Leak or not?

dogbert27

OH has been saying for nearly a year now that there is smell of dampness due to a leak in the en-suite and this is due to water from the shower going through the grouting and into the wall behind it.
I said that if it's been happening for nearly a year we would have seen water damage by now either in the bedroom or the downstairs ceilings but OH is adament it's there.
I now have to look in to going about how to fix this "problem" before OH wants the en-suite completely ripped out.

So question is - am I right in thinking that after a year a leak would have manifested itself in some form, i.e. water damage to downstairs ceiling?

Joey the lips

it like talking about a length of string. Its hard to say. Have you a rough idea where the smell is in the bathroom. Have you been cleaning all the traps out periodically.

dogbert27

Cheers Joey. It's used everyday so all the traps are clear. Whenever there's a blockage I clean it out.

The silicone at the base of the shower door has come off alright and there's a small bit of water after a shower which I dry up (I know, I need to replace the silicone!) but if this was going through the grout for the last year, which she reckons it surely would show up with damaged ceiling down stairs, no?

Davy

dogbert27 wrote: »

So question is - am I right in thinking that after a year a leak would have manifested itself in some form, i.e. water damage to downstairs ceiling?

Wouldn't always be the case. With small amounts they are soaked up in the plaster/ timber etc. Showers are normally on for 10 or 20mins in a day, if you were using it for longer periods it would most likely show then.

The best way to seal a shower is tanking behind the tiles. Some people like to use an epoxy grout with has a resin and hardener.

dogbert27

Cheers Davvy. Unfortunately it's too late to tank behind the shower!

But I know I did buy epoxy grout for the tiler to use which I've read is waterproof.

Davy

dogbert27 wrote: »

Cheers Davvy. Unfortunately it's too late to tank behind the shower!

Ye, sorry i know that, but if you are to redo it in the future its good solution. I came across an example just the other day, has been installed for years and eventually the water got through to the ceiling below because the shower head wasn't fully off and the extra dripping made the difference

Joey the lips

Honestly. Unless i saw it i would not know. Does the walls seem sound to tap on. Can you go into a room behind drill a small hole in the stud and look and see if water is getting through the stud face.