Pump/power shower leak advice

Boskowski

Hi folks,

looking for some advice on whats my best bet on how to solve my shower problem. Sorry this is going to be long but I have a short version at the bottom.

About 3.5 years ago we got both upstairs bathrooms done - main bathroom and en-suite. Not a cheap job. New tubs, sinks, tiles, furniture, heated towel rails, taps and stuff, everything. And we weren't looking for budget or cheap or short cuts. We wanted it done properly and we were prepared to pay for it and did. These weren't lads down the road with money in hand, we have receipts and warranty and everything.

The ensuite we got converted to a 'power shower' as in a pump driven job fed off a new hot water tank with new pipes and new everything. Its lovely but unfortunately we've had problems several times with leaks off it. Waste pipes, radiator pipes and shower tray weren't fitted properly and they had to come back twice to fix those issues as we had water coming through the celling causing damage to it and on one occasion causing drips into the sitting room underneath it.

Last time we really thought they had it fixed but its now leaking again. When they fixed it last time it emerged that they seemed to have done the bare minimum on the ensuite installation and probably the rest of it too.

I'm only a layman but it seems to me the splash area wasn't sealed at all. Basically they just installed a floorboard to level things and then they just installed the tray and tiled right onto the floorboard and the walls of which half are just plasterboards. When they 'fixed' it the tiles nearly came off the wall all by themselves. You could tell form knocking them they weren't even attached to the wall anymore. and the seam between the tiled area and the shower tray was a mouldy mess.
They took off the lower tiles and inserted some sort of 'the latest' sealing tape and covered it all back up again. It looked fine at first but now its starting to leak again onto the ceiling below and I'm not sure what my best course of action is.

The two fixes were carried out under warranty but even then I got the impression they weren't impressed with having to come back and it was all rushed. Like it was done in the first place really. So I'm now reluctant to call them again even though we were promised lifetime warranty at the time. But I'm thinking they're just not up to the job and I'm only setting myself up for further problems down the road.

If I had to do a snag list I'd say we have three problems.

• shower tray and splash area not sealed
• shower head dripping, probably contributing to the first problem and whatever head and valve they went for it seems impossible to get spares for it
• water pressure dropped significantly in the main bathroom. I suspect they installed taps for the wrong pressure there. Not the worst ever problem but annoying all the same. Unfortunately never asked for this as the leak was just way more pressing.

So what do I do? I'm supposedly under a lifetime warranty but I feel these guys are never going to fix it. They never gave a professional impression in the first place and unfortunately that seems to be proven true.

I believe upstairs showers can have their their problems but it couldn't be an impossible job, could it be?

Will I give them one last go at it? Or will I cut my losses and just go looking for someone who does this 'properly'?
How do you know whether someone is actually qualified and carries work out to a certain standard. I'm no plumber and I don't want to teach myself amateur plumbing on the net just to make sure I can supervise this. I just want it done and I want to know I'm getting quality work for my buck.

tl;dr
Power shower installation keeps leaking even after two warranty fixes. I'm on a lifetime warranty but it seems no good. Do I continue with those boys but how do I ensure they do it properly this time? Or do I cut my losses and get someone? How do I make sure this someone else does better quality work than those guys.

thanks for reading

agusta

Ive never heard of a lifetime warranty before.The way these guys took off the last row of tiles and put on this latest sealing tape is impossible to do.A classic seal tape can only be fitted before the shower tray is fitted in place.The fix is take off two or three rows of tiles,fit sealux seal and sealux silicone,and install tanking kit overhead it.Get a good referal from a tile shop or plumber merchants for a good trademan.You might need new taps if you want to increase water volume through tap.

Kevin McCloud

Cut your losses and move on, they are only a bunch of cowboys.