Hello, and thanks in advance for your advice. I'm really in a jam.

I've been trying to resolve this problem for weeks, but can't seem to identify where the leak is coming from.

I have a fiberglass shower stall that is leaking down to the floor directly below.

One portion of the shower stall floor seems "soft" when I step on it... or I should say I can feel it give when I step on it. This specific shower stall has had perhaps 320 or more pounds in it (two adult people at once).

I've used silicone and caulked everywhere. I pulled up the drain cover and did there, too. My two young sons where in there a couple of years ago and one fell and punched a whole in the vertical front edge of the stall, but, I've fixed that with an exopy compound available at my hardware store and fairly sure it's not leaking from there.

My best guess is that the side of the shower that feels "soft" has a hairline crack in the floor and when weight is applied to that area, it leaks. If a person in the shower stays away from that area of the shower, it doesn't seem to leak - at least I can't see it at the floor below.

So, if it is a cracked or damaged stall floor, what are my repair options? Is there a coating or a way to fix a crack that which will hold? I considered a complete replacement stall, but, I'm not sure a replacement stall would even fit through the door opening - even with the door removed.

Please provide some troubleshooting tips and suggestions on how to confirm my suspicions and what my options are to fix the problem. If I can fix it in place, that would be my preference

Thanks a lot!!

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Originally Posted by WA415

Hello, and thanks in advance for your advice. I'm really in a jam.

I've been trying to resolve this problem for weeks, but can't seem to identify where the leak is coming from.

I have a fiberglass shower stall that is leaking down to the floor directly below.

One portion of the shower stall floor seems "soft" when I step on it.... or I should say I can feel it give when I step on it. This specific shower stall has had perhaps 320 or more pounds in it (two adult people at once).

I've used silicone and caulked everywhere. I pulled up the drain cover and did there, too. My two young sons where in there a couple of years ago and one fell and punched a whole in the vertical front edge of the stall, but, I've fixed that with an exopy compound available at my hardware store and fairly sure it's not leaking from there.

My best guess is that the side of the shower that feels "soft" has a hairline crack in the floor and when weight is applied to that area, it leaks. If a person in the shower stays away from that area of the shower, it doesn't seem to leak - at least I can't see it at the floor below.

So, if it is a cracked or damaged stall floor, what are my repair options? Is there a coating or a way to fix a crack that which will hold? I considered a complete replacement stall, but, I'm not sure a replacement stall would even fit through the door opening - even with the door removed.

Please provide some troubleshooting tips and suggestions on how to confirm my suspicions and what my options are to fix the problem. If I can fix it in place, that would be my preference

Thanks a lot!!!!

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The problem may further in down the drain, triggered when weight is applied to the top of the drain spout.

How to test this:
- remove drain cover if possible
- while standing in shower pour water from a bucket straight down the drain
- do not let the water overflow onto the shower floor
- move around while doing this and check to see if its still leaking

ALSO CHECK:
- the water inlet from the valves to the top part of the shower,
- you could have a leak here as well

You said you could not see any leak if the person stays away from the "soft" area of the shower pan. What do you see if they don't stay from the soft area? Unfortunately the "soft area" makes me think you have a damaged floor under the shower pan. If so its only going to get worse. I certainly would think a replacement shower stall is available. There is a verity of types and stiles available to meet most any need. Have you looked behind valve covers and the shower head escutcheon to make sure that the leak is not coming from there?

Okay, I can try dumping some water down the drain. But, as I said, if someone in the shower stays away from the "soft" area, I can detect no leak on the lower floor.

Conversely, if I plug the drain, and dump some water in the stall and walk around in there and see water on the lower floor, is it reasonable to assume the stall is leaking? I can, of course, use a pail or hose to fill the stall instead of running water.

How is the best way to proceed?

Thanks again!

If I stay away from the "soft" area, it doesn't appear to leak. Here's what I mean = the stall itself is about 36 inches wide with a drain in the middle, and perhaps 28 inched deep. If I stay on the side between the knobs & shower head and the drain, it doesn't seem to leak. If I stand on the other side (between the drain and the opposite wall - where it is soft), it seems to leak.

The leak manifests itself as stains on the celing of the floor below and through a door casing directly below the shower (closet door in the entry way).

