Leaking En Suite Shower

[telewest]

thanks mate, think I'll err on the side of caution and just grab some black Mapei Mapesil - a tiler friend tells me its good stuff.

 

[denso13]

Sounds good, just make sure everything's bone dry before application - after all that water testing

 

[telewest]

haha, will do.

Just took the 'mastic tape'off and given everything a good clean and drydown, will leave it 48hrs before doing anything to give things a chance to dry.

Disappointingly, just grout (albeit neatly done) under the tape.....no sealant whatsoever. Even I know grout is not good enough!

Will give a few bits around the tray a re-grout in 2 days, let that dry, and get some proper sealant in there.

Will def post results - tks again to all for help.

 

[telewest]

*** Update ***

So its clear that the stupid 'mastic strips' the "professional" used are useless, after I peeled away could see the grout behind it (although neatly done) showed signs that water had been absorbed.

Got everything I need to properly seal, just a final few questions.....

1. told not to put sealant over the grout on the two vertical joins where the 2 tiled walls meet the mosaic wall - can I confirm this is correct? Seems odd as grout is not waterproof- or should I try and remove the grout and replace with sealant? (rather not unless its a must)

Untitled

• telewest
• 30 Jun 2012
• 1

2. My shower door is Aqualux - I'm also told the inside horizontal (where the bottom of the frame meets the shower tray) should not be siliconed - but the person I hired has used something (again looks to be some sort of cheap clear plastic tape) - should I remove this?

3. Was told to silicon the verticals (where the shower door frame meets the tiled walls INSIDE and OUT, and the horizontal (where the bottom of the shower frame sits on the tray OUTSIDE only) - sound right?

Thanks ! Feeling more optimistic this will fix, as saw another helpful post on here which looks suspiciously like it might be present in my shower...

"lack of sealant under the shower enclosure...where the enclosure bottom corner meets the tile and the tray. if there was no sealant there when u installed it then what happens water runs down the enclosure/tile joint ...gets behind the enclosure ..runs to the tray and out the back

Untitled

• telewest
• 30 Jun 2012
• 1

 

[denso13]

1. I use silicone down the vertical corners as well as there can be a bit of movement there. Not essential if grouted properly.

2. Correct, remove anything on the inside.

3. Correct.

Your last point is a common problem which is what I meant here

one common problem is not sealing the wall to tray joint before the door is fitted

 

[gasbanni]

The corner where the shower tray is common point for leaks, but also check carefully the gout lines between the tiles higher up some times you can get horizontal cracks that you don't notice.

Bast thing to do is remove fascia panel so you can see under the tray.

 

[telewest]

1) one common problem is not sealing the wall to tray joint before the door is fitted

So basically I need to remove the shower door to do this, is it just the join where tray and tile meets (behind the door-support on either wall) or do I literally bed the door-support into a bed of silicone all the way up as far as the door-support goes?

Was told to silicon the verticals (where the shower door frame meets the tiled walls INSIDE and OUT, and the horizontal (where the bottom of the shower frame sits on the tray OUTSIDE only) - sound right?

Aqualux installation guide (having found it!) says don't do the internal vertical joins so will take their advice on this one!

3) Bast thing to do is remove fascia panel so you can see under the tray

As I didn't see a leak from shower against door and shower directly down plughole I don't think its the waste, but if re-silicone doesn't fix will defintely try that thanks.

 

[telewest]

Any thoughts on the above guys and girls? Sorry to bump, but going to make a start on it this evening. Thabks

 

[telewest]

**Update**

So, took an entire weekend but removed the shower door, all the mastic tape and did the following:

1 - re-grouted the entire shower (looked fine anyway, but to be 100%)

2 - freshly siliconed the tray-wall and vertical joins with Mapesi sealant

3 - scraped off all old silicone from the door bars and re-fitted the shower door

4 - per Aqualux specs sealed the outside verticals and horizontal (where the door sits on the tray)

Ran for 15minutes on the walls (both sides), directly at the door, and directly down the plughole - not a single leak

As soon as I got in the shower (thinking the saga was over) it leaked.....

Worth noting when I sealed, I weighed down the tray before sealing to cover movement.

Not sure if this means its the drain/pipework underneath the tray, or the tray itself (no visible cracks) but Ive gone as far as I can go.

Only thing stopping me calling a plumber is Im not sure they can check much with the small gap underneath the tray (see pic) and id rather they didnt rip my bathroom ceilling off for access.....