Help!: Leaking Bath!!

[VMM-MP4-25]

Hi.

Apologise if i have posted in the completely the wrong place but i need some help.

I had a new bathroom suit fitted by a plumber and ever since that i have constent problems with the bath. First of it was sealed with quality sealant (bath was not filled with water plumber said old wives tale) and water was seeping through the ages and coming the blow room ceiling. Call him back re-did it and lasted a bit longer but problem came back. Tried to call him again to sort it out, but no luck could never get hold of him again.

So i took it upon myself to try and fix it as i was fed up. I pushed wood in all 4 corners of the bath to hold it up and then removed all the sealant and did it again. Lasted a while but minor leaking came back. I removed the wood form underneath the legs and put bits of slab which was a lot thicker and harder and did not move. I replaced the sealant with a rubber sealing strip and that did wonders but now it looks really really tacky after 1yr.

Can someone please point me in the right direction of what to do. I was looking at quadrant edge and grouting it so its solid and hopefully would not let any water past. It just gets to me that eveyone elses bath is fine with just sealant.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks

[mikethetile]

your plumber sounds like an old wife to me

depends on your bath if its steel or cast it doesnt need filling biut if its acrylic you must fill at least halfway and leave overnight to cure

remove all your existing sealant and clean up

re silicone with a good quality anti bacterial sealant

your bath shouldnt need propping up has it been installed properly

[paulyoung666]

was the bath filled with water before the sealant was applied ?? , also , you dont want to be grouting it in , that WILL crack and allow water in !!!! , you will probably get some better answers soon , to the site by the way

edit -- beaten to it !!

[VMM-MP4-25]

no the bath was note filled with water. I did ask him but he didnt do it as he said its not really needed.

[Dave]

Hi and welcome..

You can get a product called Teleseal10...this will cure your problem.

TeleSeal10® - Home

[faithhealer]

First off, how was the bath attached to the wall, I always sit mine on batons and silicon between baton and bath, and between bath and wall, then tile leaving a two mm gap and silicon again
It's also my opinion that all baths should be filled with water before final silicon, the bath might be solid but there might be a bit of give in the floor boards. ( caught me out once)

[faithhealer]

Hi and welcome..

You can get a product called Teleseal10...this will cure your problem.

TeleSeal10® - Home

I see screwfix have stopped selling this.

[Scott]

If the bath was siliconed to the wall as well as to the tiles id just remove the secondary silicone to the tiles and renew just incase the only this holding tha bath in is the primary silicone.

Personally I dont fill mine with water. I put a 4x2 under the feet to spread the load over the joists and as above i baton and also put notched supports under both external corners from underside of bath to floor. This stops all deflection on the edge of the bath and acts a a bracket to secure it to the wall. Bath siliconed to the wall and then again from bath to tile. Never had one leak!

[VMM-MP4-25]

Hi and welcome..

You can get a product called Teleseal10...this will cure your problem.

TeleSeal10® - Home

Thanks for this, it looks very good and that it would solve my problem.

First off, how was the bath attached to the wall, I always sit mine on batons and silicon between baton and bath, and between bath and wall, then tile leaving a two mm gap and silicon again
It's also my opinion that all baths should be filled with water before final silicon, the bath might be solid but there might be a bit of give in the floor boards. ( caught me out once)

to be honest i dont know how it is attached to the all, if at all. I when i have looked it i can't see anything holding the bath to the wall so i would do with nothing is All i have done is shoved some wood in each corner to prop it up and put cement slabs under eacb leg as it was better then the would that "plumber" out down.

[faithhealer]

I would be tempted to remove the concrete slabs, replace with 4 x 2 or sinilar and screw to the floor best you can. Also make some type of bracket to hold bath to the wall. I have notched out 2 x 1 to do this before. The less movement the bath has (should have none) the more chance of sucess. I always give the bath a shake when I go to quote bathrooms and explain straight off why I won't do the job unless bath is improved. I don't want any phonecalls thank you very much

[andy8758]

Two thoughts here:

1. Are you certain the leakage is definitely from the silicone edge of the bath? I fit a lot of bathrooms and find that nearly all leakage problems stem from the drainage - either the plughole is not siliconed properly or the waste pipe compression joints are not all tight enough.

