The real fun is trying to find out exactly what is leaking. If it keeps on
leaking at a steady rate while the shower is completely off and not used for
a few days, it's a leak in one of the water supply pipes, a water pipe
joint, or one of the valves. To fix that requires being able to access
where the leaking pipe/joint/valve is located and doing the plumbing repair.

If the trap is leaking (which it doesn't seem to be in your case) it will
slowly drip until the water in the trap empties.

If it's a caulking leak around the outside of the shower base, it will
happen when there is water on the floor around the shower. You can test
that by putting water on the floor around the shower base and see if the
leak increases.

If it's a leak in the shower pan, you can test that by completely plugging
up the drain in the shower and filling the shower pan with water, then see
if the leak increases.

If it's a leak through the grout in the shower wall tiles, if you have them,
it won't leak when doing the tests above, but will leak when running the
shower water along the shower walls. The same would occur if there is a
leak in the caulking around the shower faucet valves that allows water to go
through the wall at that point and down behind the shower through the
ceiling.

You might have to take out more parts of the ceiling to get a better idea of
where the leak might be originating.

As others have said, replacing the whole bathroom seems way over the top as
a way of fixing a simple (but hard to find) leak.

"Dan Harms" wrote in message
om...
Hi -

We have recently discovered that the shower in the master bedroom
above the kitchen is leaking. We learned about it because the ceiling
in the kitched started showing signs of water.

I made a hole in the ceiling about a foot in diameter (it was very
easy since it was wet ) in hopes of seeing the problem, I can see the
shower drain pipe, but it does not appear to be the source of the
water. The water keeps dripping (one drop per couple of hours)
somewhere from the side even after we stopped using the shower.

I had one contractor stop by, who said that his recommendation is to
rebuild the upstairs bathroom, that it would cost about 5K in labor +
material, and take about 10 days. Obviously I was not thrilled. The
shower (it also has a toiled and a sink, so it's really a bathroom) is
probably original in this house (built in the 60's). It's all tile.
The link is directly underneath the shower, so I don't think the
other parts of the bathroom are the source of the leak.

I am not sure how to proceed there. Is this thing generally "fixable",
i.e. break the wall, find the leak, fix it, patch it up, OR is this a
situation where the only sure way is to rebuild the bathroom
altogether? These days dollars are precious, so I'd much rather just
"fix" it, even if it will result in a less pretty looking shower. We
don't plan to move out any time soon, I dont' care how it looks for as
long as it works. When the kids grow up we'll rebuild it.

What say the usenet wisdom?

D.