Had a report of small drips though the kitchen ceiling yesterday from our en-suite which was only fitted about 5 months ago.
Went for the sheet walls in the shower for low maintenance and waterproofing but I think they're installed badly and I can see the silicone shrinkage had cased separation from the bottom of the sheet.
Information I'd like to go armed with. What's the normal gap between the shower base and bottom of the sheet? Ours measures 7mm at least, I've always thought that is far too much for settling and expansion.
Should there be a system seal at the bottom rather than just a silicone fill? I don't know what manufacturer was used sorry, that might make a difference.
What are they, PVC or laminated board? How flexy is the tray?
Is there any sealant actually in there? Is that the straight edge of the board or the cut edge - looks slightly wonky, but it might be the picture.
In my experience the 'system seals' I've used have been worse than silicone for mould growth and leakage.
Sometimes they will sit on a plastic strip but it is the silicone that provides the waterproofing. And TBH with a new shower installation I would expect multiple layers of waterproofing - backerboard with paint on waterproofing, sealant between the tray and the backerboard, and then a decent sized bead of sealant where the panels meet the tray. If water is getting through in enough volume to come through the ceiling after five months, it just hasn't been done anywhere near well enough.
Unfortunately for your peace of mind a lot of that will have to come out to assess whether there is damage underneath.
Thanks gents. To answer some of the questions,
The tray doesn't flex noticably. I was insistent on a decent one for exactly that reason.
The grey strip between the tray and the sheet is the silicone. It's sort of set in rather than a more usual 45 degree external bead.
I think any wonky is the picture, it looks straight to me.
There's not loads of water through, I think my daughter filled the tray, it's shallow and there's not much fall on the drain, (that's the fault of the builder who did the house up though) but TBH after 6 months 1 drip is too many!
Yeah. This bit is poor.
That stuff in the gap looks more like the grab adhesive they used on the boards.
What is the board resting on?
Just because you only noticed the issue because your daughter overflowed the tray doesn't mean it hasn't been dripping into your ceiling space from day one. I had a similar issue which I only noticed because my son came home and took one of his legendary 1 hour showers. 🙂
And TBH with a new shower installation I would expect multiple layers of waterproofing - backerboard with paint on waterproofing, sealant between the tray and the backerboard, and then a decent sized bead of sealant where the panels meet the tray.
This.
That stuff in the gap looks more like the grab adhesive they used on the boards
Yeah, I was thinking that too. Looks like the ends of the swirly bead that's often laid down with gunned adhesive.
Well the supplier is coming round to assess and your comments will help my conversation greatly, so thanks.
I don't expect I'll need the leverage, but they know I'm also after getting the main bathroom done this year, although I'll be insisting on a different fitter!
The problem as always is, that if is the quality of work the fitter is happy for you to see, what stuff has he done where you can't see it?
To my untrained eye that looks like they haven't siliconed the joint.
We had our bathroom done 9 months ago (ish) using the boards & the installer has put the normal bead around the base of the shower tray & thin bead where the panels meet the floor.
That looks like a poor install.
There is no silicone in that joint, that's why its leaking. May have just missed it. When we had our ensuite done Siliconing everything up was the last job. Still sloppy work though, especially in such a critical location. In my case the fitter did a really neat job but used cheap sealant so 8 months on it's starting to go black.
Are the floors under the shower tray chipboard?
Maybe a small leak had trashed the chipboard, allowing quite a large gap to rip open between the panel bottom and the grey silicone part.
If it is any consolation, we are waiting to have the wetwall panels in out bathroom fitted again for the FOURTH time by Wickes appointed installers. New panels each time. First time V poor job, second time (new fella) a panel was damaged during installation but installed anyway, third time looked ok but then join suddenly opened up after 11 months. It is t&g and should've filled with silicone adhesive before joining - from the separation it is clear none was actually used. Panel has actually come loose from the wall!
Third installation team has been to see it. I believe it all needs removed back to studwork, then new plasterboard, then new panels. Panels alone are about £1000 each time - 2 x 1200mmx2400mm + 1 x 600mmx2400mm. Bonkers.