Bath Bother

[WillyWarbucks]

hello!

I've just moved into a house and discovered that the bath is leaking around the sealant. So I removed it and tried to lay down some new stuff neatly with masking tape. But I wasn't fast enough around the awkward parts of the bath and the silicone set before I pulled the tape off! haha.. nightmare. So I removed the tape and silicone again and resealed it thickly in a quick way without masking tape. We'll be doing up the bathroom within a year, so it needn't look pretty.

But to my dismay, the bath is still leaking at a visible corner. The sealant is thick but I've just had a look and there's a hairline crack in the tile grouting above it. I'm afraid I didn't take a photo of that, I've literally just now sealed it up with more silicone. Hopefully that stops the leak. The bath also leaks out the terribly designed shower screen. (see photo). I'll definitely have to replace that thing.

my questions:

1. I was going to ask about the corner leak, but maybe the hairline crack was doing the mischief? I'll find out tomorrow.

2. Behind the bath (see photo) there's hardly any space. I couldn't even get a spanner in to try and remove taps. Is this normal? I suspect it's not. I wanted to try to seal the underside of the bath somehow. What's a normal procedure for sealing a bath? Surely it's not just 1 layer of sealant inside the unit? We only noticed the leak as it goes straight down the wall and into the living room below! There's just got to be more protection than that usually? Did the original installer run out of space and just wedge the bath in?

3. The bath seems to be resting on a bag of cement (see photo). Is.. this.. normal? I thought it was weird.

4. Not really a question. I just wanted to say- I hate the design of this bath (see photo). The back has a raised rim that traps water against the wall. The water just sits there all day if not mopped up. I'm worried that the water will seep through my shoddy sealing job. Should I just replace the bath pronto?

5. How much would it cost me to get a bathman in to fit a new bath?

Thanks!

 

[dilalio]

If you're going to do a refit in the next year or so anyway, I would just keeping going with the silicone until you stop the leak(s).

You could try filling the bath with water "before" you silicone. That way the silicone beads are not stressed (stretched apart) under load when you and water are in it!

I would also consider adding a couple more rows of cheap tiles at the back end of the bath or going up to full height if you are using the shower in it.

You could also silicone the screen in position, so it doesn't swing and stress the hinged profile. And there are plastic trims that you can buy to go around edge of bath where it meets tiled walls.

Not ideal solutions for aesthetics but as you say its temporary!

 

[WillyWarbucks]

Siliconing the first section of the stupid shower guard sounds like a good plan! thanks. and yep, I filled bath with water when I was sealing.

 

[WillyWarbucks]

So I've siliconed right over the bottom edge of the showerguard base. And I thought that had solved it, but this morning, the wall was still getting saturated.

Then I had a really close look at the bottom rubber strip that meets the tub. And noticed that instead of being a sensible solid rubber strip- it has a channel running all the way through it! (see photo) It's basically like a straw. So my new theory is that when water goes through the gap in the showerguard- some of it no doubt goes right up the tunnel and feeds directly into the wall's plaster.

Anyway- I've asked some people for quotes on ripping out this bath and replacing. Just wanted to share my frustrations. (apologies for the close up grossness in photo)

 

[dilalio]

Oh well. At least you tried