2. I appreciate the advice from other members about propping up edges with wood etc. But, plastic baths taking the weight of (e.g.) a 14 stone man and a bath full of water will cause all sorts of weird and wonderful directional movement. Filling the bath with water does ensure that it sits down on all the supports (even if less than 1/2 mm movement), and 24 hours allows the silicone to cure at full stretch. IMHO it never hurts to follow the full bath advice every time you silicone the edges.

To solve your problem you must first remove the side panel. Fill the bath with water and get an accomodating partner to sit in and splash about. Then empty the bath. Whilst all this is going on, get a torch and look underneath. Check the side walls for signs of water, and use white tissue around all the waste areas to check for water leakage.

That will identify where your problem is. It is also worth checking the hot and cold taps/pipes compression joints for leaks. Don't just assume the problem is the silicone - make certain what the problem is.

Finally, the water will rot the plasterboard in the ceiling below. Not necessarily a problem unless you try to re-skim the ceiling with a new coat of finishing plaster, or you repaint the ceiling and find the existing finishing plaster coat starts to come away from the plasterboard after the wet emulsion is applied. Then you will have to replasterboard and skim the ceiling.

Happy Days!

[faithhealer]

just a thought, is there a shower above the bath? Had a leaky bathroom to sort out once and the tiles were dot and dabbed and the water was getting through the grout and just running down the wall. The silicon round the bath looked ok it just so happened the water was on the 'other' side!

[VMM-MP4-25]

Thanks for your replies so far.. great help

yes there is a shower over the bath (tap end)

[faithhealer]

Thanks for your replies so far.. great help

yes there is a shower over the bath (tap end)

ohhh, get the torch out and spray your water about one bit at a time

[andy8758]

Thanks for your replies so far.. great help

yes there is a shower over the bath (tap end)

Ah. plumber does the tiling. Shower above bath. Did he discuss how much you use the shower attachment? Did he advise that if you use it as "a shower" rather than to spray the shampoo off your hair whilst you bathe, that it is essential to tank the walls around the bath before tiling?

Perhaps we are being a tad depressing with our suppositions here....

[VMM-MP4-25]

Ah. plumber does the tiling. Shower above bath. Did he discuss how much you use the shower attachment? Did he advise that if you use it as "a shower" rather than to spray the shampoo off your hair whilst you bathe, that it is essential to tank the walls around the bath before tiling?

Perhaps we are being a tad depressing with our suppositions here....

What do you mean by tank the walls around the bath before tiling?

[diamondtiling]

What do you mean by tank the walls around the bath before tiling?

Tanking the walls before tiling is a form of waterproofing, it comes in several forms, it can be painted on, it can be a fibre type which is fixed to the walls with adhesive or it could be waterproof boards. Your "plumber/tiler" should know how these materials should be incorporated into an installation as they are essential.

[faithhealer]

starting to feel sorry for you now VMM-MP4-25, you came on here with what you thought was an easy fix and we are bombarding you with 'stuff'. Most of the guys on here like to do the job correctly thats all, it's just that we get loads of horror storys on here done by cowboys.
Just get under your bath with that torch and try to see where the waters coming from, good luck

[VMM-MP4-25]

starting to feel sorry for you now VMM-MP4-25, you came on here with what you thought was an easy fix and we are bombarding you with 'stuff'. Most of the guys on here like to do the job correctly thats all, it's just that we get loads of horror storys on here done by cowboys.
Just get under your bath with that torch and try to see where the waters coming from, good luck

LOL to he honest i was expecting it, i didnt think it was going to be an easy fix. It's hard to find a real decent plumber, or anything else for that matter, that you will know the job is done correctly. I will check under the bath and report back soon.

I really appreciate the help

[CJ]

Where are you based VMM