Hi my plumber remove few part of my bathroom tile to find water leak but can’t find any water leak. He pull out the tile and damage the waterproofing membrane. Please advice how do I repair the waterproofing membrane and put up the tile. Thanks
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @joyceL. It's wonderful to have you join us and many thanks for your question about shower repair.I'd suggest that you discuss with your plumber how they intend to repair the inspection location. The repair could be relatively extensive and costly. This should have been explained to you at the time.
Unless you have tiling and waterproofing experience, I wouldn't advise you to attempt the repair yourself. Instead, get a few quotes from tiling/waterproofing professionals to assess the cost. You'll then have the quotes on hand to provide to your plumber.
Please let me know if you have any questions.Mitchell
Hi thanks for your reply. Long story short, he won’t do anything about it. Most tiler are busy, find one can do it but won’t give guarantees on the job unless I redo the whole shower room. I can’t afford to do the whole bathroom. I have remove the broken tile by myself without damage the good tile. I need guardian to do what I can to fix my shower room. Please advice . Thanks
That's disappointing to hear, @joyceL.
The issue is that a shower membrane is a continuous coating applied over the base of your shower and then up the walls. Hopefully, you shouldn't need to do the whole bathroom if your shower has a hob, but I'd suggest most waterproofers will want to redo at least the shower recess to be confident in warranting their work. Simply patching this one area is not a great solution. At a minimum, I suspect you'll need to remove all the floor tiles and lower wall tiles and redo the membrane.
Let me mention one of our experienced members @Vis-á-vis to see if they have any thoughts.
Mitchell
Hi thank you @MitchellMc , I like the sound of it. It give me hope. I can remove all lower wall tile. How do I remove the old membrane before put in premier then new waterproofing membrane?
Hello,
How is your shower floor constructed? Is it a pre-made base or is it tiled over a screed?
Do you have any more photos showing the whole shower from further away? Dependent on whether your tiles extend a long way beyond the shower area will affect any remedial options but generally Mitchell is correct that you would have to keep the membrane continuous and therefore it is necessary for the whole shower area as a minimum to be waterproofed and tiled.
out of interest what is on the other side of that room? Just curious to know why the plumber removed tiles to try and find a leak as there are generally better ways.
👍
Hi, I am too late to come here ask for help. It start the shower door can’t close. I find a guys come to fix but he think it is water damage inside and the wood swelled cause the door out of alignment. He suggested me to contact insurance company. Insurance company come in the inspector also believe water leak ask me to use a plumber to remove the tile to find the leak. Unfortunately for me there have no leak of cause the insurance company not going to pay for the repair not water damage. I can’t do anything apart from put up the tile. Tiler won’t guarantee for the patch job but still quote 2k. Or remove of the tile, waterproofing not included put back up the shower door quote 12k. I desperately need your help here to make sure I do everything right it won’t cause me more. Attached more photos
Many thanks for the additional details, @joyceL. I'll be interested to see if @Vis-á-vis has anything more to add.
Here are some step-by-step guides which you'll find helpful:
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks @joyceL,
Do you have a photo that shows the entire shower to the very edges. Including a door, vanity or anything like that? I’m still unsure as to whether it is just your shower that is tiled or the entire room. cheers
Hi attached photos. Looking forward to hearing from you .
Hello @joyceL
Let me tag @Vis-á-vis to make them aware that you've posted photo updates. Looking at your earlier posts, If it is not a plumbing leak, I suspect that the leak could possibly be coming from your roof and is travelling down your bathroom wall. I'm afraid no repair or patch is recommended until you find the source of the leak. Repairing it now will only aggravate the situation and you will get the same kind of damage again.
My only recommendation is to commit to a full repair. I suggest engaging a professional plumber that has experience in tracking leaks. Once you find the source of the leak it can be plugged up. Water entering your wall is the cause of the problem. Once the area is secure from water damage, then you can start thinking about sealing and tiling the wall.
Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your bathroom wall repaired.
Eric
Hello @joyceL,
It is always difficult to give someone advice or a diagnosis without hands and eyes on inspection. I do a lot of remedial waterproofing construction and try not to give advice without an inspection. That said a few things do stick out with your shower.
The construction is very unusual here in Australia, for example, foam panel walls are not something you see very often. Where are you located?
Some things you should consider;
- You definitely have water under your shower floor tile. There is fairly significant efflorescence in your grout joins.
- The waterproofing on the shower wall falls short of the hook for the shower rose (would not meet the Australian standard)
- Outside of the shower where you have removed a skirting tile there is no waterproofing, the Australian standard states that you should come at least 150mm up the wall.
