My tile shower is leaking but the water is not coming from the drain.
There are several cracks in the grout on the corners of the floor. If I
re-grout the shower to fix these cracks will this stop the leak? Or do
I need to rip the floor up and replace the pan?

higgledy wrote:
My tile shower is leaking but the water is not coming from the drain.
There are several cracks in the grout on the corners of the floor. If I
re-grout the shower to fix these cracks will this stop the leak? Or do
I need to rip the floor up and replace the pan?



Redo those corners first. You may find that's all you have to do. Save
yourself a ton of time and money.

You must have a rubber film liner, right? Where is the water coming out?


higgledy wrote:
My tile shower is leaking but the water is not coming from the drain.
There are several cracks in the grout on the corners of the floor. If I
re-grout the shower to fix these cracks will this stop the leak? Or do
I need to rip the floor up and replace the pan?

I did not verify that there is a liner but I assume there is one.
Water is leaking in a slow trickle from the front edge of the shower
wall below the door.





Stubby wrote:
You must have a rubber film liner, right? Where is the water coming out?


higgledy wrote:
My tile shower is leaking but the water is not coming from the drain.
There are several cracks in the grout on the corners of the floor. If I
re-grout the shower to fix these cracks will this stop the leak? Or do
I need to rip the floor up and replace the pan?

If you are sure that the leak is not passing from under
the shower door threshold, you likely have a pan leak.
Here's how to check:
Somehow "dam" up the drain. I'll often use a folded
up wash cloth, set it on the drain and put a heavy round
bottle of something on it so the drain is mostly plugged.
Fill the shower base with about 2 to 3" of water.
Let it sit like this for several hours, possible overnight,
and watch for where leaks are. You may or may not
see the leaks, but if water is really leaking from the
pan where you say it is, you'll see water continually
coming out from this spot.

Usually the most telling signs of a shower leak are
years of decay around the outside of the shower.
Try to access the backside of the shower. This may
be a closet in the other room, or an outside wall,
or a wall in the bathroom. Pull back carpet and
see if the tackstrip has been 'darkened' with water
damage/decay. Notice if the bottom of the baseboard
appears water damaged.
When pans go bad and leak, it fills most of the space
under the shower with water, and damage is usually
all around.

You can try to re-grout, but this won't solve your
problem. The tile and grout don't contain the shower
water, the pan does. Re-grouting will only slow the
leaking.

thetiler

higgledy wrote:
I did not verify that there is a liner but I assume there is one.
Water is leaking in a slow trickle from the front edge of the shower
wall below the door.





Stubby wrote:
You must have a rubber film liner, right? Where is the water coming out?


higgledy wrote:
My tile shower is leaking but the water is not coming from the drain.
There are several cracks in the grout on the corners of the floor. If I
re-grout the shower to fix these cracks will this stop the leak? Or do
I need to rip the floor up and replace the pan?