Leaking shower door

[sagalout1954]

We have a low rise shower tray in a fully tiled cubicle. The frame of the shower door doesn't seem to be sitting 'tight' enough on the tray. There is a mm or so 'gap' running along the length of the inside between the frame & tray, slightly bigger at either end.

There is a silicone 'seal' on the outside but it doesn't seem to be containing the water properly. On one end the paintwork is 'bubbling slightly so assume plasterboard is getting wet.

We can replace the silicone to get a better/proper seal, but surely that still leaves the problem of water finding it's way under the frame on the inside, it just won't be able to escape on the outside.

Should we try to seal INSIDE the shower frame at the bottom as well, though instructions do state "under no circumstances should silicone be used inside"?

 

[danplumb]

Sounds like the installer didn't seal the bottom of the fixing strips that are attached to the wall which the shower enclosure then slide onto and fix too, you're going to have take the shower enclosure out and put a small silicone seal on the inside of the strip attached to the wall at the very bottom between the strip and tray.

 

[sagalout1954]

Thanks danplumb - sounds (& looks exactly right), the silicone strip running round the 3 sides of the tiling stops when it meets the door framework on left and right side.

Though because of 'plumbers' mis-measuring when the cubicle was built, plastered & tiled, the door frame was a hideously tight fit, none of the usual 'play adjustment' was necessary and it was so scary watching him force it in I had to leave the room.

I reckon even if he had initially put the silicon right to the outer edge of the opening as he should have, it would have been sliced off by the frame being forcibly pushed into place!

Got a lot of info here as well http://www.showeradvisor.co.uk/water-leaks.asp#tray-leaks

 

[danplumb]

The bit i am talking about that needs sealing is not on the outside of the enclosure, it is in the channel that first fixes to the wall, inside that U-Shaped channel at the bottom where it meets the shower tray. then the screen slides into this channel, i will try and find a picture.

 

[sagalout1954]

danplumb, you've given a pretty accurate description of where the problem lies - & are dead right!

Where the fixing strip comes down (laying against the side wall), there is a tiny gap between the very bottom of it and the tray - which is allowing water to seep through into the wallspace. The plasterboard there, at the bottom is soaking it up like blotting paper, causing the paint to blister.

Might have gone on behind there for years, doing damage, if the external horizontal seal running across the front of the shower frame hadn't slightly failed as well - leading us to investigate further.

Thanks.