Damp under bath

[Mluk]

Hello, looking for any advice if possible.

I went to sort a wobbly bath out today to find one of the feet isn't secured due to a soft/rotton floorboard.

Now my plan is to remove the bath and replace the floorboards that need it, however the wall just above the area has literally crumbled down to the bare brick too.

My question is, now I've cleaned out the area where do I go to understand the source of the damp? I've removed the bath panels and will try and let it all dry out.

Theres no damp on the walls above the bath and the roof in the room under my bath isn't affected, could water getting in between the tiles and bath cause this much damage?

Thanks,

Martin

 

[terryplumb]

Yes ,water getting past bath seal / tiles / grout etc ,can cause plenty of damage. As well as replacing floorboards ,check the joists below as well.

 

[Bonni]

When I do a bathroom, I make sure the walls are bonded or plasterboarded and skimmed from floor to ceiling. I fix a frame to the wall for the bath to sit on, lift the bath into place keeping about 10mm away from the wall and fill that gap with 2 to 3 tubes of sanitary silicone before pushing the bath up tight into place. I use a filler knife and spread the silicone out to 4 to 6 inches up the wall. This is to help stop or water ingress from the tiles. I use solvent weld joints on the waste fittings and a smear of clear sanitary silicone on every part of the compression fittings. The bath gets fully tested.

You will surprised at how much water seeps past tiles, hence why I create that 4 to 6 inch upstand of silicone. Also, the weight of a shower screen and water can lower the bath a fraction of a mm so water can pass under the tiles, hence a solid frame frixed to the wall.

 

[KenGMac]

Mluk, good evening.

As both previous posts [ a load of good advice in there]

Water can over a period of time result in what you are faced with.

Any missing tile grout will cause problems, I have seen many, many such cases.

Likewise missing or perished mastic will result in the same problem, I believe that the failed / failing mastic will occasion deterioration faster than tile grout failure, especially if there is an over bath shower?

Ken

 

[Mluk]

Thank you for the replies.

So I've had the area cleared out and a fan running to trying all out. Good news is that it's now dry so there's now leaks other than the water getting past the old tiles.

From the height of the bath now i have an area on the wall where the plaster has just crumbled and it's down to the brick. Would you bother to have this patched up as I'll be putting new tiles from the bath up?

 

[dilalio]

If its an exterior wall, don't use bonding plaster, use sand and cement or hardwall.