Help!: damp from shower getting through wall

[julie]

Hi, we have a large shower on the ground floor which we renovated the base is concrete. We removed the old wall tiles and had the walls replastered and retiled, the floor tiles were put on top of the old tiles, trap is in the middle of the floor.
A few months after it was completed we noticed damp in the ajoining room so had the waste pipe redone to make sure there wasn't a leak from the pipework underground but damp is still getting through. We then thought it might be rising damp through the ajoining wall so removed the skirting and some plaster to check the damp proof course, this was OK. Water is getting through the walls from the edges where the floor tiles meet the wall tiles, we flooded the floor and could see the water literally going through to the other room (where we have removed the skirting board) I can't believe this has happened so soon after the tiling was finished.

We have since taken up the floor tiles, the old floor tiles are still down, the new wall tiles are still on and we would like to know how to proceed without redoing the whole lot, any help would be appreciated.

[Dave]

Hello Julie and welcome..


Was any tanking done..?

[mikethetile]

[julie]

No it wasn't, but it wasn't previously when we took the old tiles off.

[Dave]

But it is a wetroom yes..? as in wet floor and drains in the floor..?..

[julie]

Yes it's like a wetroom but only the shower at one end of the room, there is a tiled step into the shower, so fully tiled. The sink and tiolet are in the other part of the room.

[Dave]

So do you have a tray or tiled shower floor..

The reason i am asking as it deffo water ingression and lack of tanking to wall/floor joints will result in a leak 100% of the time.

[julie]

It's a tiled floor, I understand what you are saying but we had it tiled by a 'professional tiler'!!and spoke to other people and no one suggested tanking! I assumed this was because it was a solid concrete base & not wood.
Would you say we can't regrout at the bottom of the wall tiles, where they meet the floor, then retile the floor and grout the floor tiles and make sure we do this really well so it's all sealed?

[Dave]

You need to make sure the adjoining substrates ( wall&floor) are water proofed to prevent any further ingression.

This is the likely place julie where water will penetrate but it can also penetrate through the wall and seep down.. but might bet is the adjoining wall/floor joint.

This can be done before you tile the floor again.. you will need to remove bottom row of wall tiles and water proof and flexible joint tape the wall/floor join..

Have you noticed any change in grout colour on the walls in the area of the leak..?

[Saltire69]

Is there silicone between the wall and the floor tiles?

[julie]

Thank you for your help, we'll remove the bottom tiles and do what you suggest.

There was no change in the grout colour on the walls but then it is a very pale colour.

The leak was going through to the other room all along the wall, not just one spot, this is why we 1st thought it was rising damp. It sounds obvious now but we spent months trying to figure out what the problem was!

Thank you

[julie]

Actually we did put silicone around the edges but water got through, it only takes the smallest gap and water will get through.

[faithhealer]

Actually we did put silicone around the edges but water got through, it only takes the smallest gap and water will get through.

not a truer word Julie

[Dave]

Actually we did put silicone around the edges but water got through, it only takes the smallest gap and water will get through.

It can leach through the grout joints.. wall or floor julie..

Thats why it is best to tank the joint where it is getting in.

A full tank would be better but not an option when already tiled.

But you could still do the floor as i said and up the wall to about 300mm or so.. the higher the better.

[Colour Republic]

Any chance you could post some pictures of the room in question Julie? They paint a thousand words

[easyt]

Just a thought. When the bottom row of tiles is off it might be worthwhile considering how much damage there is to the plaster in that area before retitling.