How best to seal around shower tray

TKK

I noticed that there was a wet patch downstairs directly below the ensuite.

Some testing has revealed that some of the water running down the wall in the shower must be escaping between the tiles and the shower tray. The seal doesn't look too bad but has to be. Some of the grouting in the tiles up the corner is also bad so maybe that's where it's coming from.

It's definitely not the waste pipe carrying the water away from the shower as the leak stops if no water is running down the wall.

What's the best way to achieve a watertight seal here? Any recommended products?

Kashkai

I had similar problems with the showers in my last two houses.

The first problem was caused by the shower tray pulling away from the tiles because as it was a new house, the floors started to settle along with the rest of the house. This was a PVC tray on adjustable legs so I was able to raise the shower tray back up to the base of the tiles and I used a silicone seal to re-seal the gap. Its a good idea to place a heavy weight in the shower tray when doing this as it simulates your weight when you are standing in the shower. Otherwise if you make a nice seal around the edge of the tray, once you step in, your weight will pull the seal apart again.

The second problem was caused by dodgy tiling in the shower. I had checked the seals and found them to be watertight so I then tapped on the tiles and I found that they gave a hollow sound which meant that they weren't stuck to the wall properly. I took the tiles off (actually, a hard tap with my hand and they fell off) and I cleaned the old grout off them. I gave the wall a day or so to dry out and I then replaced the tiles on the wall. Once grouted, I gave them another day to dry and then the shower was ok to use with no more leaks.

So in order to solve your leak, check the silicone seal and also check the tiles themselves. If these are both ok, then you might have a more serious problem with either the waste pipes/seals or the water supply pipes themselves.

smashey

I had the same problem recently and upon further investigation, the tiling wasn't up to scratch. The water was getting behind the tiles and through the floor. We had to remove the tiling and get it done again.

TKK

Gah, got to this on Friday. It turns out that the water is getting into the walls through a very poor grouting job in the corner. It has the slab behind the tiles ruined so I'm going to have to rip the tiles off and redo the room.

Any tips on removing the tiles in areas unaffected by the water as I presume they will have a good grip?

Moanin

Another question on this topic.Should silicone be appiled inside or outside the shower door.Somebody told me not to use silicione when sealing a shower door to a wall (walls).Dunno what the logic in this was?

Kashkai

TKK,

Why do you want to rip off all the tiles - you're making a lot of work there for yourself unless you want to re-tile the bathroom anyway. Its likely you'll end up breaking a few tiles when taking them off. Can you get replacements in case this happens?

When you say the slab behind the wall is ruined, what does this mean. If it is a solid wall, the plaster will dry out, give it a couple of days. If its plasterboard, then that is a different matter as that stuff is rubbish if it gets wet. Let the affected area air for a few days to see if the wall improves. When you're putting freash cement back on the wall, this will get it wet again anyhow.

As regards sealing a shower door, this is a must. A lot of doors come with seals where they sit against the walls. However, the shower door will flex ever so slightly when you step into the shower and this will create a small gap at the wall. A flexible silicone seal will do the job of ensuring the water stays where it should. I had awful problems when I fit my first shower door due to the poor application of silicone when I was doing the job. Water is a crafty thing, it'll find the weak spot and will make an opening for itself to flow. Because silicone is water resistant, put it on the inside of the shower where the glass panel meets the wall. You only need a thin bead of the stuff otherwise it'll get messy. When it is in place, wet your finger and run it down the length of the silicone for a smooth finish and to ensure its tight against the gap.

TKK

The tiles are onto plasterboard. The one corner I cleared in the shower (4 tiles practically fell off) is ruined. The plasterboard is wet, black and I think there's a fungus of some sort growing on it. That means I'm going to have to rip out a section of the wall by the shower to replace the plasterboard. A couple of the tiles on the wall are already cracked too upon close inspection and getting replacement tiles is unlikely to happen as I have no idea where the original owners got them and I think they're there about 3 years so most likely out of production.

At this stage I believe I have no option but to retile the whole room and am looking for the easiest way to remove the tiles.

TKK

I was looking at this again last night and I'm wondering if there's any point in trying to remove the tiles as the plasterboard will most likely get damaged. Therefore am I better to just start into removing the whole lot and redo the entire room?

Neverends

Argh! TKK I sympathise. We have potentially the same problem in our new bathroom but since we've only been using it a few weeks I haven't clearly identified if theres bad leaking yet. However, the tiling job seems very badly finished, there is no silicone, only grout on the corners of the walls, between the floor and tiles or where the shower tray meets the tiles and the grout is badly cracked at all of these points. Should we slap on some silicone now and hope for the best?

dingding

You should fit a tanking kit which seals the the wall. you can apply the tiles to the surface once the tanking kit sets. I got one a couple of years ago it was about 100 euro. No problems since.

Viking House

We use expanding foam where the wall meets the shower tray, this creates a watertight seal.
We also seal the wall before putting on tiles, but this is impossible to do later.