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 16Apr 19, 2010 5:02 pm Update - The guy just left again. He did a pressure test on the pipes - fine. Checked the taps again.....fine. He is pretty sure its a leak in the drain or the shower screen. He sealed up the drain. Now we wait till tm to see if its still leaking. He will be back tm either way to do the 2nd shower. I also finally found the builder.....the house is 3.5 years old. The lady told me to send in all the invoices and details and they will see if they can reimburse me. She said though, that this shower waterproofing may only have 3 years warranty - instead of 7 for structual - meaning my warranty is over. Does anyone know for certain if that is true? I asked the waterproofing guy and he said its definitely 7 years - dont let the builder BS u. Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 17Apr 19, 2010 7:08 pm Quote: A couple mins later I started the hot water and then I could see it leaking. But that could just be because it took a bit of time for the leak to get there. Id say you just solved your problem. Remove the tap handles and the flanges, so the the spindles/SBAs are visible. Turn the spindles and see if they leak. (from your description you should see water leaking from the spindle) If you replaced the o ring correctly it shouldnt leak. You may have installed it in the wrong grove. replace it. If it continues to leak from the spindle, replace the spindle. You should also make sure you fitted the red fiber washer on the SBA when you reinstalled the SBAs. Before you fit the flanges and handles, seal around the penetrations where the spindles pass through the tiled wall with silicone and refit the handles and flanges. Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 18Apr 28, 2010 5:31 pm Ok...a little update. I did a lot of testing and its definitely not looking like it is the taps. The waterproof guy came back and he said he found a really small crack in the grout he missed previously. After fixing that up, when having a shower, I dont notice water spreading on floor anymore...great. BUT.....if I put a towel right along the front of my ensuite (under the carpet, between the tiles and the carpet holder - the one with the small hooks coming out) it gets soaked!! And Im not just talking about a little bit of water....its fully absorbed. I stopped using the shower over 4 days and its still absorbing so much water. WTF is going.....there couldnt be that much water there could it? Re: Leaking Shower - HELP! 20Apr 28, 2010 8:55 pm Oh...not sure yet. I have sent the invoice etc to the builder and waiting to see what they say. Pretty much everyone I have asked has said its covered under the 7 years warranty so if they deny it, I will take it further....... DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi, I've got a brand new (2nd hand) Bosch Hydropower 16H tankless hot water heater. Since it was installed I have noticed it leaks a lot. I took the cover off and it looks… 0 24140 I'll look into different shower heads and ask the plumber about some engineering and see what he says. 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