[NickC]

I am in the process of fixing a second floor shower leak. I have removed the first floor ceiling under the shower. I've removed the gasket between the shower base and the drain pipe. I've replaced the rubber gasket (and cardboard gasket) And I have removed the drain cap inside the shower. I am very close to fixing this but I am still having a problem with tightening it all up. Under the drain cap inside the shower I used plummers putty to seal the ring but it doesn't stop the water from still leaking. The plummers putty may be the problem. I don't seem to be able to tighten the drain up enough so there is still play in the gaskets under neath the shower causing it to leak. Do you suggest using something other than plummers putty to seal the drain cap?
If not how do you suggest applying the putty, a thin ring or thick? I thank you in advance for all your help.

[speedball1]

Good morning Nick,
We take plumbers putty and make a rope into a ring 3/8 or 1/2" thick and that's what goes under the lip of the drain. The neoprene washer and cardboard washer will go underneith. We then tighten the retaining nut as tight as we can squeezing out the putty and forming a seal with the putty that's left. Your problem would appear to be in not getting the retaining nut tight enough to prevent play in the lip of the drain and the seal is broken. The nut MUST be as tight as you can get it and there must be no play in the drain after you finish tightning. Good luck, Tom

[NickC]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. The putty rope makes sense. However I want to be sure I understand you correctly. If the rope of putty goes under the lip of the shower drain and the gaskets go over the drain pipe (under the shower basin) it then means that the putty will be between the lip of the shower basin and the top of the rubber gasket. Is that correct? If that is there isn't too much room in this area. I assume I will pull the drain pipe down a little to make room for the putty.

[speedball1]

If the rope of putty goes under the lip of the shower drain and the gaskets go over the drain pipe (under the shower basin) it then means that the putty will be between the lip of the shower basin and the top of the rubber gasket. Is that correct?

No! The sequence goes like this. First the putty, then the lip of the drain down on the shower floor and from underneith comes the neoprene washer, the carboard friction ring and last the retaining nut. As you tighten down on the retaining nut putty will begain to squeeze out from under the lip. The tighter the nut the more putty will be ejected. Tighten the retaining nut as tight as you can get it and clean all the excess putty from around the rim. Now her's what a lot of installers miss and it's potential leak on further down the line. After they crank down on the nut as far as they can they leave it as finished. But sometimes the putty's not through squeezing all the way out from under the lip. This loosens the pressure on the putty seal and in time it will leak. Wait 1/2 hour and go back and snug the nut back up just to make sure.
Good luck, Tom

[JoeTaxpayer]

I have a leak through my shower stall's tile floor.
I thought I could just scrape out the corner where the floor meets the wall, this is where the leak seemd to be, and just re-grout and add tile/grout sealer.
The missus thinks the since there should be a pan redirecting this to the drain, that there's a bigger issue here and we should get the tile guy to come rip out the whole floor, plumber replace pan, and re-tile.
My question-
Can re-grouting solve this, long term, or is my wife right and we need to go the more drastic route?
Thank-you,
Joe

[speedball1]

I have a leak through my shower stall's tile floor.
I thought I could just scrape out the corner where the floor meets the wall, this is where the leak seemd to be, and just re-grout and add tile/grout sealer.
The missus thinks the since there should be a pan redirecting this to the drain, that there's a bigger issue here and we should get the tile guy to come rip out the whole floor, plumber replace pan, and re-tile.
My question-
Can re-grouting solve this, long term, or is my wife right and we need to go the more drastic route?
Thank-you,
Joe

Hi Joe,
You haven't given me enough information to make a call.
If your home is built on a slab then there's no shower pan, if on the second floor then it's panned out with "weep holes" that directs any water that may reach the pan back into the drain.
If this is a upstairs shower it's possible that the leak stems not from the drain or pan but from the stream hitting a area of grout that has shrunk and allowed water to run down the wall behind the pan and onto a downstairs ceiling.
This is where I find most of my shower leaks. Let me know your set up. If you wish to test the shower floor for leaks, remove the strainer and tonight before you go to bed jam some wet rags in the drain to make it water tight and run 1/2" of water in and let it set overnight. If you have a floor leaK you will see moisture in the morning, Regards, Tom

[JoeTaxpayer]

