Leaking shower cubicle - found the cause (possible cowboy co

[Estoril-5]

So one job I had pencilled in to do over Xmas was the shower cubicle as it was leaking. We've been in this house for 4.5 years and never had to do it before.

So I set out removing all the old sealant (which was a pain in the neck) and then quickly realised why the skirting boards were absolutely rotten! I'm pretty sure you shouldn't have a gap this big but it was just completely filled with silicone!

In the pics you can see the rotten skirting (who puts skirting in a bathroom anyway)?

Question is how do I fix it? Overload with silicone? Some kinds of mortar or concrete? I have no idea.... So this is where I need your advice.

Here's some pics

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[lurker]

Is the shower tray plastic?

Mine had a bit of bounce in it and created a gap
The plastic feet underneath had broken


Get one of these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... ROKL5A1OLE
For when you re mastic

Use a paint brush to apply bleach into the cracks and the black mold will dissappear in 24 hours

 

[Lons]

Not clever.

Personally, I'd take off the bottom row of tiles so I could get at the wall behind and repair it, I guarantee it will need it! then fit an upstand like this: http://www.showersealsdirect.co.uk/showersandbathseals or even just plain plastic angle, well siliconed in then refit the tiles. May need to udjust the size slightly. The old tiles just need soaking overnight in a bucket of water and the adhesive scrapes off.

 

[Estoril-5]

Oh man, I thought it might have been a relatively easy fix.

Was thinking of filling the larger gap with a sand/cement mix to void the gap and then silicone all around it with mapei silicone. Don't really want to start removing tiles if i can help it.

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[Lons]

Oh man, I thought it might have been a relatively easy fix.

Was thinking of filling the larger gap with a sand/cement mix to void the gap and then silicone all around it with mapei silicone. Don't really want to start removing tiles if i can help it.

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You could do that but it will be a bodge you might regret sooner rather than later, if you do that then don't use sand / cement mix as not suitable, better to fill with waterproof filler or all silicone.

I've fitted and repaired hundreds of showers and seen this many many times - shocking really, in some cases the floorboards had rotted as well I remember one bungalow where I had to replace a 2 metre section of floorboards in the adjoining hallway and rebuild part of the wall behind the shower.

Doing it properly isn't as bad as it seems, the tiles should come off easily using a flat scraper - carefully - as the wall behind will be shot, while the tiles are soaking the wall can be repaired then just retile, grout and silicone, doesn't take long.

Bob

 

[graduate_owner]

Different problem with me, but - As a keen DIY person I have fitted several showers and they nearly always leak around the door. In my current house we have 2 over bath showers which leak at the hinge. Silicone is great, but I can't silicone the hinge and allow it to move. Does anyone havs expefience of this? Sorry if this highjacks the thread - it is partially relevant.

K

 

[Estoril-5]

Oh man, I thought it might have been a relatively easy fix.

Was thinking of filling the larger gap with a sand/cement mix to void the gap and then silicone all around it with mapei silicone. Don't really want to start removing tiles if i can help it.

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Doing it properly isn't as bad as it seems, while the tiles are soaking the wall can be repaired then

How would I go about repairing the wall?


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[NikNak]

Personally, I'd take off the bottom row of tiles so I could get at the wall behind and repair it, I guarantee it will need it! then fit an upstand like this: http://www.showersealsdirect.co.uk/showersandbathseals or even just plain plastic angle

totally agree.... if you're going to 'fix' it then 'fix it right....' dont go and do another 'cowboy' job and bodge it with more silicone or what ever. Plus... if it were me... i'd take the tile (and a foot of skirting) the other side of the screen off as well, just to have a look at how far the water damage has gone.... you'd be surprised :shock:

Come on... its Christmas :ho2 :deer do it right (hammer) you know it makes sense :wink:

 

[skipdiver]

Bottom row of tiles look darker which could indicate that they are soaking up water from behind. I'd remove them and make good damaged areas before re-tiling and sealing with good quality sealant like Dow Corning 785. I used Plumbers Gold when i redid mine recently and it's good stuff.

