Shower Tray leak

[James321]

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone can advise me on the following ?

I've recently had a flood issue in the flat and the bathroom is currently stripped ready for re-tiling. Prior to this flood there was a damp wall next to the shower cubicle and I had always suspected that the grout was loose or there was a leaking pipe in the wall feeding the shower (vertical).

The bathroom has been dried out and has sat dry for a few weeks now however over the weekend and given that I could now eliminate the vertical pipe as the cause as this is now exposed and no evident leak I thought I would run some water from the bath hose (which definitely has no leak as pipes are also exposed and have been using this to shower for a few weeks) into the shower tray for an hour or so to see whether any damp reoccurs which would then point at the tray/waste piping.

This is exactly what happened and the exposed (untiled) wall is now damp again at the bottom. I did a quick test with a water bottle close up and could see some water going in the side of the drain all the way round so this definitely needs to be re-sealed.... however I'm now concerned that maybe there is a leak in the waste pipes below ??? looking down the pipe from the drain grill (when taken off) I can see water and remains at a certain level.. does the fact that this is steady and not drying out mean that I can eliminate the potential of a leaking pipe ? Are there any other tests I would be able to do ?

This is a ground floor flat by the way and no access from underneath the floor..

Many thanks in advance for any advice !

James

 

[it's not that hard]

why do you think the waste pipe is leaking ?, as for the water you can see looking through the grill,this will always be there at the same level as you are seeing the water in the trap (u bend) which stops any smells from coming back up from the drain.

 

[James321]

Hi ! Thanks for the response.
I'm querying whether it may be a secondary leak in addition to this apparent lack of sealant / faulty drain cover mainly due to the extent of water which is now causing damp to the bottom of the exposed wall. I did leave the hose on for some time but was surprised with the amount of damp and thought this may be a larger issue ?

I assume the fact that water remains in the u bend at least indicates that that is not leaking ?!

I may ofcourse be hugely overthinking things here.. do you have any advice for going forward or further checks I could carry out ? From other forums I have looked on, people all seem to be directing towards the sealent etc.

Many Thanks in advance

 

[it's not that hard]

yes that's right about the u bend, you could always put up some plasterboard before you tile, the plasterboard would sit on the shower tray,then tiled and siliconed not much chance of it leaking down behind the tray then.

 

[WabbitPoo]

back to your actual question, if running water carefully (so no splashing) into the shower tray causes a leak to appear somewhere then either the tray is cracked (unlikely) or yes, the waste is leaking. If you know of a problem with the seal around the waste in the tray then fix that first then re-test......you may have fixed your damp problem. Can you not get access under the tray (eg a removable front panel)?

 

[James321]

Hi !

Thanks for the response. Yep, I tested it with a very low (non splashing) running water from tap hose probably for about 45 mins. A day later damp started to rise up the wall (which was annoyingly already dried , exposed and tiles stripped) which prompted me to do some research and led me to closely inspect the drain flange etc. and I could see water also running into the area which should have been beter sealed ....... I guess over 45 mins this could build up substantially ?

I will certainly aim to re-seal it etc. but the problem I have is that the tilers are due in a week or so and ideally I need the wall to dry before re-testing and then if not fixed will have to dry another damp wall. Saying that, I need to get this sorted prior to tiling of course regardless.

I have no access under the tray unfortunately and I am on the ground floor so would have to rip it up the tray or at least a part of it.

I totally agree though re. testing again after re sealing but if you or anyone knows any way of checking for a pipe leak without ripping the tray up that would be helpful if at all possible...

Many Thanks

James

 

[endecotp]

Postpone tiling and lift the tray. Maybe there is a joint in the pipe that is leaking.

 

[Tay7]

How can you not access under the tray? The waste trap and pipe must go somewhere.

Photos?

 

[James321]

Hi All,

Thanks for the posts etc. muchly appreciated !

Here is a photo of the shower tray. you can see the wall which has been affected by the damp

You will see this is quite a large shower tray and is quite heavy and fixed to the ground.

The issues with attempting to lift it and inspect it are that firstly I can't seem to get twist / lift / the drain flange out prior to lifting and I'm not entirely sure how all is connected and don't want to make the matter worse basically.

I tried a small water test again last night and could see 'some' water going around the side of the drain flange cover but not too much so suprised it would cause this amount of water to collect underneath and rise the wall ?

Any thoughts ? Happy to take more pics if that helps...

Many Thanks

James

 

[WabbitPoo]

Your waste is almost certainly leaking and water is pooling at the base of that wall, then soaking up the plaster. You will have to remove the tray and re-make the waste once you have found the leaking joint. I think.