Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    LucyGucy's Avatar
    LucyGucy Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Dec 9, 2004, 06:55 AM
    Shower
    Hi... recently I took a trip down into the basement where my washer and dryer or located... I noticed there was dripping coming from the ceiling... and also took note that the shower which is one floor above the basement was in use... it seems that it only drips off the beams when the shower in in use for a long time... my husband and I want to repair this ourselves... we can see where the shower pipe is in the basement, but it seems that the drip must be traveling about 6 feet away from this... we really can't see any water dripping from the pipe itself... I know leaks can be tricky and not from the actual site... it deff. Has something to do with the shower running... what should be our first step...

    Thank you Pam
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #2

    Dec 9, 2004, 07:25 AM
    Shower
    Good morning Lucy,
    Water doesn't always act the way you want it to. Like electricity it will take the path of least resistance. You could notice moisture feet away from the leak. Your first priority should be to localize the leak. Ya can't fix it if you don't know where it's at. So let's start to nail it down. I've found that most shower leaks don't come from faulty drains or pipes. They occur when the shower stream hits tile grout that has shrunk over the years and allows water to run down inside the wall. So where does that leave us? Tile leak or drain leak? We start by the process of elimination.
    Tonight before you go to bed, block off the shower drain. I usually do this by removing the strainer and packing wet rags in the drain. Next fill the shower pan with one inch of water and let it set over night. You are testing the shower pan and the drain for leaks. No water coming out in the basement? Good! Now let the water out of the shower pan and check the basement for fresh moisture. Still dry? Great! That checks out the drain pipes That only leaves one possibility. The tile grout. You are left with options here. You can call in a tile man and regrout the tiles or you can purchase a tube of clear silicon grout and go over the tile grout where the stream hits it and runs down the tile wall to the shower floor. Hope this helps, good luck and thanks for using us. Tom
    LucyGucy's Avatar
    LucyGucy Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #3

    Dec 9, 2004, 09:45 AM
    Shower
    Tom, thank you for answering... we just had the plumber up... he said he believes it is a grout problem... like you said... the grout looks in pretty good shape... but he did point out some spots along the metal framing where it looked like it never had been sealed... the obvious looked fine... so we are going to clean it up real good... throw a space heater in the tub... for awhile... dry it and then try sealing it...

    Thank you very much for your help... Pam
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #4

    Dec 9, 2004, 12:44 PM
    Hi Pam,
    You look like you have the situation well in hand. Am I forgiven for calling you Lucy?

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Shower leaking (shower drain pipe?) [ 2 Answers ]

Hi, I will apologize up front for my lack of knowledge in plumbing... but I know enough that I believe that I can fix this problem without having to add on the expense of calling a plumber. I noticed that there were a lot of ants coming into our bathroom. After laying traps and having no...

Shower Pipe Drips When Shower Head is Removed [ 4 Answers ]

Hi, I keep buying new hand held showers heads that leak from the hose. I buy Delta brand. After I installed a new one yesterday, it started leaking from the hose again. Today I took off the entire shower head and see that from the pipe that comes out from the wall, it drips water at a pretty...

Turning walking shower stall into bathtub/shower combo. [ 4 Answers ]

Question: Current shower drain (2" pipe) runs 5 feet, under slab, to vent stack (5" cast iron vent pipe) of toilet. Will need to move the drain 3ft to wall for new tub. After moving the drain, the complete length of the pipe will still be around 5 feet. We will have to reduce the drain line...

Rebuilding Shower - Leveling new shower drain? [ 5 Answers ]

Hello, I have come to the postings to get some help as I am a novice plumber. I've gutted my ensuite tilled shower down to the floor. In whacking out the cement pan, and I assumed that I've probably cracked the old drain so when I got to the wood floor I cut away the older PVC 2" piping back...

Best way to install fixed shower head and personal shower [ 4 Answers ]

I am installing a new shower setup. I want to install a fixed shower head as well as a hand held personal shower with hose. On the Kohler website they sell a diverter valve with some sort of backflow valve for this purpose. I have a friend who just had this done and he has no diverter valve just...


View more questions Search