The shower in the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with a shower? Grrr.

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Thanks.

"jgharston" wrote in message
...
The shower in the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with a shower? Grrr.

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Thanks.

Is this a trick question or am I missing something here? Just put sanitary
silicone sealant around the join of the wall and shower base

Slider wrote:
Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Is this a trick question or am I missing something here? *Just put sanitary
silicone sealant around the join of the wall and shower base

I have done when originally installed. The sealant just pulls itself
apart, and has been replaced four times in the last year so far.
I'm going to rip it out and have it replaced, but I can't do that
until
there's another bathroom available, and I can finish the other
bathroom until this one stops leaking through the ceiling.

"jgharston" wrote in message
...
Slider wrote:
Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Is this a trick question or am I missing something here? Just put sanitary
silicone sealant around the join of the wall and shower base

I have done when originally installed. The sealant just pulls itself
apart, and has been replaced four times in the last year so far.
I'm going to rip it out and have it replaced, but I can't do that
until
there's another bathroom available, and I can finish the other
bathroom until this one stops leaking through the ceiling.

Is the shower tray on legs (raised). If so, make sure it's secure before
applying silicone. Clean all areas with white spirit before applying
silicone and it should last. Don't use cheap silicone, get some Dow Corning
clear.

On 22 Jul, 16:18, jgharston wrote:
The shower in the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with a shower? Grrr.

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Thanks.

Put in a shower curtain for the time being ? Hole for the shower
pipe ?
A bit of polythene ?
Depends how accommodating the tenants are !
Simon.

Slider wrote:
"jgharston" wrote in message
...
Slider wrote:
Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Is this a trick question or am I missing something here? Just put
sanitary silicone sealant around the join of the wall and shower base

I have done when originally installed. The sealant just pulls itself
apart, and has been replaced four times in the last year so far.
I'm going to rip it out and have it replaced, but I can't do that
until
there's another bathroom available, and I can finish the other
bathroom until this one stops leaking through the ceiling.

Is the shower tray on legs (raised). If so, make sure it's secure
before applying silicone. Clean all areas with white spirit before
applying silicone and it should last. Don't use cheap silicone, get
some Dow Corning clear.

And this is why I don't use silicone for this type of thing - it's good for
filling small gaps, but where running water is expected, forget it.

What it needed to begin with was an L shaped plastic moulding sticking over
the gap between base and wall prior to tiling - silicone can be used for
this because it's protected from running water by the wall tiles and the
bottom flat part of the moulding, relying on silicone alone is asking for
trouble.

sm_jamieson wrote:
On 22 Jul, 16:18, jgharston wrote:
The shower in the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with a shower? Grrr.

Continual dowsing in hot water for a start, I suppose

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Thanks.

Put in a shower curtain for the time being ? Hole for the shower
pipe ?
A bit of polythene ?
Depends how accommodating the tenants are !

Agreed! I have succesfully 'cured' a leaky shower very effectively in
the past by lining out the whole thing with a single large sheet of
polythene (DPC membrane) which overlapped the rim of the shower tray.
Looked the pits though of course and I don't think it would be
reasonable for a tenanted property for as long as several months (unless
you made it worth their while, maybe!)

But what's stopping you doing a proper job on this shower now, rather
than doing a bodge just so you can plaster downstairs?

David

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:18:57 -0700, jgharston wrote:

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

First find out where it's leaking!

Is it from the waste/trap? Try running water directly into the waste grill
and see if it comes through downstairs.
If not that it's getting past the sealing of tiles to wall or tiles to tray
(or the tray itself is cracked). It takes a surprisingly small gap in
grouting or sealing to let a surprisingly large amount of water through.
Play a jet of water over various parts of the shower enclosure
and see what causes rain downstairs.

Personally I'd get a tube or two of Stixall from Toolstation and get out my
Bosch Fein-multimaster-knockoff and dig out the existing sealant and any
dodgy grouting on lower rows of tiles and go over it all. Stixall sticks
in the wet (I think it's a Sticks-like-sh*t knockoff - you could use that
but it's dearer and if you're a landlord I'm sure you're a tight bar
steward ;-)) so it's a lot better than silicone for dealing with dodgy
existing bath & shower sealing.


--
John Stumbles

87.5% of statistics are made up

"John Stumbles" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:18:57 -0700, jgharston wrote:

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

First find out where it's leaking!

