New shower installed - Leaking through ceiling

stringerbell1

Hi, sorry for the long post.

I've had a new bathroom fitted recently, used the shower for the first time only to find a nice puddle of water when I went downstairs.

Done a few small tests to try and establish the source and it seemed to be coming from the wall profile where it meets the tray.

Plumber came out to check, said it's a silicone issue as the mastic guy did not seal the inside of the enclosure.

A few days later the mastic guy comes to check, says the outside is all sealed correctly and not supposed to seal the inside which is why he didn't do it. He calls his boss (or main contractor) who tells him to seal the inside. So he goes ahead and does it anyway, sealing the drip strip along the bottom of the frame on the inside across the tray. And also vertically where the frame meets the wall (apologies if my terminologies are incorrect).

We try the shower the next day, still leaking. At this point i'm thinking that they need to take the door frame and wall channels off and investigate properly where the water is leaking.

Got the plumbers and mastic guy to come back at the same time and they insist that the door frame does not need to come off. And that the issue is a small gap between the wall profile and door frame, they say the fix is to apply more sealant. So they do this and run the water for a bit, no leak.

The next day, the shower is used and after 5 minutes.... leaking again. My issue is that they don't seem to be willing to take the door and wall profile off, probably as it's time consuming for them and they've already been paid! :mad: Or maybe they are worried about damaging the tiles.

It's a low profile squared shower tray and enclosure. I have done a bit of research and most articles/videos seem to suggest that the tray should be first sealed to the wall once installed, and then sealed again after tiling, and then the wall profile/ door frame installed. In this instance, the door was fitted and then the tray sealed to the tiles afterwards. Could this be causing the leak as there is no sealant under the base of the vertical wall profiles? Or is it likely that the tray wasn't sealed to the wall correctly and that the bottom row of tiles will need to come out?

Thanks in advance

sandyk01

We had a huge issues in our bathroom when we decided to remove our bath and get a shower enclosure instead (what were we thinking!? :mad: )

We spent a good £1400 on the enclosure so it wasn't cheap however I found the first guy who did it, never built a strong enough frame around the shower tray.... this meant every time we got into it there was a slight flex of the tray which meant the sealant broke- there was one time he resealed it and within 6 weeks it started leaking again because over those few weeks it started to break away. Get them round to properly check the stability of the tray and why it continues to leak.

I've heard stone/ceramic shower trays are much better as they do not flex like the plastic ones therefore more stable.

I am about to have another bathroom done again an I am going to insist on a brick frame for the tray to sit on to ensure there is no movement whatsoever.

Fire_Fox

Sounds frustrating!

Write/ formally e-mail the main contractor and request they do a site visit. The person or company who was instructed and paid is ultimately liable for the quality of the work and putting right any damage caused by the leak or by failed attempts to fix it. They are also able to authorise more time-consuming investigations.

ouraggie

We had exactly this problem. When I eventually found someone who knew what he was doing we were gobsmacked to hear the reason why. The Muppet who fitted it originally had not removed the clear plastic protective wrapping (a bit like you often get on new white kitchen unit doors) from our new shower tray before fitting and sealing it!!! Okay, it WAS hard to see but he as a regular bathroom fitter should have either known about it anyway or should have read instruction 1 in the accompanying booklet, which said " Carefully peel off the clear self adhesive wrapping from the shower tray, making sure that none remains"......

Alias_Omega

We had something similar, our shower tray had too much silicone on it, and was forcing the water to bridge the tray onto the tiles, then through a poor jointed seal on the door.

The cure was to completely strip the sealent out, remove the door frames, clean it up. Refit the door frame, then fill the frame/tray gap from the outside, leaving the inside clear to allow it to drain back...

Problem solved... its a nightmare...

southcoastrgi

Enclosure shouldn't be sealed on the inside bottom.
Tray should be sealed to the wall then sealed to the tiles.
Sealant to the tiles should be done before the enclosure is fitted

no1catman

Awhile ago now, but remember a problem with the shower - control knobs wouldn't do anything. Got a new one from Better Bathrooms - plumber came along and fitted it.
Now, he may have warned me I can't remember, but noticed the wallpaper in the kitchen getting damp.
To cut a long story short - poured through the ceiling (even called the Fire Brigade out).
It seems the compression joints had failed. Once that was fixed - re-decorated bedroom, new ceiling and wallpaper in the kitchen with Insurance restoration - everything fine.
Every few years I do need to have the sealant between the shower tray and the wall-board checked and renewed, otherwise drips on the kitchen floor.