Waterproofing my shower....yes, I really did say that :)

Vashti

We have two shower cubicles in the house, one in our en suite, and one in the guest bedroom.

About a year ago, I noticed a very damp, stagnant smell getting gradually worse at the end of our hallway, where the outside walls of both shower rooms meet. On inspection, and having lifted the carpet we discovered huge damp patches on the floorboards. Both showers have trays, and the walls have been 'tanked' behind, but the water seems to have been leaking underneath the tray to the floor beneath, perhaps through the old grouting?

We redid the grouting, and dried out the floorboards by lifting the carpet and using a fan heater and a de humidifier. We stopped using one shower room completely, and are in the middle of installing wet wall instead of tiles. But the other shower, with the patched up grout, is still leaking water under the plaster board wall and into the hallway.

Will wetwall fix the problem, or is it where the edges of the shower tray and the tiles/wetwall meet that is the problem? Is there something esle we need to be doing?

My husband is NOT a plumber by trade, (obviously) but he built this house himself (not a kit) and thinks he is a bit of a DIY expert. I am fed up with his assurances, and he would kill me if he knew I was posting here

Thanks

Volcano

One possibility could be distortion around the shower tray when somebody steps in, especially if the tray is not supported correctly. All you need is a half millimetre gap for the water to drip through.

Baths should be half filled with water before sealing around the edge, it is difficult to replicate the weight of a person in a shower however; maybe a couple of bags of sand placed in the shower tray then re-seal with silicon might cure the problem?

gardnt1

is it possible that its not the shower but a leaking pipe to the shower? or a joint? and therfore constant?

Avoriaz

Volcano wrote: »

.. it is difficult to replicate the weight of a person in a shower….

It is a doddle.

Get in the shower when you seal the tray.

gardnt1

Avoriaz wrote: »

It is a doddle.

Get in the shower when you seal the tray.

and wait until the silicone drys?????


most trays are rigid when put down or should be, so little movement should occur in first place.

greyteam1959

Once came across a similar problem ..........
it was a cheap plastic shower tray that had a crack in it that only opened when you were stood in the tray.......very difficult to spot.

Plasticman

You mention grouting around the bottom of the tiles / tray - I assume you have grouted AND sealed with silicone? If not, then the grout will move and is likely to let water through.

The other common problem is where a shower cubicle has a door fitted. People often forget to seal properly behind the bottom of the door frame - again it should be grouted and have silicone BEFORE the door is fitted.

Vashti

Thanks all..will suggest all this to OH (he will think I have suddenly been boning up on waterproofing...I'll have to come 'clean' lol)

Both showers are double sized, and no expense was spared when the house was being built, so the shower trays are those thick expensive bomb proof ones, no cracks...and all edges have been siliconed as well as grouted (I should have said that in the first place, sorry) It was peeling off a little as it does...but it was also replaced when the grouting was done.

TornadoTom

The house we moved into had the tiles laid onto the shower base, this leaked.
A plumber friend came out to sort the problem for us and said that tiles should be laid with a 2-3mm gap from the base to allow silicone to go under the tiles and seal onto the base.
We had him retile the shower and the problem was fixed.
Tom

Avoriaz

gardnt1 wrote: »

and wait until the silicone drys?????..
most trays are rigid when put down or should be, so little movement should occur in first place.

As you say, most shower trays are rigid, though it is possible that there will be a slight movement when a person steps on it.

But you don’t need to stay in it while the silicone dries. If the silicone is applied with the weight of a person in the tray, then it is applied at the point of maximum movement. It should then easily accommodate any subsequent slight movement as it keeps a degree of flexibility.