Wet Floor Leaking - TilersForums.com

[scotty9a9]

Hi, We had a wet floor installed on the first floor and has now begun to show leaks which have been making the wall/ceilling below wet. I have included a few pictures so you can see the wetfloor and leak from below.

Given the sheer pain of ripping out the tiles and refitting the wetfloor membrane and underfloor heating the preference is to find another solution by dealing with the problem from below (i,e ceiling / wall). It looks as if the problem is just linked to the water being splashed beyond the edge of the tanking membrane and its just flowing to the lowest point. I have cut a small hole in the edge of the wall/ceiling to see the problem.

Solutions in my preferred order would be-

1) Install a channel in the ceiling (eg think guttering) to drain the water to an external wall. (about 1 and 1/2 meters). Obviously far from ideal and I am sure a no no in a professionals book.
2) Install glass surround to stop water escaping outside membrane. Kind of makes the wet floor redundant.
3) Refit bathroom tiles and tanking

I look forward to your thoughts on bet course of action or if there may be another solution.

S

 

[Mr Tiler]

no pics on show bud.... no you do not want some sort of internal guttering to catch leaking water I know that much lol. over time where the water is getting will get very damaged and will result in a lot more money being spent

 

[Gazzer]

It looks as if the problem is just linked to the water being splashed beyond the edge of the tanking membrane and its just flowing to the lowest point.

S

The lowest point should be your waste outlet ? Need pics to tell more.

 

[Spud]

Have you asked the guys who installed it to take a look at it ?

 

[scotty9a9]

Attached are the pics. Sorry for not putting on oirginal post.

Guys who put in are not returning calls. After they did a range of things around the place not convinced I would want them back in any event.

The tiler seemed good although he did not put in the tanking.

 

[Mr Tiler]

who did put the tanking in? or are you saying there's none at all?

 

[scotty9a9]

There is tanking but I believe they only put it in out about 1.2-1.4 m and the water is splashing well beyond that when showering. Unfortunately I do not have the name of the tank/membrane kit to hand.

 

[Chalker]

Tiling looks ok. It could be the waste fitting.easiest way to check this is to remove the chrome waste trom and insert just the shower hose. Run this so water is only going into the waste. If water appears below you have a waste problem. This can be repaired from below.

 

[scotty9a9]

thanks for this. After a few tests unfortunately it looks like the problem is not linked to the waste fitting. Most water seems to drip below when the walls of the shower cubicle are splashed.

Perhaps they did not tank the walls fully with the membrane is my thinking.

This is bad news as insurance seems like they will only pay to make good the plastering if the leak results from an escape of water from a pipe. They will not pay for shoddy workmanship which looks like might be the case for us here. Looks like the company that did the job has subsequently closed.

After this episode am thinking of just installing a traditional shower unit to be more certain that future leaks will not arise.

Any thoughts on best way forward or something I may be missing are welcome.

 

[Gazzer]

Then put the hose on the floor without wetting the walls. Isolate the problem 1st .

 

[scotty9a9]

So I have isolated the leaks to both the front and rear walls and some of the floor. In effect the only part that seems to hold water with no leaking is around the drain and about 40 centimetres around that.

All in all looks like quite a bodge job and given this not sure I can trust another wet floor installation.

 

[Mr Tiler]

is that bad tiling Neale? surely the water shouldn't be getting even beyond the tiles never mind the bad tanking to that extent? is there silicone on the internal joints?

 

[Martyn Leeds]

Is it all silicone correctly? internal corners etc?
or perhaps just grouted??

 

[scotty9a9]

There is mastic on the external joints but unfortunately I am not sure what they did in fitting internally. The tiles are natural stone so maybe its properties are not the best for wet rooms.

If it helps all the water all runs down into the one spot at the edge irrespective of whether the side or rear wall or part of the floor is made wet. That's why originally I was thinking of some way of draining this leak externally.

 

[scotty9a9]

I also remember the builders mentioning that they were using sika waterproofer on the walls but after looking at their webpage not sure exactly what product they used.

Perhaps as the leak appears to be coming from the one spot directly at the edge of the wall and the subfloor (chipboard) that they put in would it be worth trying to insert some [h=3]Sika® Finishing Mortar to try to fill the gap and stop the leak? I guess I am clutching at straws and this will just push the water to escape somewhere else although would be good to have your thoughts.[/h]
It just seems all the water is funnelling to the edge of this chipboard and existing wall.

Thanks for all your help with this. It is much appreciated.