[clellandm]

I have a Florestone shower pan with cultured marble slabs for shower walls and sliding glass doors. Somehow water is getting past the caulking and door channels and getting the abutting drywall wet.

Several years ago I removed all the caulking and reapplied, then repaired the drywall damage. As you can see in the attached pics, the damage is back - and the leak has gotten worse to the point that the ceiling below is getting wet. The caulking seems to be fine on the inside perimiter of the shower.

I can't figure how the water is getting out. What do I need to do to properly address this problem correctly?

Thanks for your thoughts and help!

[Milo Dolezal]

Sorry to say, but the caulking doesn't look good to me. Water still can get between the caulk and frame and drip out of the shower area - especially on the horizontal trim piece / inside the shower. If it leaks there, you will never see the leak while damage will continue.

I suggest you remove all caulking again, clean the frame well and re-caulk. Use either silicone or latex based caulk. Don't mix caulks. I strongly suggest you don't use that shower for couple of days prior to caulking and let the caulk cure as per instructions. Only that way you can achieve positive seal.

Milo

[clellandm]

Thanks Milo. In person the caulk seems intact but I agree it doesn't look great in those pics!

Any benefit to be gained by removing the frame pieces and resetting them while I'm at it?

[clellandm]

Sorry to say, but the caulking doesn't look good to me. Water still can get between the caulk and frame and drip out of the shower area - especially on the horizontal trim piece / inside the shower. If it leaks there, you will never see the leak while damage will continue.

I suggest you remove all caulking again, clean the frame well and re-caulk. Use either silicone or latex based caulk. Don't mix caulks. I strongly suggest you don't use that shower for couple of days prior to caulking and let the caulk cure as per instructions. Only that way you can achieve positive seal.

Milo

Milo,
I removed all the caulk (still some clean-up and dry time before I can re-caulk). I found the underlying problem that no amount of caulk could cure - but it would provide tempoary relief. The thick bead of caulk/adhesive on the bottom rail didn't go all the way to the ends - see the dirty water marks in this picture. It raises another question: When I re-install the bottom rail, can a screw of some type be used near the two ends to ensure they are securely sealed in place?


I also don't like how wide the gap is between the wall panel and the base unit, any ideas other than a nice fat bead of caulk?

Thanks,
Mark