Leaking Tiles.....

[whitehot]

Ok chaps here is my problem, had my ensuite bathroom and tiles ripped out and re-fitted 6 months ago, I noticed a couple of days ago a damp patch on my kitchen ceiling (en-suite directly above) so after investigation realised it was coming from the shower, it is a square alcove shower cubicle tiled on three walls with a fold door.I removed the plinth and looked under the tray to which the back wall of the six inches of it you can see and the floor was soaked through.I removed a couple of tiles so I could check the shower connections and all was fine so I turned on the shower and sprayed the walls and to my horror water flowed down the inside wall onto the floor under the tray.I can see cracks in the grout if I get the tiler back is this a quick fix?? What are my options??

Please advise

Thanks

 

[r896neo]

Are the 3 walls of the enclosure stud work? Your grout has failed which frankly is a little surprising after 6 months but anyway. Tiles are, even in a perfect world, not fully waterproof especially with smaller tiles or even worse mosaics.

The walls, stud work or solid, in the enclosure should be tanked. Which is basically a thick waterproof coating/ matting. Any water getting through the grouting is then deflected into your shower tray at the join of tray/wall by tape or beading. Chances are if the walls are stud work then at best the beading between the tray and wall had failed and the water is running down behind the tiles. At worst the wall is boarded with ply and is completely saturated and mouldy. Does it smell? and do you know if it has been tanked? Not tanking a firstfloor shower are would be BAD idea and i would be surprised if this hadn't been done be your tiler 6 months ago??

Worst case scenario, rip it all out, replace ply with aquapanel and tank properly, then re-tile. May not be that bad if it was done properly and somehow its just the tray/ wall joint that needs sorting.

Surely GCOL will be on to advise shortly.

 

[whitehot]

Yes the 3 walls are stud with plasterboard and a plaster skim, there was quite a bit of the plaster missing when the old tiles were removed which I asked the tiler was this a problem and he said NO!

As regard to the tanking (of which I have never heard of) I don't think the tiler did this well he never mentioned it on his bill!!

 

[r896neo]

Oh dear, I'm no expert on what shouldv'e been done and maybe a pro tiler will come on here and tell you whether or not it would be unreasonable to get the guy back to correct this, as i said I'm not sure what regular practise is so wait for more replies regarding that.

I know a little bit about it as it happened to my brother in his ensuite and a few tradesmen seemed surprised that his first floor shower enclosure, the same as yours, had not been done better. His was 2 skins of ply then tiles with a bead of silicone around the tray. The grout had crack in a few places and it stank, we ripped it all out and the ply was soaked through.

Aside from ripping out and doing it better I dont know the fixes so wait for some other guidance from a seaoned pro.

 

[gcol]

Can't add much to what r896neo has already said. What I would say is that there is a real need to tank shower areas. If tanking, there's not really much benefit from fitting Aquapanel over plasterboard (unless you have a plumbing problem which could wet the back of the panel).
Who skimmed the plasterboard? This is unnecessary and actually reduces the load the wall can take in tiles.
If you can get the tiles off without causing too much damage to the plasterboard (which is unlikely) then you could just patch up, tank and re-tile.
If too badly damaged then you'd be as well replacing the plasterboard then tanking and tiling.

Also begs the question why the grout has cracked. Look at trying to firm up the shower tray. Is it just sitting on floorboards? Might be advisable to sit it on some thick ply to reduce movement.