Are floor wall joints in bathroom meant to be sealed with silicone?

[Josh86]

I’m trying to determine where I have leak coming from my shower. After doing a flood test, water did seep through the corner of the shower. There is a silicone gap from inside the shower. I’ll redo the silicone and also scratch out some of the grout that’s cracked and reapply new grout.  But was also wondering if outside the shower where the floor and skirting tiles meet, if it’s meant to be sealed with silicone?

  

[EricL]

Hello @Josh86 

Thank you for sharing your question about your floor and wall joints. Renewing the silicone seals inside your bathroom is a good step in keeping the shower watertight. Sealing where the floor and skirting tiles meet is not a bad idea and serves as a precaution. Should water ever flow in that direction you can be confident that the skirting tile and floor are sealed.

Let me tag our experienced members @Nailbag and @Dave-1 for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Josh86 

There is no harm in sealing the wall to floor tiles, Tho I would expect the waterproofing that is under the tiles (wall and floor) should be covering the waterproofing. Within your shower and the flood test (they scare me lol ever since an asser from an insurance company come out to see if water damage was covered in my old shower, it wasnt and the shower failed spectaculary) you have done, wise move btw.

I would suggest this product CPC 1L Shower Plug Sealant @EricL had suggested in another project question It sounds like it would suit within the shower as it is hard to tell what section of the grout on the floor or wall may have failed.

Dave

[Nailbag]

G'day @Josh86 

When it comes to water ingress and leaks from showers, my alarm bells ring unless the sources are very obvious. If not, the potential internal wall damage can become very problematic and expensive to repair.

The leaks into the bathroom area I think you have already identified the solution, but for the internal wall one could be a number of things. Personally as I said, unless it's obvious, I would be inclined to invest in getting a leak detection service in to determine exactly where the water ingress is occurring. This will give you the best and most accurate information needed to resolve the issue long term.

Regards Nailbag