- It seems you have a step up to the shower. This could be a pre-formed base or a screed inside a water-stop. It does not appear that your wall waterproofing runs continuously across the wall to floor junction and on to the shower floor
All-in-all you are probably best to consider taking the entire shower out and starting again but not without a professional opinion after an eyes on inspection.
@Vis-á-vis
I am local in New Zealand. The house is build with panel wall. What you saying it is the water get into the floor from the grout when shower not leaking from the pipe? The water sit under the floor tile then cause the door out of alignment thats why the shower door not close probably? it is very hard to trust professional here. I had deal with to builder , tiler, plumber all give me something different then I following the insurance inspect advice to pull out the tile cut out the wall and can’t find anything. I getting into this mess now I have no idea how to solve it . I seem I need to redo the whole bath room 🤦🏻♀️.
Hi @joyceL,
It's a bit of a pickle you're in now. It's doesn't really even sound like you've been able to verify if there was an issue with the wall in the first place. For all we know, it could have been a hinge on the glass panel door which was loose and caused the door to bind.
You really need to speak with someone that specialises in waterproofing and work out exactly what needs to be done.
Joyce,
We do use foam panels for walls here in Oz but only for external walls that will be clad or rendered. There are other types of panel designed for showers such as Kerdiboard.
I'm not saying that water under your tile is the cause of the door not closing although it could be. If you look at the join between two of your floor tiles there is a clear case of efflorescence - water is under your tile and as it evaporates through the surface it leaves salt-like deposits on the surface. Grout is porous and small amounts of water underneath are fine and that is why you have a waterproof membrane that will take the water to your leak control flange without further damage.
As I mentioned previously, without a physical inspection it is very difficult to say what your problem is.
Common issues with shower construction would be;
- Grout instead of silicone being used at wall-to-floor and wall-to-wall junctions
- Leak control flanges incorrectly installed or not installed at all
- Waterproof membranes incorrectly installed
- Incorrect falls in a screed
- Pre-made shower bases installed incorrectly
- Penetrations not sealed
- Poor caulking
And then many other potential issues.
And then you have maintenance issues. Often people think that grout is permanent and only needs looking at the next time you tile. Grout shrinks and also forms small or larger cracks as the building moves. This is not necessarily poor workmanship by the tiler. Grout and silicone need regular maintenance.
I think you need to keep searching until you find someone you trust, perhaps word of mouth, ask people you know.
As a minimum you really should look at removing that shower and replastering, waterproofing and tiling. For a three-sided shower, if you are keeping fixtures, your quote of $12k seems an awful lot. I would think $5-6k should cover you.
thank you all the information @MitchellMc @Vis-á-vis
Before I really believe I can do it myself now I am not so sure. You guys are right. But it is hard to find someone to help fix my problem. The tiler just do tile then I need a builder or handyman to fix the wall and the shower door. I don’t know who I can trust they all seem guessing. One of the builder quote 15-16k. This door photo I used for found someone to come to fix it then he said not the door problem. I do ask 5 to 6 professional come to look they all think have leak but after all the mess there can’t find water damage not even water mark. I really don’t understand. May be I remove the floor tile take a look ? Most tiler not available. That’s another problem
Hi @joyceL
To remove any doubt of a leak. Engage the services of a registered plumber and ask them to do a pressure test of your plumbing system. Only by using a pressure test can they tell if a leak is occurring in your house. If the pressure test comes out positive. The leak will need to be tracked down.
Does the leak only occur when the shower is on? The only source of water in your shower are the shower pipes, the showerhead and the shower mixer. If you eliminate the obvious sources of water the only other source will be from outside your shower. Are there any other pipes passing through this wall that is not connected to the shower? Are there any obvious signs of water damage on the wall? Track the path of the damage and see where it leads to.
Since part of the tiles has already been removed, I suggest doing your own test. Turn the shower on and observe if water starts to flow behind the tiles. If water is present then you know that the leak is somewhere in that wall. The tiles will need to be removed in order to fix the plumbing leak.
However, a negative result from the pressure test means that the water is coming from some place else. I recommend looking at your ceiling panels and seeing if you have any watermarks present. Perhaps your roof is directing the water into that area.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Hi EricL, I don’t think there have leak because there no water mark anywhere. All start because the door not close probably. As you can see the photo the door bottom and the top out of alignment. As I trust the professional plumber , builder and the insurance inspector they are all wrong. They just like Oops it is strange may be your house poor workmanship then leave me to tidy
up the mess. Now what I want is to tidy up the mess have a bathroom to use. I am thankful I am not just have one bathroom to use. But I will take up the suggestion from @Vis-á-vis look at the shower floor. Thanks very much to you all . I do learn a lot from it. It is great Bunnings have this community chat. Talk about the problem do easy some stress.
