Tile shower leak help needed..

[thatguy]

We have a tile shower that was leaking a little almost 2 yrs ago - the builder had the tile guy come back and he re-grouted some areas that looked like as the house settled the grout was not in place. They also sealed the shower using some sort of aerosol spray cans (didnt see the cans, just heard the hiss as he did it)..

The shower is now leaking again.. I do not see any grout that is out of place this time. BUT is I see the grout looks wet (darker color than the rest of the grout) right around the drain - 3 to 4" out. None of the other grout looks wet anywhere on the shower.

My first thought is if the grout is looks wet then it must not be sealed. Would that be a reasonable assumption??

What should or shouldn't i use to seal the tile, assuming the wet grout is not sealed?

thanks

Brian

 

[Egon]

Where do you notice the leak?

Assuming this leak is on the base of the shower you may want to consider redoing the shower pan to get a proper job.

 

[Travelover]

Here is a pretty good article on how to diagnose a shower leak. It can come from the fresh water side or the drain leaking.

Inspecting Tiled Showers and Shower Pans | ASHI Reporter

 

[thatguy]

Where do you notice the leak?

Assuming this leak is on the base of the shower you may want to consider redoing the shower pan to get a proper job.

The leak appears to be right around the drain - as looking from underneath (in the crawl space) the shower. My guess (uneducated) would be that the liner under the shower is funneling the water to the drain which is the lowest area and the only open area.

I was in the crawl space changing the whole house water filter and noticed some water (not a lot by any means) on the plastic sheeting we have over the gravel. I only change the water filter every 2 mths and in April it was not leaking. Based on the amount of water on the plastic it has only been leaking for days, maybe a week at most.

Brian

 

[/pine]

usually a vinyl "pan" is lapped onto the actual shower drain... it is possible that vinyl was not properly fitted to the drain?

the drain has a special ring that threads down and makes a gasket like seal to the pan...

the liner fits between the inner and outer drain (see picture)

 

[PILOON]

Depending on actual drain fitting installed, you might be able to unscrew the screen for access to inner workings and add a sealant, and If I recall some are actually screwed in tight and in your case maybe loose.
Worth a closer looksee.

 

[2manyrocks]

You asked about a hairline crack in your toliet in another thread and mentioned that your plumber was fired off the job, and now you have a shower leak....what a bummer.

Hopefully, you can tighten your drain and that's all there is to this. But if you need a sealant, I thought I'd mention 3M's 4200 sealant because it cures under moisture and has a good reputation among boaters for sealing holes in boats. Maybe there is a better product for sealing a shower drain, but I thought I'd mention the 3m product.

 

[dmccarty]

Sounds like a leak in the shower pan or the drain.

Tile may or may not be water proof. I don't think grout is water proof either. Water can and will get behind the tile/grout so there has to be a way for the water to escape safely.

In our old 30ish year old house the tile was not installed correctly at least by today's standards. It took almost three decades before the bad installation failed enough for me to notice. Then it was tear out the tile and green board, which should not be used to hold tile, down to the studs. Replace what was rotted and rebuild. The wall cavities under the tile was damp from the showers.

Later,
Dan

 

[thatguy]

UPDATE - Called the builder today and told him it was leaking again.. I asked if my understanding that the liner should be catching any water the sealent/grout let pass thru. he agreed that if the liner was doing what it was suppose to we should never know about any leaks..

I told him that I would have never let them seal/reseal the grout the first time IF i had known there was a liner problem.. He didnt immediatly say we were out of warranty (which were are by 1.5 yrs) or even mention us having to pay - but said he would get in touch with the tile guy and call me back next week to start correcting it.

We had a great builder and except for a few minor things (which they resolved immediately) have had no problems at all with them.. I hope (and half way except) them to step up to the plate and help us out on some of the cost..

thanks for all the help..

Brian

 

[Redbug]

I just got finished completely re-doing one of our bathrooms. The liner is where the water should collect and go into the drain. My guess is also with Dan, Pine, and Egon. Gotta be something wrong with the liner...the way it was installed onto the drain or in the corners allowing water to weep through.

Here's a great site on how they are installed, (and the way I did mine)...
Building a shower pan with pre-sloped mortar bed, liner and curb.