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Big leak from upstairs shower jeffc 11-03-2006
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Posted by jeffc on November 3, 2006, 12:38 am


I took a shower tonight on the second floor of our house, and when I went
downstairs it was leaking from the ceiling like crazy. It has never done
this before, so I thought maybe the drain pipe sprung a leak? There was no
overflow from either the shower or the toilet, and no crack or anything
visible in the tub.

But then I realized I had spent a long time just standing under the shower
head to let the water hit the back of my neck. I had my back up against the
shower wall between the shower head and the fixture. Then I noticed that
the "flange" on the fixture was not sealed to the shower wall. I mean the
cosmetic "cover" that covers the hole that was cut in the wall to install
the fixture.

Shouldn't this be sealed with caulk? It seems water can very easily get
behind there. I'm just not sure what the proper technique is, since the
shower wall is somewhat flexible - is regular silicone caulk the thing to
do? Was it not done as an oversight?



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Posted by Malcolm Hoar on November 3, 2006, 1:40 am


>I took a shower tonight on the second floor of our house, and when I went
>downstairs it was leaking from the ceiling like crazy. It has never done
>this before, so I thought maybe the drain pipe sprung a leak? There was no
>overflow from either the shower or the toilet, and no crack or anything
>visible in the tub.
>
>But then I realized I had spent a long time just standing under the shower
>head to let the water hit the back of my neck. I had my back up against the
>shower wall between the shower head and the fixture. Then I noticed that
>the "flange" on the fixture was not sealed to the shower wall. I mean the
>cosmetic "cover" that covers the hole that was cut in the wall to install
>the fixture.
>
>Shouldn't this be sealed with caulk? It seems water can very easily get
>behind there. I'm just not sure what the proper technique is, since the
>shower wall is somewhat flexible - is regular silicone caulk the thing to
>do? Was it not done as an oversight?

Probably. I had similar symptoms and reached a similar diagnosis
notwithstanding some skeptisism that so much water would find its
way behind the tile via that route. I caulked.

Next day, more water.

I feared I would have to start breaking into the tile work but
fortunately, before doing so, I partially dismantled the faucet
and found clear evidence of a leaking valve stem which I simply
replaced.

That solved the problem although I still had to carry out some
repairs to the downstairs drywall once it had thoroughly dried
out (2 weeks of fine summer weather).

Moral: check the faucet as thoroughly as possible *before*
you apply the caulk. If the caulk doesn't fix the issue
you'll likely need to remove it before you can make any
further inspections. Also, removing cured silicone is
a bit of a pain in the ass.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted by Joseph Meehan on November 3, 2006, 7:42 am


jeffc wrote:
> I took a shower tonight on the second floor of our house, and when I
> went downstairs it was leaking from the ceiling like crazy. It has
> never done this before, so I thought maybe the drain pipe sprung a
> leak? There was no overflow from either the shower or the toilet,
> and no crack or anything visible in the tub.
>
> But then I realized I had spent a long time just standing under the
> shower head to let the water hit the back of my neck. I had my back
> up against the shower wall between the shower head and the fixture. Then I
> noticed that the "flange" on the fixture was not sealed to the
> shower wall. I mean the cosmetic "cover" that covers the hole that
> was cut in the wall to install the fixture.
>
> Shouldn't this be sealed with caulk? It seems water can very easily
> get behind there. I'm just not sure what the proper technique is,
> since the shower wall is somewhat flexible - is regular silicone
> caulk the thing to do? Was it not done as an oversight?

I don't think the shower head is usually sealed. However I can't think
of a reason not to seal it. However I suggest sealing only about 80% of the
circumference. Leaving a gap at the bottom to all any water that does get
by to drain out.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




Posted by hallerb@aol.com on November 3, 2006, 8:41 am


It can e either a fresh water or drain leak.

to elminate a drain leak pour like 10 to 15 gallons of water down
drain, if it leaks its a drain problem

no leak its fresh water.


Posted by Joseph Meehan on November 3, 2006, 9:27 am


hallerb@aol.com wrote:
> It can e either a fresh water or drain leak.
>
> to elminate a drain leak pour like 10 to 15 gallons of water down
> drain, if it leaks its a drain problem
>
> no leak its fresh water.

Also along those lines, I suspect it more likely a drain or pressure
pipe behind the wall than a leak at the "flange" as it is not likely that
much water would leak there. I should have noted that in my most reply.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




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