Shower leak - what do you reckon?
Discussion
Pulled my shower screen out today. It's been leaking either end & caused some damage to the adjacent plasterboard. It's a screen that slots into channels & I'm wondering what's the best route to rectify. Initial thoughts are silicone the base of the channel interiors as that seems the obvious point of water egress?
Open to suggestions but want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a major issue.
Open to suggestions but want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a major issue.
Not sure what advice you're looking for tbh.
Remove the silicon, reseal the tray with a decent bead that's thicker than the existing one.
Cheat code: put water and a little fairy liquid in a water spritz, apply the silicone, spray liberally then use your finger to profile the bead.
Otherwise, no idea.
Remove the silicon, reseal the tray with a decent bead that's thicker than the existing one.
Cheat code: put water and a little fairy liquid in a water spritz, apply the silicone, spray liberally then use your finger to profile the bead.
Otherwise, no idea.
Is that a screen with no button runner / guide rail? Presumably to give a flush walk-in effect? Seems a very poor design to me and asking for trouble.
That could easily be water passing underneath the door and wicking its way into the wall rather than getting past the silicone sealant around the frame.
That could easily be water passing underneath the door and wicking its way into the wall rather than getting past the silicone sealant around the frame.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I built the shower three years ago. It's tiled onto aquapanel & tanked throughout with additional waterproof tape between the bottom tile course and the tray. All siliconed around three internal sides of the base & externally at the screen & still water is leaking, so the question should have been what have I missed?
Did you seal the base to the tiles before putting in the upright? I had someone fit a similar shower in my old house and he sealed everything after but that allowed for a gap behind the vertical rail to allow water out.
Have you also mounted the rail to the wall and not the tiles? You should only ever seal on the outside so it allows any water that gets in the rails to run back into the shower tray.
Have you also mounted the rail to the wall and not the tiles? You should only ever seal on the outside so it allows any water that gets in the rails to run back into the shower tray.
Edited by un1eash on Friday 29th September 08:13
Edited by un1eash on Friday 29th September 08:15
Yes, the order was base, tiles, seal base & tiles junction with silicone. I have run a bead of silicone between the tiles & the internal side of the profile, base to top. The outside of the profile is siliconed externally as it should be. The profile is fixed to the wall, not the tiles.
Crumpet said:
Is that a screen with no button runner / guide rail? Presumably to give a flush walk-in effect? Seems a very poor design to me and asking for trouble.
That could easily be water passing underneath the door and wicking its way into the wall rather than getting past the silicone sealant around the frame.
No, the screen slots into the profile channels you can see in the pictures, It's been removed to investigate the leaks. It's an idiosyncracy of the inherited design that the tiles run up to the profile & not past it, therefore the profile abuts the tiling rather than sits on top of it.That could easily be water passing underneath the door and wicking its way into the wall rather than getting past the silicone sealant around the frame.
President Merkin said:
No, the screen slots into the profile channels you can see in the pictures, It's been removed to investigate the leaks. It's an idiosyncracy of the inherited design that the tiles run up to the profile & not past it, therefore the profile abuts the tiling rather than sits on top of it.
Ah, gotcha! It’s the side panel. I guess the proper thing to do would be remove the channel and redo it correctly including resealing the base to the tiles. I did all mine with silicone on just the outside, as was recommended. President Merkin said:
No, the screen slots into the profile channels you can see in the pictures, It's been removed to investigate the leaks. It's an idiosyncracy of the inherited design that the tiles run up to the profile & not past it, therefore the profile abuts the tiling rather than sits on top of it.
That’s the problem I believe.The profile should be fixed on top of the tiles & sealed on the outside only. I know this from bitter experience!
But you are where you are. The area highlighted in red looks the best area to target . Plenty of silicone around there, you’d think it would be impossible to leak then!
James6112 said:
That’s the problem I believe.
The profile should be fixed on top of the tiles & sealed on the outside only. I know this from bitter experience!
But you are where you are. The area highlighted in red looks the best area to target . Plenty of silicone around there, you’d think it would be impossible to leak then!
Just not possible to move the profile unfortunately, it would involve ripping out the entire enclosure & starting again from scratch due to the way it was originally built by the previous owner - the far end of the shower is recessed by a stud wall, so I would have to redesign the whole thing. It may come to that but for now, I've stripped out the existing silicone, cleaned & reapplied it. I did find some degraded spots, so hopefully it will tide it over until I get this year out of the way.The profile should be fixed on top of the tiles & sealed on the outside only. I know this from bitter experience!
But you are where you are. The area highlighted in red looks the best area to target . Plenty of silicone around there, you’d think it would be impossible to leak then!
For anyone interested, things have moved on a bit. I've decided to rebuild, extending the tiling enough to place the profile channel against the tiles, so as to allow me to seal it correctly. The tiles are discontinued but I found a guy selling a bunch of unused new ones online which is a great result, meanng I only have to redo the one wall & not the whole thing. Happy with that.
President Merkin said:
For anyone interested, things have moved on a bit. I've decided to rebuild, extending the tiling enough to place the profile channel against the tiles, so as to allow me to seal it correctly. The tiles are discontinued but I found a guy selling a bunch of unused new ones online which is a great result, meanng I only have to redo the one wall & not the whole thing. Happy with that.
Good workThe right way
Would have been a life of pain fighting the problem due to earlier dodgy install
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff