Sealing shower

[ort67]

I'm needing to reseal my shower but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a way of doing it?

There is a gap of about 1.6cm between the shower tray and wall, there is some time of putty/clay that is has previously been put into the gap, this has started to crack in parts.

I tried finding someone to do it for my on one of the tradesmen sites, but I had no response despite over 200 people viewing the job spec, must be a job that people don't like doing.

There are some pictures of the area below:

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[Tay7]

Imo you would be better off either buying a bigger tray and under cutting the walls if needs be or building out the enclosure walls.

Either way you'll need to retile or finish. Any other way such as resealing is a bodge that will ultimately leak.

 

[ort67]

Any idea how much it would approximately cost to do that work?

You reckon slapping down some silicone won't be sufficient?

 

[Tay7]

I just think thats a huge gap to fill.

Im not a pro, i would do it myself. Wait for a few opinions on here.

Its difficult to tell without seeing the room, dimensions of the tray, what the walls are made of etc... but id get some shower panels and attach them to the walls built out so they overhang the tray properly. That way any water will drip on to the tray and not on a seal.

 

[ree]

I would imagine that the shower is leaking into whatever is below?

I'd suspect that the edging tiles on the shower base rim were a remedial measure - possibly when the tile was changed out on one of the walls.

As above, the best course is to take out the tiled shower walls, enclosure & base, and re-fit the base properly tight to the wall.

"slapping down silicone" has already been tried and failed.

Tradesman sites are simply a rip-off - dont go near them. You will be well sorry and much poorer if you do use one.

 

[foxhole]

Bodged shower install, quickest way would to be cover with 11mm shower wall panels, easy diy fix and with very little joins to seal and therefor leak.

 

[ort67]

Thanks for the replies, I'm investigating the option of adding the wall panels as the solution, I've never done anything like this before myself so it's a bit of a learning curve. Can I add the wall panels on top of the existing tiles or would I have to remove them?

My flat has two showers, I haven't used this one due to the problem with the seal, so no water will have leaked, since I've moved in at least. Originally there was a kind of bath and wall sealing stip tape on top of the putty, this wasn't suitable either so I removed it and tried to seal it with silicone but that was big mess and I removed that as well. The walls thought my flat are plasterboard attached to joists. The shower dimension is just under 1m x 1m.

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[Tay7]

Looking at those latest pictures there doesnt really seem to be a good reason to have such a gap as it is a two wall enclosure.

It all needs redoing....

Personally i would remove tiles. The only bit that is really salvageable is perhaps the tray which you can butt up tight to the wall undercutting if necessary to allow for unstraight walls.

May as well do it properly, theres no way round spending a bit of money on it im afraid.

 

[ort67]

I'm thinking of going down the line of putting 11mm shower wall panels on top of the existing tiles so that the water drips onto the tray. Removing the tiles and undercutting the walls etc is a bit beyond my DIY abilities and would be more expensive.

The gap between the tray and tiles is 1.6cm at it's widest, not sure if shower wall panels are normally that thick. The thickest I can find online seems to be around 11mm, does anyone know where I could find some that is thicker, or if there is something such as backer board I could secure on the wall behind the shower panels so that they protrude further out? So the arrangement would be Tile>Backerboard>Shower board.

 

[Tay7]

Its up to you but you are storing up problems for the future with that approach.

I reckon there'll be a fair amount of damp behind them tiles and you'll basically seal it in by boarding over.

 

[ort67]

Yeah I'll have a look at that option as well. It might not be that much more expensive either, the walls are going to have to be redone anyway, so might as well remove the tiles and see if I can shift the tray against the wall. It'll take longer, but I'm in not in a rush to have it completed.

You were saying that it is might only be the tray I can salvage, what about the doors, you don't think they could be reused?

 

[Tay7]

Depends how easily they come off and how bothered you are what the end product looks like.

Its quite easy to bend the frames by accident. They will be screwed and sealed to the walls and you will have to prise them away from the sealant (when the screws are out) which can bend them.

 

[joe-90]

Don't waste time and effort on that tray. I suggest you google 'Window trim' and you'll find cheap plastic trim that you can cover the gaps with. Clean the area and stick the trim down with silicone. Cut at an angle for the corners. It won't actually look that bad.

 

[ort67]

Do you reckon something like the item in the link below would do the job? Have you used this window trim method before? If so have you ever had problems with it? It looks like a simple method that would be a lot easier than the other methods suggested.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Window-Door-Architrave-Plastic-Quadrant/dp/B0124LWGEA

 

[ort67]

In the photos there is some kind of putty/clay stuff that is filling the gap between the tray and tile, this filling is kind of dated so I was looking to remove it and possibly replace it with silicone, then put the window trim on top of the silicone.

Does anyone know if it would be better to replace it with silicone or putty/clay? I don't really know what the filler is, can anyone clear that up for me please?