Shower Leak

[jrpatten]

Hi experts, I hope you may be able to give me some plumbing advice.

I have just moved into a new house, which has a double shower cubicle in the attic room en-suite. We have used the shower a few times since we moved in, and yesterday we noticed a very small wet patch on the ceiling/wall of the bedroom below the shower room.

I have done an inspection of the shower tray and can't find any gaps in the silicone around the edges, however I noticed that the plug does not seem to fit flush against the shower tray on the right side, could this be the cause. The tray is very hard and does not move when you stand in it.

I am able to take the plug cover off, and inside is a removable kind of basket with a handle. If you remove this you can put your finger down and feel the bottom, it seems like the plug is some kind of chamber, no idea how the water escapes! There is a small lump at the bottom of this chanmber, not sure if this is a nut. Am I able to tighten this from the outside to make it flush, or would some sort of silicone around the plug be ok?

Thanks for any advice.

I have uploaded a few pictures, hopefully they work.

View media item 33924View media item 33925View media item 33926

 

[Nick98]

I am only an amateur DIY person I admit but you clearly have a problem! It may well be that whoever installed it has got the sealing washer in the wrong place - but hard to tell without dismantling it. The problem you have is that the top of the chrome fitting should be flush with the top of the tray, otherwise you will always get a puddle of water around the waste. This may be caused by the black rubber washer being fitted above the tray and not below it. Sometimes the fittings come with two washers, in this case I have not used to top washer but instead bedded the waste onto a collar of mastic which gets the waste low in the tray, and allows all the water to drain away.

Alternatively you may have an non compatible waste fitting - not all wastes fit all trays (they physically do but have issues like your photos shows).

However in an attempt to order to cure the leak adding silicon around the waste might help but is a bodge job and wont last long. What you really need to do is dismantle the waste for which you ideally need access from uderneath the tray - but suspect that wont be easy as you there are cielings below and I expect the installation is tiled and floored?.

If that is the case then you could try the following when you take the basket out from inside the waste the inside of the chrome part should have some castellated recesses. If you get a scrap of waste pipe the same diameter as the basket you removed - and have a file and plenty of patience! - you can file a castellated end on the wastepipe that matches with the recesses in the the fitting - in other words you are making a key that locks into the fitting.

You can then try and tighten the fitting up, or it were me, unscrew the fitting, dump the washer (or fit under the shower tray if there isn't one there) , bed the fitting on silicon and screw the waste back in (tight). Once the silicon has cured you should be watertight.

Good luck.

Nick

 

[Nick98]

Having now studied the photos again it look like you dont have a basket fitted (unless that is it stood in the tray in the bottom picture?), either way you can see the castellations I am talking about, and that is what the waste pipe 'key' needs to fit into. Alternatively if the fitting is stainless steel and not plastic then you can use a punch /flat bladed screwdriver (and hammer) to tap the fitting loose to unscrew it - but be careful as it is easy to slip and cause the tray, the waste fitting, or yourself, some damage!!

 

[Nick98]

Duplicate post

 

[jrpatten]

Thanks for your reply Nick. After reading your post, and searching through the forum, I realised that the fitting is called a shower trap (learn something new every day!), I was able to get the plug flange thread free by gently tapping it with a screwdriver, then I could twist it with the palm of my hand. I then put some silicone under the joint and was able to tighten it a lot better to bring it flusher against the shower tray. I would not say it is 100% perfect, but hopefully it will make a seal.

The attic room bathroom is quite large, and only has a shower in there, so we are planning on getting a free standing bath installed, which would require the floor to be brought up to fit some new pipes. I think I will then take the opportunity to fit a new shower trap to make sure it is perfect.

 

[Nick98]

No probs - glad I could be of some help!!