Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Apr 26, 2011 10:50 am Hi guys, I've recently noticed that our upstairs ensuite shower has developed a leak. Some water is getting under the tiles around the shower frame. Here is the culprit shower: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So it's a double shower with a stegbar semi-frameless setup. You may see there is some water staining around the left side of the drain, where a little water sit - suggesting the fall isn't perfect. The rest of the shower drains ok. Here is the drain: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here's one of the corners of the frame. You can see that the tiles outside of the shower have some discolouration of the grout (particularly right side) and on the surface of the tile next to the grout. So water is somehow getting into that grout and not draining away very well. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is the other corner against the wall. Concerningly, a small amount of water seems to be travelling along the wall/floor join and getting right to the doorframe on the far left: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The leak is only evident while the shower is in use. Firstly I cleaned out the drain - there was a LOT of gunk trapped in there, but the shower wasn't really backing up much so probably not the cause. Then I stripped out all the old silicon inside the shower, planning to re-do that. On doing this, I noted that there was a significant amount of water sitting inside shower frame. Since the two leaks appear to be originating at the two shower frame brackets, my guess is that water is building up inside the frame, then leaking through the underlying grout, and making it's way out of the shower. As is evident in those pics, the rubber seals in the shower frame and the corner brackets have seen better days, so I'd say they're letting the water in. The grout between the tiles inside the shower looks fine, suggesting the drainage is working as it should. So my question: should I get someone out to replace all the seals and corner joints of the shower frame, and reseal the shower with silicon? Or does the problem likely go deeper and will it require the tiles to be removed? I believe there is an undertile membrane as the house is only 7 years old (and generally built to a high standard), and there is no evidence of water damage to ceilings underneath the shower (yet). But it is unsightly and the water getting to the door frame is a worry! Re: Leaking shower - what to do?!? 3Apr 29, 2011 1:54 pm kiwichick I would worry about water leaking into the floor and wall joists causing rot. Waterproofing of the shower membrane is impt. Get it sorted asap to avoid a bigger bill oh absolutely, we stopped using it immediately. we're going to start with having all the seals on the shower redone, and see if that does the trick. Failing that, tiles will most likely have to come up... Re: Leaking shower - what to do?!? 5May 04, 2011 8:09 am paddy13 In the third pic does the silicone actually meet in the corners? it doesn't look like it from the picture. I think you're referring to the clear/white strip on top of the metal frame? if so, that's not silicon, that's the plasticky strip that seals the shower screen. It doesn't meet as the seals have probably shrunk and deformed over the years. That said, I don't think they'd ever seal 100%. I suspect the frame is probably designed to self drain from those corner pieces back into the shower enclosure, but I'm not certain. Looking into this more, I'm wondering if possibly there is no metal waterstop beneath the frame. Will have to pull the frame out and inspect I think. 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 24147 I'll look into different shower heads and ask the plumber about some engineering and see what he says. Thanks 2 9563 Hi All, about to commence a bathroom renovation and need some advice on subfloor works. Current subfloor is hardwood T&G floorboards on 90x45 joists, but intention is to… 0 5834 |