Shower Leaking...from grout?

[mindy3]

As Terryplumb says - remove all the silicone and replace with Neutral Curing silicone. A lot of "sanitary" silicones are acetoxy? Smell of vinegar - this type DOES NOT stick to plastic - so when the tray moves it will come unstuck. I know (the vinegar one) is used everywhere and by window fitters - But I went to a job where there were yards of it flapping in the wind. Pulled it off and re did it with neutral curing. Whats a fougie

Hello Nige,

Which brand of neutral cure silicone would you recommend...and where would you get this from (if it's not mainstream)? Many thanks.

 

[terryplumb]

Out of curiosity ,did those strips come off very easily ,did you run a blade through first ? Or did it just pull off ? You need to remove all traces of silicone from tiles and tray and you can buy a tube of silicone remover for this ,if need be. After removal ,ensure all surfaces are dry before applying new silicone ,in a continuous bead. No reason this can't be done and dusted in a few hours ,much less if you don't need to use the silicone remover which takes a couple of hours to soften the old residues of silicone. Then leave 24 hours before using shower.

 

[mindy3]

We lifted the silicone slightly with a plastic silicone removal tool - the corner with the leak came off very easily and brought up the small bead of grey silicone attached as per second set of photos. As you can see, the bead of grey silicone was rather small. The grey silicone attached itself in full to the clear silicone at the leak end.

The silicone was quite easy to remove up to about midway along this edge. Past this point all the way around and on the other wall seemed more adhered... but still relatively easy to remove without the silicone dissolver/ remover.

We're contemplating removing our glass panels to check the thickness/ integrity of silicone behind these... because of the potential of the secondary seal here failing too. Perhaps out of paranoia...it'll be a lot more initial work, but if this fails we'll be re-doing the whole process again.... feel free to comment on whether this is worth it or not, but this leak was soul destroying!

 

[terryplumb]

As the grey silicone has come out with ease ,together with the clear ,I would be also questioning the integrity of the seal In between metal wall channel /tiles and shower tray. As mentioned earlier ( think by dilalio ) the joint at the bottom of wall channel/tray /wall tiles is a place often problematic with leaks. After all three different materials meet there. It appears to me that the enclosure has been poorly fitted / sealed .who fitted it ? If you had a professional in get them back to do it properly. I personally would remove the wall channel ,remove sealant ,if any, re seal the lot.

 

[dilalio]

Use Dow Corning 785. It’s not neutral cure but has anti-mould properties. I never have a problem when using it.

 

[mindy3]

Thank you.

We shall be ringing him tomorrow.

 

[mindy3]

Use Dow Corning 785. It’s not neutral cure but has anti-mould properties. I never have a problem when using it.

That was what we went over the grey silicone with... ...obvs the mistake was to go over other silicone...