Water leaking from wall

[Softus]

You're not the only one who's confused!

Can we recap please?

Last March the whole bathroom was gutted and a new shower installed.

Is the shower over a bath, or in a cubicle?

I’ve recently noticed the on the wall next to the shower, the paint became blistered.

What you mean by "next to"?

I stripped the paint away to see a damp salty deposit about 18 inches long. Then after having a shower I noticed drips of water below the salty deposit on the painted part of the wall. My problem is that I can’t see where the water comes from. It seems to just just slowly seep out of the wall.

How high off the floor, and how much lower than the shower head?

This happens all the time now and it’s driving me nuts It has nothing to do with water from the shower because the droplets appear at least ten minutes.

It appears at least ten minutes after something, or before something? And what is the something?

Do I take it that the pipework supplying the shower have been burried in the wall and plastered over?

I think they have been fiited as you say

Don't take this as a criticism, but I don't understand why you think the pipes have been buried in the wall one moment, and the next you think they're under the bath.

 

[meldrew's_mate]

So it seems the shower feed pipes, hose, and head are nowhere near the affected area (which is tiled?). Does the area affected ever get splashed?

What was in this area just before the bathroom was refitted? Not a redundant shower, perhaps? Check in the loft area immediately above the marks, are there any pipes dropping down this section of wall? Equally are there any rising from below the damp patch?

 

[Softus]

What was in this area just before the bathroom was refitted? Not a redundant shower, perhaps? Check in the loft area immediately above the marks, are there any pipes dropping down this section of wall?

Nice one mm. You've reminded me of an astonishing leak I attended to last summer...

Lady customer called about water on the dining room ceiling - bathroom above. I could see lots of water but not where it had come from - husband had turned off lots of gate valves before going to work that morning.

I went into the loft, and turned on half of the gate valves (you can see my plan), and went back down to the bathroom. Water was absolutely tipping out of an open pipe that I hadn't spotted - signs of hacksawing evident. I think I actually rubbed my eyes before running back up to the loft.

The bottom line was that some previous "plumber" had altered the feed to the bath mixer, and left an open pipe protected merely by a 22mm GV in the loft - like that was never going to leak!

It just goes to show - you never can tell...

 

[JohnD]

I thought when I started reading this, that the supply to the shower head was a pipe buried in the wall, and it must be leaking. I was on the verge of agreeing how annoying this is and how I now prefer chromed pipes clipped to the surface. The description sounded as if the water was inside the wall and making its way to the surface.

Then I read that the shower head is fed by a hose, so I'm visualising a bath mixer tap with a shower outlet, so now I'm thinking about a pinhole in the hose or a loose hose connection giving a near-invisible spray.

The other thing I once had, which I found very difficult to track, was a recessed soap dish in the wall, badly sealed, and water was getting in behind the tiles. Anything like that?



Edited to say - another lunatic idea (?) this 18" long patch - could there be a cold pipe behind it that is attracting condensation frm the steamy bathroom after a hot shower?

 

[dustnbones]

The description sounded as if the water was inside the wall and making its way to the surface.
quote]

That's what's happened but I've stripped the paint away and the dripping stops but it remains wet after the shower which probably means condensation. Water still drips from the wall where the mastik seals up the wall/bath panel though.The builder came round,took off bath panel and there were no leaks in the pipework and the wall direcly behind the pipework was dry so I'm still confuse as to what's happening.

 

[JohnD]

try taping a biggish piece of clear polthene tightly to the wall. Blow or rub some talc on the wall first. Then, if water is on the wall under the polythene, it's coming from the inside. If there's less of it, and on the room side of the polythene, it's spray or condensate.

The talc on the wall will help you see the water running.