Leaky Bath Seal - Am I Expecting Too Much??

Snuggles

I moved into a new build house just over a year ago, and I’ve had various problems, most of which have been put right by the developer.

However, I have an ongoing issue with the bath/shower. It is a standard bath with a shower over, and basically what keeps happening is that the bath seems to move slightly causing the sealant between the bath and the wall to come away from the bath, and water from the shower is therefore getting under the sealant, trickling down the wall and onto the floor. I didn’t realise I still had a problem until last weekend when I had someone staying - we both used the shower so it was on for longer than normal, and I had a water patch appear on my living room ceiling.

I have had the bath re-sealed twice before, and they are supposed to have “propped it up” to prevent it moving, but obviously there is still a problem.

Am I expecting too much, wanting a fully watertight bath seal??? I just know that if I get them out again, they will just re-seal it, and the same thing will happen again. Is it inevitable that the bath will move a bit when you get in it (I’m not the lightest of people!), and the sealant will fail?

I don’t know much about this sort of thing, and I don’t want to be fobbed off, as the guarantee runs out shortly and I would then have to pay to put things right, so any advice/comments would be much appreciated.

wallbash

When I have sealed a bath
Filled the bath full of water first, then sealed.

In a new build would expect a 'dry' bathroom.
Get them back

adaze

wallbash wrote: »

When I have sealed a bath
Filled the bath full of water first, then sealed.

In a new build would expect a 'dry' bathroom.
Get them back

I'd agree. Also sounds like you would be better off having a go yourself. Only a few quid for some sealant.

Snuggles

adaze wrote: »

I'd agree. Also sounds like you would be better off having a go yourself. Only a few quid for some sealant.

Thanks both, there's no way they would bother to go to that sort of trouble, the contractors they employ just don't seem to give a stuff.

As for having a go myself, well, I'm sure it's easy enough but I've never attempted anything like that before, and to be honest, if it's that simple, it annoys me that they can't get it right in the first place.

Mind you it's a minor hassle after all the other problems I've had!

phill99

I run a Maintenance Company and have been contracted by a house builder to undertake all of the snagging /defects work. What you identify is quite common. As much as anything, it is caused by slight settlement moving things around slightly. You have every reason to expect a water tight bath. Also, when the bath panel is taken off, the 'cradle' which holds the bath in place sits into 'female' cups. The cradle legs should be screwed into the cups. Sometimes these are missing or have come loose and need to be tightened to stopm the bath moving up and down. Make sure tha panel is removed and the reason the bath is moving is dealt with. Then and only then should the bath be resealed. (ensuring the bath is filled with water before mastic is applied, and all of the old mastic is removed).

phill99

Also, make sure the developer redecorates your ceiling, downstairs.

Snuggles

phill99 wrote: »

I run a Maintenance Company and have been contracted by a house builder to undertake all of the snagging /defects work. What you identify is quite common. As much as anything, it is caused by slight settlement moving things around slightly. You have every reason to expect a water tight bath. Also, when the bath panel is taken off, the 'cradle' which holds the bath in place sits into 'female' cups. The cradle legs should be screwed into the cups. Sometimes these are missing or have come loose and need to be tightened to stopm the bath moving up and down. Make sure tha panel is removed and the reason the bath is moving is dealt with. Then and only then should the bath be resealed. (ensuring the bath is filled with water before mastic is applied, and all of the old mastic is removed).

Thanks phill99, I always feel like I'm being fobbed off by the site manager, so your advice is much appreciated. I've already taken the bath panel off and it looks like a rubbish dump under there - rubble, bits of pipe, wood, polythene etc, there is even a bracket of some sort in a bag which is just dangling by a piece of tape from the underside of the bath - I'm guessing it should have been fitted somewhere!

As for the cradle, hard to describe, but there are two sets of legs, each of which is resting on a piece of off cut skirting board which has been laid flat on the floor. Each leg goes down into a black plastic disc which seems to be screwed into the skirting board. However, I've found that one of the planks of skirting board can be moved a good cm from side to side, and the cradle and the bath move with it. I'm guessing that isn't good?!!!!!

It won't be the first time the ceiling has been repainted. When I first moved in, it transpired that the pipework under the bath hadn't been connected up, and so I emptied the bathwater straight through my living room ceiling :mad:

phill99

The skirting board moiving won't help as it means theings are not secured properly. The brackets you mention may need investigating as to what they are for. They may be wall brackets that haven't been installed. Gte someone from the developers out to investigate. If this fails say that you will refer it the NHBC.

Snuggles

phill99 wrote: »

The skirting board moiving won't help as it means theings are not secured properly. The brackets you mention may need investigating as to what they are for. They may be wall brackets that haven't been installed. Gte someone from the developers out to investigate. If this fails say that you will refer it the NHBC.

Thanks, I will do that. This has dragged on for long enough now!