Rather than running water from the shower head to do a test, would water from a bucket or hose be better? I did replace the shower head and pipe recently - but it was done as part of trying to fix the leak - or said another way, it was already leaking when I did that.

I'm willing and ready to try anything at this point. The stall itself is lined by tile, so I', trying to save the expense of replacing the stall and the tile around it IF THERE'S A FIX that will work and with stand the test of time.

Any ideas or suggestions??

Thank!!

When shower is completely clean and dry, try duct taping a home made plastic liner from the sides to around the drain. This too will eliminate the possible drain leakage.

If the fiberglass base is fractured , it will need replaced or repaired. Unfortunaltley repair is done on the rough bottom side.

Well I would say that you have isolated the leak to the pan or the drain. If you have a cracked or leaking pan I don't think you are going to find a fix that works and stands the test of time. other than replacement. At this point I think I would make a small opening in the ceiling below to see if movement is causing a leak in the drain. I think that if you had a crack in the pan you would be able to see it. Opening the ceiling would let you confirm the leak no matter where it is and let you look for any possible damage to the subflooring. That "soft" area concerns me.

Okay, I can do that. I think perhaps that's the best troubleshooting tip as I think the piping to the shower head is okay, and I think the drain is okay, too. If I fashion a sheet of thick plastic around the half of the stall where I think it might be fractured, and then get it with it and dance around in there and don't see a leak, then I think that will go a long way in helping me decide what to do next.

I can just see that replacing the stall itself is going to be a real pain and will turn expensive to redo the tile work above and to the side of the stall. But if I can at least figure out what the problem is, I can set forth on a plan to replace or repair as necessary.

Thanks.

I will update this as I make progress - probably in the next two or three days.

I appreciate the help.

I have looked very closely and with a high intensity light at the floor of the shower and can't see a crack. But if it was a hairline crack, and only gives under weight, I doubt I would see it. It feels soft when I walk on it and no other place in the stall feels like that.

Additionally, when my young sons use the shower (the heaviest is 80 lbs), there's no leaking. When my wife or I get in there, or when we get in together - it leaks if we stand in that area.

I think as a troubleshooting step, the plastic covering in that area will tell me what I need to know. Even if the plastic only withstands a few days worth of showering and standing in that area and I get no leaks, that will tell me I'm on the right track. If it continues to leak, then I know I have something else.

My plan is to get a 24x24 pice of heavy mil plastic and secure it to the floor when it is soft and then use the shower and stand in that area.

Okay, thank you for your thoughts. I'll get my plan together and get a test underway.

Here's an update on my leaking shower stall...

I spent a lot of time looking at the floor of the fiberglass shower stall with a high intensity light. I saw some things that looked like they were tiny cracks, but under pressure I couldn't get it to bend or push in.

I cut some thick, heavyweight plastic and duct taped it over the area (approx 1/2 of the fiberglass floor) I think the soft spot is.

I thought I did a good job of taping it down, but, I guess I didn't. After my wife and I took a shower this morning, we had water on the lower floor. When I examined the shower, I noted that there was water under the plastic, too. There was apparently a lot of water under there, too. Much much more than I would have expected.

So, I think my test was flawed and I'm redoing it.

This time, I've used some shower cleaner and cleaned the floor well, hopefully getting rid of any soap scum and whatever else might be there. I'm going to use two sheets of plastic this time, each individually taped with the edges overlapping.

Then, we'll run the test again and see what happens.

So, unless I'm wrong, this whole thing could be one of three things:
1) Small fracture of the floor
2) Drain problem
3) Pipe problem

I'm going on the assumption it's the floor since I can feel some softness there - like it's giving way (although I can't see an obvious crack).

If my plastic test completes, with or without a leak, it will at least tell me where my problem is.

Thanks.

Well, I don't think you are going to get seal with duct tape. Cut a large single sheet of plastic large enough to go up the wall about 6 to 8" and over the step. Lay this in the shower and tape up to the walls. Fold corners, don't cut. Fill shower pan with 2' of water. You and the wife get in shower and do the hokey pokey. The shower head doesn't have to be running. Check for leaks. Cut hole in plastic to drain. Check for leaks.