 

[porker]

+1 on removing the bottom row of tiles. Is the wall a stud wall? If so, it may have been tiled onto plasterboard. If so I would cut it away (it will probably be wet anyway) and replace with some cement board like Aquapanel and tile back onto this. I've had to redo so many bathrooms and showers in properties I've owned over the years. Bodging with silicon won't work and you'll feel a lot better if you do it right. I always back onto cement board in shower cubicles rather than plaster board now.

 

[Estoril-5]

It's a brick wall and that's what's concerning me when you say repair it.

On a side note what's the best way to remove tiles without breaking them.

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[skipdiver]

If the tiles are wet, then they will come away easy enough if you can get a scraper behind them. If the wall is rendered brick, then you can re-render or attach aquapanel to the brickwork if you have the depth.

 

[porker]

To remove the tiles it really depends how well they are adhered. I have had them that are almost ready to drop off and others are stuck so well I haven't been able to get them off in one piece. (On a side note I have found sometimes that spare tiles are left under the bath).

I would rake out the grout. You can get a little carbide tipped hand tool to do that or carefully with a multitool. Then you need something to carefully remove the tiles. Sometimes it is easier to remove with the backing (probably some plaster in your case) than try to get the tile off clean. I have also found that a wall paper steamer can soften the adhesive. Use something with a wide thin blade like a stiff scraper. A screwdriver is likely to chip the edge of the tile. Put on old towel or blanket in the bottom of the tray before you do this otherwise you risk chipping the tray if the tile pops off unexpectedly.

Once off you will need to remedy the surface you are going to replace the tiles on. There are several ways you could do this but probably the easiest if you can't plaster is to bond some cement board to the brick and go from there. Also I would use a good quality silicone as I have found cheaper ones not to last as well and resist mould.

 

[tomatwark]

I fixed a shower with this kit https://www.byretech.com/acatalog/showe ... seals.html

When I took it out:4 years later it had not leaked

 

[Estoril-5]

So on the advice received on here I decided to remove the first row of tiles.

After scoring the grout the first three literally fell off! The fourth one I'm going to tackle with the dremel.

It's wet behind there let me tell you! I think it's player board behind the tiles, there's a dark brown wet layer behind the tiles and I think this could be the paper backing of the plaster board.

Here's some pics, any more I go /help is much appreciated.

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[Lons]

Exactly what I said and well worth doing properly, I've seen that so many times and much much worse. Just a reminder, I note a wood chisel in the pic, if the last tile is stuck don't use that or you'll likely crack the tile, a flat slightly flexible scraper will remove it with ease.

If the plasterboard paper is shot the probably the plaster as well and whilst it's possible to stabilise that I personally would always elect to cut it out and replace with a new section (unless it's a "egg box" type wall with no timber in which case it's a little more difficult but still possible by inserting thicknessed wood into the wall cavity. If you want to do it properly then replace the plasterboard with a cement tile backer board instead. Fix with screws btw.

Anyway, carefully scrape off the wet layer first to see what it's like before making that decision.

Bob

 

[skipdiver]

Possibly wet plaster on render that you have. Plasterboard would probably have disintegrated by now. Give it a poke and see what happens.

 

[Estoril-5]

Too late lons, managed to get the final tile off but managed to crack the bugger.

Thinking to remove the next row up to see the extent of the water damage, I gave a little poke and went through the top paper layer, plaster and to the back paper layer which was wet!

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[Lons]

Too late lons, managed to get the final tile off but managed to crack the pipper.

Thinking to remove the next row up to see the extent of the water damage, I gave a little poke and went through the top paper layer, plaster and to the back paper layer which was wet!

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Ah well at least you know the extent of the damage now.

If yo don't have a scraper btw a good substitute is an old panel saw or an old bricklayers trowel with the end squared off. I used to buy a couple and cut off the top 3rd, very useful especially if you didn't need to save the tiles as you can use a hammer on the bent metal the fits in the handle and cut the tiles off with muinimal damage to the subsurface.

Bob

 

[petermillard]

Possibly a bit late, but a multitool with a carbide blade is very good for breaking the grout line between tiles.

HTH Pete