Where could the leak be coming from?

[Lizzy864]

I would be extremely grateful to anyone who could provide me with some idea as to where a leak in my bathroom could be coming from.

We have a shower over our bath and one day I noticed a damp smell in the bathroom. I reluctantly removed the bath panel wondering what can of worms I would unearth. The floorboards were sodden. We removed the old silicone from around the bath, prepared the surface and resealed the bath thoroughly. However, after using the shower the next day, the floorboards were wet again, although not as bad as previously.

I simply cannot think where the leak could be coming from. I have checked the grout for cracks and there is nothing obvious. The only thing I can think of is that we have a border of natural stone tiles in the bathroom and they have never been sealed. Could the water permeate through these tiles and cause the dampness I have written about?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[IJWS15]

Try running the shower while someone is watching . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . for the leak that is.

Could be the sealant you have re-done, could be a pipe joint, could be where the drain seals to the bath . . . .

 

[Lizzy864]

Try running the shower while someone is watching . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . for the leak that is.

Could be the sealant you have re-done, could be a pipe joint, could be where the drain seals to the bath . . . .

Many thanks for your reply, made me smile!

Something I have just thought of, we used sealing strip as opposed to a silicone sealant. How efficient are the sealing tapes compared to the silicone?

I don't think it is a leaking pipe as the wet patch was too close to the bottom of the wall, away from any pipes.

I have used a natural stone sealant on the tiles this evening. Whilst the tiles may be a contributing factor, I don't think they are the cause of the puddle.

 

[IJWS15]

If what you used is something like this

http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=019710&cid=123&language=en-GB

Then they are not very good.

I have used the plastic strips which are fixed behind the tiles with some success (the pros on here don't like them) and, after following advice on here, silicon also with success. Could never get silicon to seal for long before I followed the advice on here.

You probably need to remove the current seal, let everything dry (may take a week for the plaster to dry), clean all the surfaces properly, and re-seal using good quality silicon.

 

[Symptoms]

Lizzy - cut away all old plastic trim/seal strips, remove all old silicon sealant, cut away the vertical line of grout in the corner where the tiled walls meet (this interface between 2 walls should ALWAYS be sealed top to bottom with silicon and not rely on grout). The fix = re-seal top edges of tub AND the wall corner with sanitary (bathroom) silicon.

Do you have a shower screen or curtain? Screen = ensure frame is siliconed at wall and it's seals are in good nick and tight against the tub rim. Curtain = make sure it's tucked inside the tub whilst showering (amazing the number of folks who don't do this, especially kids.

 

[Lizzy864]

Thanks everyone for your advice, the leak has now gone but I am sure it will return at some point!

 

[Symptoms]

Lizzy - did you do anything or has it mysteriously gone?