Is it from the waste/trap? Try running water directly into the waste grill
and see if it comes through downstairs.
If not that it's getting past the sealing of tiles to wall or tiles to
tray
(or the tray itself is cracked). It takes a surprisingly small gap in
grouting or sealing to let a surprisingly large amount of water through.
Play a jet of water over various parts of the shower enclosure
and see what causes rain downstairs.

Personally I'd get a tube or two of Stixall from Toolstation and get out
my
Bosch Fein-multimaster-knockoff and dig out the existing sealant and any
dodgy grouting on lower rows of tiles and go over it all. Stixall sticks
in the wet (I think it's a Sticks-like-sh*t knockoff - you could use that
but it's dearer and if you're a landlord I'm sure you're a tight bar
steward ;-)) so it's a lot better than silicone for dealing with dodgy
existing bath & shower sealing.


--
John Stumbles

87.5% of statistics are made up

Stand in the tray and move about - see what is happening. Fix any movement
and then you stand a chance of curing the problem.

"Slider" wrote in message ...

"jgharston" wrote in message
...
The shower in the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with a shower? Grrr.

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
the shower base?

Thanks.

Is this a trick question or am I missing something here? Just put
sanitary silicone sealant around the join of the wall and shower base


You missed an important step there ... Put sanitary silicone sealant around
the join, and then pray ...

In my experience though, it still won't last longer than about 2 days,
before it's leaking again !

Arfa

Lobster wrote:
But what's stopping you doing a proper job on this shower now, rather
than doing a bodge just so you can plaster downstairs?

Read previous message. That would leave the tenants with no
bathroom facilities. I can't fix /this/ bathroom until I've installed
the /other/ bathroom. I can't install the /other/ bathroom until
/this/ one stops leaking.

John Stimbles wrote:
First find out where it's leaking!

It's leaking from the join between the shower tray and
the wall.

--
JGH

"jgharston" wrote in message
...
Lobster wrote:
But what's stopping you doing a proper job on this shower now, rather
than doing a bodge just so you can plaster downstairs?

Read previous message. That would leave the tenants with no
bathroom facilities. I can't fix /this/ bathroom until I've installed
the /other/ bathroom. I can't install the /other/ bathroom until
/this/ one stops leaking.

John Stimbles wrote:
First find out where it's leaking!

It's leaking from the join between the shower tray and
the wall.

--
JGH

Buy good quality silicone sealant. if it's only a temporary repair but
loads in the joint. Is the tray secure? If not, you need to ensure the
tray is firmly fixed in position otherwise you will never cure the leak

jgharston wrote:
Lobster wrote:
But what's stopping you doing a proper job on this shower now, rather
than doing a bodge just so you can plaster downstairs?

Read previous message. That would leave the tenants with no
bathroom facilities. I can't fix /this/ bathroom until I've installed
the /other/ bathroom. I can't install the /other/ bathroom until
/this/ one stops leaking.

So it's a single property with two bathrooms? My reading of it was that
you had two separate flats one above the other?

David

On 22 Jul, 18:14, Lobster wrote:
sm_jamieson wrote:
On 22 Jul, 16:18, jgharston wrote:
Theshowerin the upstairs flat is leaking, where the base
joins the wall. I need to stop it leaking short term, (eg a
few months) long enough so I can get the bathroom in the
downstairs flat plastered and installed. I can't plaster it
while there's water running through the ceiling, and I
can't just rip it out, as that would leave my tenants with
no bathroom.

I put self-adheasive flashing tape all the way around the
base, in vertically overlapping strips, but the damn thing
still leaks, The flashing tape is ungluing itself. The stuff's
meant to withstand outdoor weather on a roof, how come
it can't cope with ashower? Grrr.

Continual dowsing in hot water for a start, I suppose

Anyway, what can I do to effect a leakproof seal around
theshowerbase?

Thanks.

Put in ashowercurtain for the time being ? Hole for theshower
pipe ?
A bit of polythene ?
Depends how accommodating the tenants are !

Agreed! *I have succesfully 'cured' a leakyshowervery effectively in
the past by lining out the whole thing with a single large sheet of
polythene (DPC membrane) which overlapped the rim of theshowertray.
Looked the pits though of course and I don't think it would be
reasonable for a tenanted property for as long as several months (unless
you made it worth their while, maybe!)

But what's stopping you doing a proper job on thisshowernow, rather
than doing a bodge just so you can plaster downstairs?

David

Hi,

I also am fixing up my bathroom and fitting a shower valve and shower
head im not sure if this helps but i got a great deal on a bathroom
suite from http://www.truerooms.com/ they offer free UK delivery.

Hope this helps,

John.