Leak from shower/bath mixer tap

RainbowLaura

Hi all,

While we have been having our en-suite done up we have been showering in the bathroom, which we have not done before. We have a bath/shower mixer in there which was fitted about a year ago, and a hook on the wall to hold the head in place like a "normal" shower if you see what I mean.

Last night I thought I could smell damp so I took the bath panel off, and was horrified to find a pool of water underneath the bath, covering about 1/3 of the floor area under the bath at the tap end. Having done some playing around with it, it is obvious that the shower water is collecting on the sides of the bath (as you'd expect), but is finding its way into the joint where the mixer tap meets the bath and is getting in there.

Firstly, how do I fix this?

Secondly, how do I know whether I need to be replacing floorboards etc? There is no visible damage to ceilings below at all, but we've been using this shower daily for the last two weeks so I dread to think where all that water has gone... well, I know where it's gone, it's soaked into the plasterboard floor.

Please help!!

Mr.Generous

much more likely to be the waste leaking, they are the weak point. Put dry toilet paper under the trap and run the tap for 30 seconds.

The bath shower mixer tightens up with large 'top hat' nuts on the thread through the bath, they are usually nylon. The problem is getting to them, we usually tighten and fit taps before we fit the bath. With one of these ...


you can tighten the nut even if the copper is connected. The taps sit on rubber washers - they should be tight enough so you can barely feel any movement in a mixer, if the tap can be lifted then it could be where the water is leaking.

Norman_Castle

Its unlikely the floorboards will be damaged after two weeks. Leave the panel off to help them dry quicker and to monitor the leak.

RainbowLaura

Thanks both. I know it's not from the actual pipes themselves because I can leave the shower running quite happily if the head is laying in the bath, no leaks at all. But as soon as water hits the area near the tap, there's water everywhere
Not sure what to do really, as we installed it so that when we have guests we can have a separate shower... and now it seems like we can't even use that part of the tap!

dirty_magic

We had the same problem, we siliconed underneath around where the tap hole is and it sorted it.

RainbowLaura

dirty_magic wrote: »

We had the same problem, we siliconed underneath around where the tap hole is and it sorted it.

Ah brilliant, thank you. Good to know it sorted it for you. Hopefully it will be the answer for us too
Out of interest, did it take you long to realise that you had a problem, and did you end up with much damage from the leak?

dirty_magic

Well we'd only just fitted the bathroom and we left the bath panel off for a while as we had to fit tiling the floor around work, so we noticed quite quickly.

I wouldn't worry about damage from leaks, we had a huge leak because a radiator valve randomly popped while the rad was off and it didn't cause major damage. I don't think your floorboards will rot or anything, if you sort the leak they'll dry out and they'll be fine!

southcoastrgi

If the taps aren't loose then the washer under the taps has failed or isn't in the correct place, which ever one it is then the taps will need to be taken out of the bath to sort the problem properly using silicon is just a temp botch

RainbowLaura

Thanks all.

This is a picture of the tap and the underside, if it gives any clues to improper installation...





Also, does this look like the beginnings of dry rot in the timber, or is it more likely to be a result of the dampness along with all the dust and debris under there?



I am a terribly anxious and paranoid person as you might tell...

Mr.Generous

Those black plastic nuts under the taps are what needs tightening. Both wet rot and dry rot are caused by long term damp, don't worry as long as you sort it out.

southcoastrgi

There really should be top hats between the nuts & the bath, the taps don't look fully down onto the bath to me & tightening the nuts has prob made the washers move so I ref back to #8