Harold, I wish I would have read your reply earlier. I've already put in both sheets of plastic on the floor and taped the snot out of it. Even used a wall paper roller to roll the tape down. My wife is going to get in the shower in a few minutes and I'm going to monitor while she does. It leaked this morning when she was in it alone, so we'll see. If I still get water under the plastic due to a bad tape seal, then tomorrow I'll try your test. I have some very large sheets of plastic, so I can do the test you suggested.

If it doesn't leak, I'll leave the plastic in a few days and monitor.

One thing I discovered - My wife turns the water pressure up more than I do. This morning when I showered, there was no water leak. Then when she did, there was a leak, but also water under the plastic.

In the process of trying to fix this, the day I removed the drain cover and gunked silicone around the drain, I also replaced the pipe coming out of the wall and replaced the shower head. I wonder if I might have fixed the original leak by siliconing the drain, but created another leak in not screwing that pipe in enough and it's leaking under the greater pressure she uses and not under my pressure.

Guess, we'll find out soon.

I have a friend that's a master plumber, so I might callhim and ask him to make sure all the pipe fittings are tight and not leaking. That would remove one of the three potential problem areas.

More soon. She just got in the shower.

Thanks again.

You got to fix that shower arm leak. Remove the shower head. Stick a large Phillips screwdriver up the pipe and use it to unscrew the shower arm, moving the handle of the screwdriver in a circle. Gives you extra leverage. Coat the threads with pipe thread joint compound. Some people like teflon tape but for things like this I like pipe dope. Reinstall shower arm using the screwdriver. Tighten as much as possible. As it begins to tighten you must decide if you can make another complete turn. If you have to back it up you should remove it, recoat threads and start again. Won't know any thing for sure about any other leak until you fix this one.

And the saga continues...

Results of the plastic test - my new method worked much better... yes, the leak appeared again on the lower floor. And there was water under the top sheet of plastic. But, there was no water under the lower sheet of plastic (next to shower floor) - it was totally dry where the floor feels soft. So based on that, I think I can say that the shower floor is not breached.

I did two things:

1) When I installed the new shower arm, I used nylon tape. I thought I tightened it good enough. But, tonight, I was able to get one more full complete turn out of it using my pipe gloves. I'm sure I can't get another turn out of it. I considered taking it out as you suggested, but, once it started to turn, I just kept going. I do have pipe dope and if the leak comes back, I'll pull that beast out, slather that thing up and use a pipe wrench on it.

2) I took up the drain cover, pulled up the silicone well and put a thick bead of caulk there and put the cover back on. I just let the excess ooze out and I'll cut it back in a few days.

So, now that I've ruled out the shower floor, I'm down to a possible drain and a possible spigot-pipe problem. It's very late here now, so I'm going to clean up my mess and head to bed soon. I'll check the leak tomorrow morning after I take my shower.

If I still have the leak, I might stop up the drain, fill the shower with a couple of inches of water and do the hokey pokey in there and see if I can see any leaks.

What would be your suggestion?

What's the chance that the drain pipes (below the shower have been damaged in some way and causing this? I hope I've fixed it with the shower arm tightened, but, if it still leaks, I'll need a way to keep getting closer to the fix.

Thanks.

Well, I feel pretty good at this point. We've had two rounds of adult showers and no leaks. During or after each shower, I've gone downstairs where the leak always appeared and there's been no water.

At this point, I've still got the plastic down on the shower stall floor, and will keep it there for several more days, though. My thinking is that tightening the shower arm and/or removing the drain cover and recaulking has resolved the problem (since it had leaked with the most recent plastic sheeting installed).

I'm going to run the shower as is for 4 or 5 days. Going to let my two boys get in there. I think if the leak is going to come back, it will come back in the next 4 or 5 days. If it doesn't return, I'll take up the plastic and watch for leaks.

Right now, I've got a pretty good feeling since it's been weeks since we've taken a shower in there without a leak.

Thanks a lot. I'll update in a few days.

Congratulations

It sounds like you may have a delaminated tub or shower floor. Is the unit fiberglass? Water can get between the layers and make soft spots. You may also have a unit not installed properly also. Most tub or shower pans recommend that they be supported. The good news is it can be fixed by a professional. I see this happen allot. Call your local local plumbing supply house for phone numbers on tub repair.

I have seen holes the sizes of pin heads cause problems like this.

Best of luck
Tj