Leak from bathroom (shower) into kitchen

ThisIsWeird

Blimey, Anon! That is bad. Which is good. I mean - it should be easy to ID!

First, get yer hubby on his knees and sweep up all the debris under there. Then wipe it over with a cloth to remove all the surface water. Finish with dry cloths or kitchen paper - get it as dry as possible.

Leave the floor covering lifted away.

Go over all the pipes and everything under there with kitchen paper - get them all clean. Then lay a lot of newspaper under there - lift these plastic pipes and slide them under. Have the paper going up the walls too.

The supply pipes are obviously embedded in the wall, but so are the outlets to the shower heads. We can assume the supply pipes are not leaking, since they'd be leaking all of the time. So, it's to do with either the 'outlet' pipes - ie the pipes coming from the mixer to the shower heads - or it's a leak getting past the screen seals.

This confuses me:

The red arrow is obviously the mixer valve. I'd have thought that this mixer would be connected from behind to the riser bar which incorporates the showers - yellow arrow - but then there's the green arrow part which must be the actual mixer flow outlet. In which case, the riser bar doesn't have any plumbing connection to behind the wall. 

There remains a possibility that the pipe which connects red to green, which is buried behind the tiles, could be the culprit. But, it would leak whoever is in the shower, you, yer hubbs, or your children. And it wouldn't explain the seeming difference between the rain head being used, and the handset. 

So, most likely candidate is still a leaking shower panel.

Get it all dry - and clean - and lay down the paper.

chris_n

The green is connected to the riser with a flexi. There is a valve at the bottom of the riser to switch between the riser and the second flexi.
I suspect if you dry everything then put a piece of toilet roll between the hinge point and the wall it will get wet very soon after you start showering. It probably needs someone in the shower to get the splashing that is causing the problem. 

Anoneemoose

Thanks again everyone, particularly @ThisIsWeird for such a detailed reply again. 

I will give it a good clean tomorrow and get some newspaper on. I think I’ll have to leave the silicone removal and replacing until after Christmas but my husband is off until the 2nd Jan now so we can tackle it after Boxing Day. 

Once it’s all fixed, I’m going to replace the bath panel (will have to get one made) and that bit of plywood and then the vinyl. 

Obviously I’m worried about potential damage to the hidden bits between the floorboards and the kitchen ceiling. Do you think it will be sufficient to just leave it all to dry out properly once we’ve found and resolved the issue? I’ve got a dehumidifier I can use to get rid of any moisture, though I don’t know if that would help seeing as the bathroom is a wet place anyway!

Also, I’m not sure about the mixer things…but apparently it was all worked out with the plumber. As I say, there doesn’t seem to be any leaks/damp patches in the actual wall. 

 

ThisIsWeird

If there's no rot in the floorboards, you should be ok - it'll all dry out and be fine.

Anoneemoose

I’ve just got round to starting to sort this now due to having an illness flare over Christmas and New Year.

I’ve ordered the silicone to pick up tomorrow and the tools to remove. I found another place where the water must be getting through the sealant as well. 



I also put kitchen roll all over (didn’t have newspaper) and that helped to identify that new spot which should of course be fixed when the sealant is replaced. 

I’ve had the flooring up and the bath panel off today and when my son went in for his shower the kitchen roll I had put down in that corner got absolutely soaking but not from any leaking, more from steam and condensation. Our extractor fan stopped working a while ago so I’ve booked the electrician to see if he can fix it for us to see if that helps. 

I’ve had the dehumidifier in all day and it worked so quickly for drying the windows and walls from condensation but that bit on the floor is still wet. The floorboards seem solid though so hopefully once it’s dried out properly, it will be ok. I’ve removed the kitchen roll now apart from that one piece in the picture but it shows what I mean.

So, plan of action is to remove and replace all sealant. Get the extractor fan fixed or replaced which should help the condensation issue, get the floor dried out assuming the sealant is the cause and it does fix the problem. Then I want the flooring and the bath panel replaced and probably sealed so that water won’t pool under the curved of the panel. 

If anyone can think of anything else I should so, please let me know. Thank you again for any help you give. 

Albermarle

It will not be the main source of the problem, but if the shower door opens outwards and is left open after a shower, it will drip on the floor.