Leak under bath but can't get to it

[Deleted User]

Hi
I moved into this house 6 months ago. The bath panel is tiled with the same tiles as on the floor. I don't know how it's been fixed although it is sealed around the edges.

I don't know where the tiles come from.

There is a small leak showing on the lounge ceiling under the bath.

I've asked a plumber to come but does anyone have ideas on how he will approach this?

LEJC

My guess is he will probably need to go through the tiles to find the source of the leak...sorry its probably not what you want to hear...

HHarry

Or up through the ceiling!

But you might get lucky. If it needs re-sealing around the edges they'll be no need to damage anything, or if it's a loose waste it might be possible to do it from the top.

macman

Remove the edge sealant and it may be possible to remove the panel with the tiles intact.
All too often this is the result of DIY tilers who don't consider the possibility of access being required later.
Built-in WC cisterns offer suffer the same fate.

keystone

I usually fit a panel within a tiled side that is the same size as "n" tiles to provvide access, large enough to be able to get to pipework, valves etc but small enough that its not too heavy. I don't grout that panel in - it gets siliconed in. If you have something like that just run a knife all the way round through the silicone and you will have access. Otherwise it seems you will be digging.

Cheers

marlasinger

We had a leak under our bathtub. One plumber wanted to rip up the tub and charge a fortune. We had another guy come and look at it, and I don't know the technical bits of it, but he ended up replacing some piping in the kitchen (which is next to the bathroom) and re-routed it, so the leaking pipe under the tub was now redundant.

We had to lift up the kitchen floorboards - which was extremely messy - and some lounge floorboards, in order to find the right place to connect, and it was fortunate he did, as we found another leak under the kitchen floorboards. It had obviously been poor patchwork, as there was sections of copper and sections of lead and higgeldy-piggedly.

Guess what I'm trying to say - in a very long winded manner - is that there may be other ways to approach it rather than having to rip out the tub.

macman

What your plumber did was to simply bypass the leak and leave the old (formerly) leaking section in situ.

cyclonebri1

macman wrote: »

Remove the edge sealant and it may be possible to remove the panel with the tiles intact.
All too often this is the result of DIY tilers who don't consider the possibility of access being required later.
Built-in WC cisterns offer suffer the same fate.

And equally as often by pro's that don't care may I add, sorry, but it's a fact.

My advice was going to be the same, scratch the sealant or grout out from around the edges of the tiles in the hope of finding which panel has to come off 1st.

It should be possible to ascertain if there is a leak around the bath, if it is that simple you should be fine, not even a job for a plumber really.

But, if the sealant is totally intact then the approach from below becomes a 50/50 shot, provided the drain actually runs within the void under the boards.

Leaking outlet flange, ie plughole thing is my best guess. In that case access really has to be made by removing the bath panel/s

My bathroom is like this, has 600 x 600 tiles to the bathpanels and the bath is set in a box with a tiled top edge giving a "land of about 150mm all around the bath.
A plumber wouldn't have a clue how to get in to that box.

Pedant that I am, and with a failing memory, there is a drawing of where to cut into the sealant to free the panels in my home manual
( The box file where I keep every single item concerned with the home, planning consents, manuals, receipts, parts drawings etc etc)

PS, the tiled panels on mine are simply held by sealnt on the edges only.;);) hence the cutting drawing.

PPS I have extra tiles in the loft incase plan A fails:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

keystone

Water can travel quite a distance until it appears. Knocking holes in the ceiling where the wet bit is on the off chance of coming up under exactly where the leak is is a complete lottery.

A small hole in the ceiling and stick a camera up there might give a better clue as to exactly what the problem is. Equally a built in access panel of some description at installation doesn't need a camera but achieves the same result so that decisions for rectification can be taken.

It may well be that the results of the incestigation will show water has been running down the wall where the sealant has failed.

Once you have access you need to eradicate each potential source one by one. It needs to be methodical. Random guesswork isn't going to help.

Cheers

mchale

Try the screw that secures the bath waste, they can come loose, its where the bath plug goes in you will see a screw there

Gastines2

Having had to deal with the same problem and with no spare tiles I got around the problem by doing this... Obviously try cutting old silicone sealant and lifting complete panel out first.. If this doesn't work pick a tile joint from floor to bath lip and with a Stanley knife or similar, remove old grout,then with a new blade cut through backing board.Yes it takes a few minutes but I have done this on ply boards even using a hammer to knock the blade and give it extra force. You should then be able to remove that section and replace it as and access panel and regrout.Take care is also obvious.