Shower Tray Leak and Grout Advice

[jamebrow]

Dear All,

I've had a shower tray and glass panel installed. The panel is siliconed to the shower tray and the floor tiles are grouted up to the tray.

On first use, I've noticed a minor leak beneath the panel. I'm also concerned about whether the grouting is up to the job as the edge of the tray in particular sees a small amount of surface water on each use.

Can anyone advise if a small leak beneath the glass is normal please and if not how I might resolve it? I would also be grateful for an opinion on the grouting.

Regards

James.

Leak:

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• jamebrow
• 20 Sep 2014
• 1

Leak Close-Up:

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• jamebrow
• 20 Sep 2014
• 1

Edge of Tray Grouting:

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• jamebrow
• 20 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[AdamCH]

Is the water coming under the panel or around the side?

 

[jamebrow]

I think it seeps underneath the horizontal metallic channel which the glass drops into. The glass is a Simpsons TEN by the way and the builder tells me there's gasket tape running along the inside floor of the channel. Given this is a new installation, I'm concerned that it might get worse over time, but I don't really want to 'nit pick'. Although I also don't want to end up removing the panel and re-siliconing myself in 6 months time...

What do you think about the grout? As the job has just finished this week, I could ask for a few areas to be re-grouted, as some areas around the shower tray appear to have crumbled away.

Regards

James.

 

[AdamCH]

You may have been better with a flexible (silicone) joint between the tray and tiles. Different materials tend to expand and contract differently & inflexible joints can get cracks.

Why not just run a bead of clear silicone round the glass so that water can't get into the channel?

 

[jamebrow]

Thanks for the suggestion Adam. Do you think an epoxy grout between the tray and tiles might offer that flexibility, or should I remove the grout and replace it with silicone? The tile-tray gap is fairly narrow (around 2mm) so it might be tricky.

 

[AdamCH]

Do you know what the tiles are laid onto and how that substrate is sealed to the tray?