Moist wood underneath bath- is it an issue?

summereire

Hi, the person who installed our bath didn't do a very good job with the silicone and as a result water from showering has been getting down the horizontal gap between the top of the bath and the bottom of the splashback.

The solution to this is to do a better job of siliconing it but my question is whether there is an issue with the fairly substantial amount of water that has already gotten down the back (it took us a few weeks to know it was happening as it was behind the side cover on the bath- there's a smell now).

The bath basically sits on a piece of timber supporting the frame so presumably that has absorbed some of the water.

Should I:

a) just leave it and it will dry okay
b) try to dry it manually using a blow heater or something
c) take the whole thing out and replace the timber (i DO NOT want to do that!)

Thanks

my3cents

If its just been happening for a couple of weeks then just dry it out, give it plenty of ventilation and obviously a blow heater will make it quicker.

Also double check where the water is coming from. Just in case its from any of the pipe work or around the plughole.

peter bermingham

Let it dry out you could use a dehumidifier for a few days when dry give it a good clean with bleach i wouldn't go pulling the bath out just yet. As said above i have seen a good few waste pipes not glued up proper

summereire

Thanks, yes the pipes seem fine- I've run a few tests and it seems to be the water from the shower all right getting in. That wouldn't even be so big an issue but it didn't go straight down to the ground and instead made its way around the entire frame/support (on 3 walls). I won't really be able to get in at the wet part as thats between the lip of the bath and the top of the timber baton. I suppose I'll just direct a blow-heater / hairdryer in the general area of the timber I can see and focus it where I can reach?

my3cents

summereire wrote: »

Thanks, yes the pipes seem fine- I've run a few tests and it seems to be the water from the shower all right getting in. That wouldn't even be so big an issue but it didn't go straight down to the ground and instead made its way around the entire frame/support (on 3 walls). I won't really be able to get in at the wet part as thats between the lip of the bath and the top of the timber baton. I suppose I'll just direct a blow-heater / hairdryer in the general area of the timber I can see and focus it where I can reach?

Also don't forget to check those joints/pipes with someone standing in the bath.

Just set your blow heater to blow with no heat and some ventilation from a window open may be all you need. You can run that for a couple of days without worrying about the cost.

CJhaughey

Classi-seal is a good product to seal the bath to the wall if you are re-doing it.