Leaking shower

JackeeBoy

Hi all

I know this may be a little hard without pictures and seeing everything, but any hypothetical will be welcomed! When I moved into my house, there was a couple loose shower tiles. Didn't notice at first and when my wife used the shower, water started pouring down the walls of the kitchen below. Got the tiles removed and noticed the board at the back was rotten. So, obvious answer is that the water is going behind the walls and dripping into the kitchen.

Forward a few years, I can the shower basin, cubicle and head replaced. Also, new tiles are fitted, grouted and sealed. Left it for 3-4 days before starting to use the shower.

Saw no problems the first few days but have no noticed water has again poured down the wall and this time it's bad enough that water has pooled behind the wallpaper leaving stodgy spots all over. I have looked all over the shower and can't see any places where the tiling has failed. All looks sealed.

Before I contact the person who recently fitted it, I wanted to see if there was any advice I could get to see where the problem is?

Also, am I okay just leaving the wall to dry or is it best that I do something about it?

Radiomiocic_2

Have you checked under the shower tray to see if there's a leak somewhere over there. We are having the same problem and we initially thought it was from the water splash on the bathroom floor. To test if it was the floor, we let it dry then turned the shower on and the water was dripping on the floor below.
I'll take a look under the shower tray today and update it here if I see something.
Ours is quite bad cos the electric mains are under the floor where the water is leaking and the water currently drips from the fire alarm and two bulbs as the bathroom is directly under it.
Great Saturday so far.

Ruski

If it's a fixed head shower I would bet my savings that the leak is from the mixer to the head on the original pipework from what you've described.
Did the installer use all new pipework in both the shower feeds, riser pipework and waste?

Russ

Jonesya

If it's not the tiling, grouting or sealing to the tray then other potential leakage points are the shower unit itself and the drain fittings and pipework.

Depends on the shower unit, but it's possible there could be internal leaks within the unit which only start leaking when you're using it (because the water is shut-off when not in use) which then leak through the pipe/cable entry behind the tiles.

Same with drainage - leaks from the waste trap or pipe joints which only appear when in use.