bathroom leaks driving me insane

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mayhem69

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Hi, owned this house for about 10 yrs. now. The upstairs bathroom shower/tub is always leaking. It will leak, then not leak for 2 months, then all of a sudden leak again. Well now i have a bad leak in the corner of my tub/shower , which is tiled with sliding door on outside. I removed access panel and i can see the water in the corner, but i can't see where it is coming from. Downstairs i already have a big hole in the ceiling from previous leaks. I cannot see where this water is coming from, there is a big joist in the way. The tub is a solid old steel tub i think.
I am getting tired of this and about to rip everything out and start from scratch. Or buy a 3 wall liner of some sort. Anyone with some ideas?

Picture 032.jpg
 
Welcome MayHem:
Water lines and drains don't leak intermittently like this. I believe you probably have a problem with condensation. Have you noticed if the humidity is particularly high when the leak occours?
In my experience condensation can be stopped with ventilation or with full insulation. The picture looks good and well sealed.
Glenn
 
Is it leaking when you bathe? or does it only leak during shower. There is no way to tell from that picture if grout is failing or if caulk around fixtures has failed. Try filling tub with a few inches of water and give it a few minutes to leak. Then turn on shower, but don't get in it, and don't let it spray walls, only floor. If you don't find leaks, most likely it is grout/caulk issues. Let us know what you find. Good luck.....
 
pretty sure it is the old grout. I already regrouted this shower 2 times. I am looking at tub wall surrounds right now. I was down at home depot and saw a pretty nice one for $169. Can i put these surrounds on top of my tile? Any recommendations on what brand to buy? I think the home depot one was made by ASB? Also what kind of saw do you use to cut through for the holes, a hole saw of some sort? Going to check 2 more local stores today for tub surrounds.
 
couple of other things it could be, the overflow , they will leak if the water is filled up to the top of the tub, like taking a bath, the other is around the spout and handles
 
As a prof. Home handyman I can tell you the number one cause for leaks in the tub area is in the corners of the shower door rails. That little area never gets sealed correctly. i had one that showed no signs ofleaking beside the shower on the floor but leaked into the family room below!! If you have regrouted the walls and cualked along the tub then I would suggest removing the shower doors, removing the top rail, cutting the caulk line down the sides of the side rails, removing the screws from the rails (sometimes these are also aluminum nails pressed into plastic sleeves and you can pull them out with pliers) , taking the frame off the side wall and cleaning the area in the corner. Then caulk this place which is under the door frame along the tub just as if your weren't going to install anything.Then reset the bottom rail and side frames. Caulk the inside and outside of the corner joint, then caulk the inside and outside of the wall frames,etc. Also seal the screw heads. Can't tell you how many of these sitautions I have had to correct this way. Hope that helps!
 
Daryl said:
As a prof. Home handyman I can tell you the number one cause for leaks in the tub area is in the corners of the shower door rails. That little area never gets sealed correctly. i had one that showed no signs ofleaking beside the shower on the floor but leaked into the family room below!! If you have regrouted the walls and cualked along the tub then I would suggest removing the shower doors, removing the top rail, cutting the caulk line down the sides of the side rails, removing the screws from the rails (sometimes these are also aluminum nails pressed into plastic sleeves and you can pull them out with pliers) , taking the frame off the side wall and cleaning the area in the corner. Then caulk this place which is under the door frame along the tub just as if your weren't going to install anything.Then reset the bottom rail and side frames. Caulk the inside and outside of the corner joint, then caulk the inside and outside of the wall frames,etc. Also seal the screw heads. Can't tell you how many of these sitautions I have had to correct this way. Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

thanks Daryl , that's very good advice, it could of been coming in at the corner like you mentioned.
 
Have you sealed the grout???? I have had "leaks" just from letting the water hit the sides of the shower wall and wicking through the grout.
 
I would also check the seal around the drain. Fill up the tub with water just below the overflow and let it sit overnight. Check to see if any water disappears and where it went. I also had some trouble with my shower door leaking. GE had a bad batch of silicone, and my tub wasn't 100% firm. When I step in it would deflect a very small amount, but it was enough to break the seal. My solution was to fill the tub full of water and then caulk and reinstall my shower door. I haven't had any problems since.
 
I found mine was leaking where the doors meet the frame on the wall. There are rubber (vinyl) bumpers so the doors can;t actually contact the frame. Unfortunately there's enough space there for lots of water to splash out during a 10 minute shower.... Bad design I guess. I am trying to find something (vinyl strip) I can use to make there be a seal between the door and the wall framing....any ideas?
 
You need more advice, right?? :)

Tile grout is probably the problem in my experience.
-- Did you use a grout saw to remove every possible problem area BEFORE re-grouting?
-- The soap dish is a frequent culprit. Saw and re-grout.
-- You must seal the new grout ... I apply three coats with drying time in between.
-- Daryl is exactly correct on his steps too.

Lastly, if the hole underneath does not let you see where the problem is, make it bigger. Drywall is no big deal but LEAKS are. If the drain itself is leaking (doubtful) you will need to access it from underneath to loosen the holding nut and re-apply plumber's putty.

Good luck and let us know what you did to fix it! ;)
 
How strange . . . I did not look at the date . . . but it showed up in the "New Posts" so I thought that was what it was.

Why do I get notices on old posts in my email?? :(
 
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