Thank-you, here's the longer version.
Second story shower. No fiberglass/ no tub, just two shower heads.
I removed both heads and ran a hose one head at a time to a toilet across the room. Let each run an hour. So I know it wasn't an incoming supply pipe.
I then put the hose in the drain and let it run to make sure it wasn't a crack in the waste drain. I then put the hose near the left showerhead, and no leak. But near the wall of the right showerhead after about ten minutes water starts to drip mostly outside the first floor window (below) and then into the room below.
Thanks again for the quick reply. (I can add pictures if that would help)
JOE

[speedball1]

Thank-you, here's the longer version.
Second story shower. No fiberglass/ no tub, just two shower heads.
I removed both heads and ran a hose one head at a time to a toilet across the room. Let each run an hour. So I know it wasn't an incoming supply pipe.
I then put the hose in the drain and let it run to make sure it wasn't a crack in the waste drain. I then put the hose near the left showerhead, and no leak. But near the wall of the right showerhead after about ten minutes water starts to drip mostly outside the first floor window (below) and then into the room below.
Thanks again for the quick reply. (I can add pictures if that would help)
JOE

Let me repeat, "it's possible that the leak stems not from the drain or pan but from the stream hitting a area of grout that has shrunk and allowed water to run down the wall behind the pan and onto a downstairs ceiling.
You let the water run down the side of the wall? I think you just made my point. Regards, Tom

[JoeTaxpayer]

When I say I let the water run on each side, It was still with the hose attached to the shower head. A hose, just trickling, with water just coming out, aimed against the grout line where wall tile met floor tile. During the whole process, the walls never got wet. I hope this describes it better, plumbing wsn't my strong subject.
JOE

[speedball1]

When I say I let the water run on each side, It was still with the hose attached to the shower head. A hose, just trickling, with water just coming out, aimed against the grout line where wall tile met floor tile. During the whole process, the walls never got wet. I hope this describes it better, plumbing wsn't my strong subject.
JOE

Not your fault Joe, I'm to blame.
!0/15 years ago I had a leak in the same spot. In a corner where the wall tile met the shower floor. I cleaned and dried everything up and loaded that corner up with silicon caulk. It hasn't leaked yet. You may be lucky and save a ton of cash if you try caulking the leak yourself. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. If it works I'd call that a "win-win situation".
Good luck, Tom

[mdrew4]

We have a neo-angle shower in our basement that is leaking from both outside edges. The leak is very gradual, the grout on the edges are wet after taking a shower, but dry up by the end of the day. I've inspected the caulk around the top of the shower pan and cannot find any leaks. It appears to be leaking from the bottom of the shower pan outward. The shower was installed two years ago and isn't used very often. How do I find out where the leak is coming from and how do I fix it? Help!

[speedball1]

To check for a shower pan leak first remove the strainer and jam a wet towel in the drain or something that will close the drain off. Then run a inch or two of water in the shower floor and mark the level with a pencil. Let it set over night. Next morning check for moisture and to see if the water level has dropped. If everything's dry then let the water drain out and check back for any signs of a leak. If the area around the shower pan's dry in the morning the pan's OK. Same for the drain. What I've seen happen is the tile grout shrinks over time, the shower stream hits the tile and lets water seep down behind the lip of the shower pan. If that's the case both of the above tests will come out OK and the leak is in the tile grout. Regards, Tom

[ihateleaks]

We have a leak in our shower stall which is dripping downstairs into our son's bedroom. We opened the ceiling in his room and are stumped. We ran the shower for quite some time and didn't see any drops. The we put a balloon into the drain and filled the stall up with water and waited. Sure enough it started dripping quite a bit. So we figured it was in the floor. We chipped up the old tile, put a new thin layer on concrete, put 2 coats of a brush on membrane. After all that, we did the balloon test again, and it still leaks! When we look up from the bedroom below it appears as if the pipes around the drain are dry. Where can this be coming from and how can we fix it? Any expertise would be greatly appreciated.

[speedball1]

" we put a balloon into the drain and filled the stall up with water and waited. Sure enough it started dripping quite a bit. So we figured it was in the floor. We chipped up the old tile, put a new thin layer on concrete, put 2 coats of a brush on membrane. After all that, we did the balloon test again, and it still leaks!"

You went through the correct procedure to test for a shower pan leak and then after you saw it was leaking didn't take up the tile and mortar down to the pan and check further? That was rather foolish because now you have to do it all over again. It's not the tile or mortar that makes a shower base water tight, it's the shower pan itself. The flange type shower drain even has "weep holes" in the flange to let the water drain back down into the trap when it seeps through the tile. You're going to have to remove the tile and mortar and either locate and fix the leak or replace the shower pan. If you replace the shower pan may I suggest using Blue Compaseal. Good luck, Tom