Sealing around and underneath bath

andygb

We are putting in a new vanity suite at the moment, and I have decided that the bath (which is in VGC) needs resealing. I am a bit paranoid about this, because a few years ago, we needed to replace the kitchen ceiling because water was leaking around/underneath the bath.
We have floor boards, so I was thinking about this:
Remove bath
Lay 6mm ply underneath (working around pipework)
Put vinyl on top of ply, and seal around wall and pipes
Refit bath, taking extra care with new sealant
The floor inder the bath should now be perfectly waterproof, and as the bath panel is easily removable it will be a simple task to check for leaks.
Am I being paranoid about this, or has anyone else suffered flood damage inside the house? I should point out, that the OH likes to spend a long time in the shower, and often has the pressure switched right up.

Oldsoak

The problem you described will most likely not be solved by putting ply under the bath.
pull the bath out slightly, then pump in a generous amount of silicon along the edges that touch a wall. Then push the bath back into place, so that the silicon is squeezing out. Smooth out that silicon with a tool or finger, remember to keep dipping the tool in water (never lick your finger, silicon is carsonagenic). If your bath is touching 3 walls then you will just have to try to inject the silicon into any gap.
Once you have tiled above this then you would silicon the gap between tiles and bath, thus giving a double seal.
This should work if done correctly, I use this method all the time.
Just a word of warning - if you have tiles above the bath and are not planning to replace them, be careful, as the bath may be bracketed to the wall
(which is then tiled over), and would result in at least pulling tiles off or worst case breaking them.
Good luck, hope this helps.

tpt

yeah agree with old soak. the only way to really sort this (if your that paranoid) is to tank it out as if its a wetroom - but thats only a new fit option

andygb

Cheers guys, really like the silicon idea with the bath, and wonder why all plumbers do not use this method.

Ruski

All good plumbers do!

andygb

Ruski wrote: »

All good plumbers do!

:rotfl:
That is what I thought. Job done yesterday, and we also found that the overflow hole/trim near the top of the bath had no sealant whatsoever, so every time my missus had one of her "mega showers" - full on, hot as possible, water was getting through there.