Leak coming from somewhere in bathroom?

widget1974_2

Can anyone help. I have just moved into a house which was empty for a year prior. I am lucky to have an en-suite so do not need to use the bathroom. I have however still have to clean it and when I washed the bath out I found a week later a patch on my kitchen ceiling which is directly below the bathroom. I took off the bath panel and found that one pipe under the bath was leaking. I had this replaced by a plumber and the drip stopped. On sunday night I decided to make sure that the leak was sorted and had a shower in the bath. To my amazement tonight I have found that the patch on my kitchen ceiling has spread and I had two blisters on the ceiling. I have just made a pinhole in the blisters to release any water, no water came down but the ceiling does feel cold and damp. Went up to the bath had a look under no damp patch or eater in bowl where the original leak was. Seal around the bath is intact.

If your still reading after all that has anyone any ideas on what or where the water could be coming from?

Any help for a single lady would be most appreciated

:j

ben500

It sounds like it may be the grouting or sealant, try tapping the tiles around the bath to see if you can detect any hollow patches this is an indicator you have a problem with the tiling rather than the plumbing, try using the bath but NOT the shower attachement/fitting if you have no subsequent leak again this is an indicator the tiling or shower are the problem, what kind of shower do you have? Is the plumbing boxed in and is that area sound? if simple over-bath shower the most common cause would be tiling/grouting or bath sealant. If you are not able to examine the shower plumbing but have successfully used the bath without water escape then you could try just leaving shower head in bath to run, if you still have an escape then this would eliminate tiles and sealant and point towards shower plumbing, I'm sure others will be along with some suggestions.

widget1974_2

Thanks for your reply & suggestion Ben500

The shower is a power shower rather than an electric one and over the bath. The sealant around the bath looks in good shape, difficult to confirm though in false light so will check again in natural light and also check for the hollowness. Will let you know how I get on.

ben500

You might also like to check the seals around the control unit, some of them have both outer and inner seals and whilst the outer may seem intact the inner may be the cause. Essentially do as much as you can to eliminate each source until you find the cause.

Suzy_M

When you check the seals stand in the bath and move around a bit just in case there's any movement that will open the gaps up when the bath is in use.

27col

This might just be the after effects of the original leak making themselves felt. Keep an eye on the situation under the bath for a while. The ceiling will dry out if there is no more water coming through. However, you may well get a permanent bulge in the ceiling. I have and when I get round to it I will have to replace an area where the water has swollen it.

Airwolf1

I was going to post similar to 27col. Is it the after effects?

I did an insurance claim the other day, a leaking boiler (now replaced) but rising damp has got worse. Similar situation, but it is pure speculation without seeing the problem.

Airwolf1

By the way - you could consider claiming on the hosue insurance. An Escape of Water is covered, and you may get an idea from the surveyor they send round (if they do) as to what is happening. Obviously a claim could affect your premiums etc.

Paul_Varjak

Airwolf1 wrote: »

By the way - you could consider claiming on the hosue insurance. An Escape of Water is covered, and you may get an idea from the surveyor they send round (if they do) as to what is happening. Obviously a claim could affect your premiums etc.

There can be a problem with claiming where the damage has 'occured over time'. I found this out a year ago when I discovered my shower had been leaking for months (maybe years). The insurance company refused to pay out on this basis. I checked the policy wording and the insurance assessor was correct.

Luckily, I had just changed policies and made a claim on my old policy - even though the old policy had a similar clause. Luckily, the insurance assessor for the old company seemed unaware of this clause and I got the claim settled in full!

I decided not to take any chances when replacing the tiles in the shower - I used MERMAID BOARD instead! I also put a water detector (bought from LIDL) under the the shower tray (after fitting it with a long life lithium battery of course).

widget1974_2

Thanks for all your replies moneysavers. I am still getting water coming through and I have not used the bathroom since last sunday. I am now wondering if I have a leak coming from the central heating as this is next to the bathroom and the water could be going to the weakest point caused by the previous leak. Does anyone agree with my thoughts?

ben500

Is your central heating system losing pressure? This would be the most noticable identifyer for the system itself.