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Resealed the shower 3 months ago and the bugger is leaking again. I stripped all old sealant off, cleaned walls, resealed and let dry for 36hrs.
Definitely wall side leaks and not drainage pipes. Should I push on with sealant again or is there anything better? Any corner strips I could seal in?
Advice would be great as puddle on kitchen floor isn't great!
Thanks
Chris
Ive used corner strips in the past and dont like them. Mold holders mainly.
It's possible that the tray is flexing when you climb in and out and that is disturbing the silicone. Has the tray been installed with plenty of support underneath?
Second checking the support.
Plus one thing many don't do is "pre-load" the bath/shower before applying mastic.
Think about how much weight is going to be in it when you're in there + water and then think about why the mastic breaks away from the tiles.
bath - fill it to the brim with water - shower, load it with as much as possible to simulate you/fat bottomed iWife*/ you + fat bottomed iWife**/ fat bottomed iWife and daytime lover***......
* this in no way infers your wife has a fat bottom.
** this in no way infers that you've tried this
*** this in no way infers that your wife has a daytime visitor - Redtube's link to your cctv is purely incidental.....
+1 checking for movement and preloading.
Ensure surfaces are fully clean and dry. Also use a good quality bathroom specific sealant. I use Dow Corning or Unibond.
+1 for all that pre-load etc... when you remove the old sealant make sure the gap is totally dry, ie leave it for a day to dry out and the use the heat gun (hair dryer..?) carefully.
[b]And get the best sealant you can[/b]. After failing to get a good seal on the bath with cheap stuff from the hardware store, I blew the budget on a tube of proper stuff from builders merchant. It was all of £11, but was easier to use, and has lasted longer than any other seal I've done in the past.
Are you sure it's coming from the shower tray and not through the tiling?
I was going to recommend Cladseal but it appears it's only used for plastic panel finishes.
A good product nonetheless.
Had a similar problem with my resin shower tray. Re sealed it a couple of times and it kept cracking/ leaking. Bought some ceramic quadrant infill tiles. Lodsa tile adhesive then grouted in and it's perfect. Depends on what type your shower tray is, some of the plastic ones are very flimsy.
Thanks for all the advice.
Hammy....we need to have a talk!
Otherwise I think support might be the issue. Some of the wood support is looking a little old and possibly water damaged. I naively thought that resealing would resolve but wonder if there is a little movement on base.
So, thinking I should replace and/or reinforce supports (depending on access as don't want to take the whole bugger out). Then load the tray with kettlebells and unread textbooks to simulate Me and/or Mrs CJR. Fingers crossed
Thanks
Which sealant is the best?
Sika and Dow are the ones we use professionally and that I use at home too.
As Craigxxl - Are you sure it's not coming through the tiles/grout? I've experienced this before - caused by a small crack (shrinkage) in the grout, the substrate getting wet and the tiles delaminating from the adhesive - was an absolute b#gg#r to track down.
I did a shower tray job for someone where the so called plumbers had tried 3 times to reseal.
As like you it had come through into the downstairs.
I decided to poke about with the plaster in the ceiling as it was goosed.
Luckily I could see the underneath of the tray was cracked and only leaked when Jumbo was using it.
New tray required.
Had a similar problem, got bored of resealing it every 6 months. Without ripping the thing out there is no way to stabilise it since it is on victorian floorboards. They have "character" apparently.
I eventually forked out for this stuff
About 12 months ago and it still functions as new now. I'd recommend it as a long term fix.
SNAP!
Is it coming out underneath the side profiles? If so then classic fitting error: It is assumed by the manufacturers that water gets into the side channels (which is why you only seal the lower edge of the screen on the outside, allow water back into the tray)which is fine except sealant is often not applied to the tray/tile gap INSIDE THE CHANNELS after they has been fixed to wall and before the screen is installed.
I do remedial work on at least 2 enclosures a year where this has been the cause of leaks.