Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Leaking shower stall

Hey:
We have a single shower stall in one of the bathrooms that was added about 5 years ago or so.
It leaks into the basement, only some of the time. I had a plumber our to fix something else and he said it needed caulking around the top of the tiles that rest on the floor and around the floor joints.
Well, it is still leaking, but only when it wants too. He suggested pulling up all the tile and it "Might" be the pan underneath the tile. I really hate to do all the work of pulling up the tile, pan, clean up and replacing everything without a better guess of it "Might be".
Any suggestions of what to look for?
Thanks in advance for your halp and take care. :)

Dan

Lots of things can cause what you describe, non good. If the shower was built properly, leaks would be going down the drain because there are several water directing techniques used along the way, each designed to take over if the other fails. Do you know how the shower was constructed? Do you know if the floor space it's on was constructed to support the weight of a poured pan and tile shower? I re-did one a few years ago the home owner had done with out good construction in put and it turned out the pan had been improperly built and had developed leaks over time. There was a musty odor in the shower that they had grown accustomed to that indicated stale standing water some where and, upon close inspection, there were hairline cracks in the grout indicating movement. Do you have any of that going on?

Smokey49:

Thanks for the ifo.

No musty odor, no visible cracks in the grout lines.

I do not know how it wa sbuilt or if it is supported very well. There is a history of this thing leaking as you can see it in the basement.. all the wood is dis-colored under the frain and they cut a hole to try to solvethe issue.

What kills me is I use it at least twice per day and it only leaks some times.. i have tried running water down the walls with no leaking. I cannot tell where it is comming from so it looks liek I am about to tear it up. :)

Any other suggestions are welcomed!

Thanks again and take care
Dan

It sure seems a shame to tear it out without determining the cause of the leak, but if it's intermittent it can drive you crazy trying to find it and you could have re-done it by then. If you decide to tear it out, take notes. Is there a shower pan liner incorporated in the construction of the pan? If not, oops. If so, how was it installed in so far as up the studs, dam, corners, drain? How was the drain handled when the pan was poured? Is there a vapor barrier behind the wall backer and, if so, was it behind the pan liner or not? What kind of material is the tile set to? Are the corners caulked or grouted? Is there room behind the faucet or shower head for water to get in during shower use? Armed with such details, you may be able to determine the problem and correct it the next go round. Have fun.

Dan

Caulk wont fix a leaking shower. A properly constructed shower wont leak just because there is some damaged or missing caulk.

Have you in fact determined that the shower pan is leaking? Do you know for sure that its not the shower valve or water leads?

You can test the water supply by running the water and diverting the water into something other than the shower pan. You can run the water into 5 gallon buckets and empty them somewhere other than the shower pan. If you see leaks, you no its not the shower pan.

You can test the shower pan by blocking off the drain below the weep holes. For approx $10 you can buy a pneumatic plug that you can insert into the drain below the weepholes and then inflate it. Fill the pan up with water to approx 1" from the top of the curb with a water source other than the shower head. Let the water sit and observe from below. Dont be alarmed if the water level drops as this is normal. The mortar bed below the tile will absorb water - its designed to do this. The pan liner below the mortar bed should prevent any leakage. If the drain is properly blocked off, there is no place else for the water to go so if the pan is leaking, you should be able to see it from below. Many times, the leak can be small so if the mud bed is not saturated, it may not leak. Possibly thats why its intermittant.

As Smokey said there could be many causes for a leak. They are not always easy to find. I would try these few simple tests first.

I've been reading the posts and your recommendations but I have a preformed fiberglass or plastic shower stall that leaks. From what I can see from underneath the shower, there are no tiles or any form of support where the leak is coming from. Water trickles from the pipe that connects up to the drain hole and drips down the p-trap. I've taken the drain hole screen off and caulked around it but it still leaks.

A few years ago I fixed a leaking faucet on my tub/shower combo. I got the drip fixed but failed to caulk around the fixtures when I put the new ones on. They looked like they fit tightly, and there was some sort of gasket on them, but they ended up leaking like a sieve when water ran down the shower walls. After I figured out the problem and caulked around all the fixtures, no more leak. Have you done any work on your fixtures lately?

Pecos

Pecos, no I haven't done any work to my fixture. This shower stall uses only one knob for hot and cold water and the shower head comes out of the wall about five inches or so above the stall. So the only fixture in the stall itself is the water knob.

That's where mine was leaking through. Behind the round escutcheon surrounding the water knob. It's amazing how much water can get in behind it.

Pecos