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milash122 · Nov 12, 2008, 01:09 PM

My company installed a shower base about a year ago in an apartment we were working on. We had a plumber install a lead pan, and then my installer laid the thinset, tiles and grout.

The problem is that now it is leaking. The management company sent me pictures, but all the pictures show me is that the tiles are coming off. I need to know what is causing the leak so I know who to send to fix it. Is the leak causing the tiles to come off, or is the tiles coming off causing the leak.

I am at my wits end with this because I have no idea what its going to take to finally fix this whole mess. I have uploaded the pics here, please let me know anything you can so I can be done with this.

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Thanks

speedball1 · Nov 12, 2008, 04:04 PM

I'm amazede that you're still using lead to pan out your showers. I formed out my last lead pan back in the 70's. We use Blue Composeal,(see image)in place of lead.
Several things come to mind. The tiles that came off have nothing to do with the leak. They're the result of a bad tile job. Even if the tiles were all out the water would leak back down the drainthrouhj the drains weep holes, (see image).
1) this could happen if the lead wasn't cornered properly or developed a leak after it was walked upon.
2) The tile man failed to keep the weep holes open in the drain and the water built up over the last year.
3) the leak isn't in the shower base but in the trap and raiser asesembly. You will have to open up the ceiling and look.
4) You haven't a drainage leak at all. Look behind the shower valve to check for moisture.
Before you do anything you will have to loocate the source of the leak.
Good luck, Tom

milash122 · Nov 13, 2008, 07:39 AM

Thanks speedbal.

According to the plumber that did the job, since the job was in an apartment building in New York city, it needs to meet building codes. In New York you must use a galvanized trap, and a lead pan.

Before we renovated the shower we wanted to use a fiberglass shower pan, but according to our purchaser he said that since the drain is at the end of the shower and not in the middle, we would have to build it ourselves because the only shower pan he could find had the drain in the center

The leak is apparently not coming from the drain, it is coming from the step where the tiles are coming off, which doesn't make sense because he fitted the step with the lead also.

Anyway, I will call the plumber and see what he has to say, because it seems like the general consensus is that the tiles don't matter, even if there were zero tiles there it shouldn't be leaking through the lead.

Thanks

speedball1 · Nov 13, 2008, 07:49 AM

it seems like the general consensus is that the tiles don't matter, even if there were zero tiles there it shouldn't be leaking through the lead.

That's what the weep holes in the flange are for. Those would be the first that I would check. Good luck, Tom

milash122 · Nov 13, 2008, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by speedball1

That's what the weep holes in the flange are for. Those wouldbe the first that I would check. Good luck, Tom

Can you explain what you mean?

speedball1 · Nov 13, 2008, 08:29 AM

Originally Posted by speedball1
That's what the weep holes in the flange are for. Those would be the first that I would check. Good luck, Tom
Can you explain what you mean?

No problem! All flange type shower drains, (see image) have a series of grooves in the bottom flange. These are called "weep holes" and they serve to drain away any water that should seep beneath the shower pan. If the tile man got sloppy and let mortar block the holes then water will build up and leak out. There are many places that could leal. Check the easy places first. Before I tore into the tiles, (of course the tile job must be repaired) I would openb up the ceiling to check that it wasn't the trap or raiser. Look behind the shower valve face plate and check for moisture, ckeck the tile grout to see if the grout has shrunk or loosened up where the shower stream hits the wall and can leak down behind the pan. Sorry to hear you're cforced to use lead pans. That puts you 30 years behind the rest of us. Regards, Tom

milash122 · Nov 13, 2008, 08:57 AM

Thanks for the help tom,

Maybe these pictures can help. Does this all look right?

NYGUARD · May 12, 2011, 04:37 AM

The probable cause for this is the pitch of the tiles, the water is pooling and not able to drain, so the water is penatrating the tiles and sitting underneath on the lead pan causing the tiles to lift

massplumber2008 · May 12, 2011, 05:03 AM

I don't think it is the tile floor or the pan... tile floor looks pitched to me (see top picture).

I'm betting that the threshold wasn't pitched in toward the shower and that water is sitting up on the threshold all the time and is getting through the grout and creating the issue seen in the pictures.

Doesn't matter much anyway as this thread is from 2008, so I'm betting this has all been resolved by now!

NYguard, look at the dates in the upper left corner of each post and that way you can actually get a response from the original poster, OK?

Mark