Leaking shower tray

[lpljimbo]

Hi,

We had a bathroom fitter in to do our bathroom and he made an absolute mess of it and I'm still picking up the pieces now. He ended up walking off the job incidentally.

We have a curved walk-in shower tray. It seems he's tiled the walls and then fitted the shower tray. Unfortunately he hasn't tiled the walls square so there is a gap between the shower tray and the wall, at its largest it's approx. 1cm and then reduces to nothing at the other end of the tray. Needless to say we're having trouble with it leaking. Fortunately the shower sits above an entry between our and our neighbour's house so it's only leaking into that for now.

I've tried trimlux, first having a plumber fit it and then refitting it myself when it came loose, but it appears to be coming loose again and I'm losing the will to live with it!

I really don't want to remove the shower tray as he's cemented it in, so I'm wondering whether we could:

1. Run a layer of decorative tiles across the already tiled wall that would sit on top of the shower tray to bridge the gap, and then silicone the join like normal. That presumes I can find tiles at least 1cm thick and it's possible to fit them so water doesn't run down the wall and seep behind this row of tiles; or

2. Have two sheets of Perspex shower screen made to line the entire inside of the shower cubicle, again at least 1cm thick, and then silicone the join like normal. I'd intend on screwing the Perspex to the wall. This option presumes again that water can't get behind it and continue the leaking and\or cause damp or mould.

Any thoughts or views would be welcome!

Ta

Jay

 

[Burnerman]

It sounds like a job from hell......it needs to be done again, the tray fitted close to the wall and then the tiles dropped down onto it.
Any chance of removing the bottom course of tiles, loosening the tray and repositioning it......any tiles left over, perchance?
Don't go down the perspex route, it will end in tears......if you really have to reline the shower, consider multiPANEL sheets?
John

 

[lpljimbo]

Thanks John, appreciate the response.

I'm not sure how movable the shower tray is to be fair, as I say I know he's cemented it in so I'm guessing it's pretty solid!

If I (or rather whoever I get to do it) was able to move it closer to the wall slightly, do you think the waste would need to be repositioned or is there a bit of flexibility in them normally? We're only talking 1cm at the most.

Ta

Jay

 

[Burnerman]

If the tray has been cemented down onto concrete, then there could be an issue with removing it, obviously......all you need for these things is to bed them down onto a surface that is perfectly flat, so it gets a cushion before anything sets.
As for the drain, it depends on its orientation......if it goes straight out of the wall then its fairly easy, but generally they can accommodate some adjustment.. Thats the easy bit, I'd say!
John

 

[longdogs]

Oh dear. Sorry to hear that a so called 'fitter' has made such a bodge job for you. You would only need half a brain cell to know that the tray should be fitted first. Of all the showers I have fitted, I have only come across one which said that it was to be fitted after tiling, so I had to make sure the walls and tiles were perfectly straight and square. To this day I don't know why.

As suggested, the tray should really come up but I can understand that you don't really want to do that. The tray could be cemented onto board and should be a weak mix which probably could be moved. But who knows what he has used. Also it could have been fixed with silicon. Shower trays are strange things to remove. Sometimes when you just rip the old one out, it comes out in one piece, other times they crack.

I am assuming that you didn't pay him for the job so how about removing the glass and frame yourself then getting someone in to attempt remove a row of tiles and the tray, then re-fit. It might cost you a new tray plus labour but at least it won't leak.

The idea of the secondary layer of tiles around the bottom sounds like the most simple solution. You could have a contrasting tile to make it look intentional. A good seal would be required along the top of the tiles to prevent water getting down the back. Don't fill the bottom gap with grout, use Dow Corning silicon only.

Hope that's of some help.

 

[lpljimbo]

Thanks squeaky and thanks again John.

The trimlux seal seems pretty secure and there's no sign of a leak after using it this morning so I'll give it a few days, see how it looks. If it is leaking, I'll have another think about your advice and start making some decisions!

 

[Madrab]

yeah agree with all, the tray out would be the most complete job but may end up being a start a again with a new tray which is ultimately not what you want.

The other option would be to cut a channel out of the tiles, just above the level of the tray, fit a large seal into that channel that will span the gap between the wall and the tray.
Back fill below the seal and onto the tray with silicone to avoid the back seepage, fit the seal onto the wet silicone and into adhesive within the channel and then once all dry fill the channel in the tile with water resistant grout and cover with a waterproof coating.

I'd recommend Sealux stuff all day long, it's excellent gear. They're the only seals I use when tanking with a shower tray now, haven't had an issue yet.

 

[lpljimbo]

Cheers Madrab.