Why is my ceiling leaking?!

salad17

So the ceiling has been leaking. I cut out the plasterboard and had a look (see photo)

The leak is at the copper pipe that goes straight through the floor/tiles etc to the radiator in the bathroom above, and this is where the water comes through.

So I cleaned out the grout surrounding the pipe and regrouted.

No change.

So I figure there must be a waterproof membrane under the tiles, and that pipe must be the one place where the membrane has a hole to pass through. So by that logic, the leak could be anywhere but the water hits the membrane and passes through the hole and comes out by the pipe..

Does that make sense?

Some of the tiles are wobbly and the grout is cracked between them. I figure if I clean and regroup them, with the weight of people walking they'll just crack and wobble again, maybe they're not set right?

The shower is set to the floor height so the floor is often wet, meaning the water gets through every shower.

It is a larger base (was put in for wheelchair user) so isn't standard.

Any idea what my options are? Retile the whole floor? New shower? Or am I missing something? Don't have a lot of money to throw at this!

Thanks for your help!

Outkast_IRE

At a guess the pushfit elbow may be too near the floorboard and the green ring is after pushing against the board and opened the joint slightly.

Get a decent plumber they should be able to find the problem for you quick enough and will cost you alot less than you messing around with it.

K.Flyer

It is not good that water is getting out of the shower enclosure, most likely this is the problem.
Very unlikely that there is a water proof membrane under the tiles.

salad17

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

At a guess the pushfit elbow may be too near the floorboard and the green ring is after pushing against the board and opened the joint slightly.

Thanks, it's not the pipe itself that's leaking though, but the hole in the floor through which the pipe passes, that allows water to leak.

salad17

K.Flyer wrote: »

It is not good that water is getting out of the shower enclosure, most likely this is the problem.
Very unlikely that there is a water proof membrane under the tiles.

It is a very poorly designed shower. Nevertheless it leaks with a minimally wet floor, surely a bathroom floor can accommodate some wetness such as a wet person stepping out of the shower. Isn't that the point of a tile floor?

Thanks

K.Flyer

salad17 wrote: »

It is a very poorly designed shower. Nevertheless it leaks with a minimally wet floor, surely a bathroom floor can accommodate some wetness such as a wet person stepping out of the shower. Isn't that the point of a tile floor?

Thanks

But that's only what you can see, its what you cannot see with the untrained eye can be the problem.

salad17 wrote: »

...
The shower is set to the floor height so the floor is often wet, meaning the water gets through every shower. [...]

Yes it should be able to accommodate a wet person stepping out onto the floor, however, getting wet as you describe whenever the shower is used is a bit different.
Fix the water getting out of the shower first and you most likely will have fixed the problem.

salad17

K.Flyer wrote: »

But that's only what you can see, its what you cannot see with the untrained eye can be the problem.



Yes it should be able to accommodate a wet person stepping out onto the floor, however, getting wet as you describe whenever the shower is used is a bit different.
Fix the water getting out of the shower first and you most likely will have fixed the problem.

The thing is the leak is only a few months old. The shower design has been that way since we moved in 4 years ago, and hadn't been a problem before.

But maybe a whole new shower is the easiest solution. Just seems expensive.

K.Flyer

salad17 wrote: »

The thing is the leak is only a few months old. The shower design has been that way since we moved in 4 years ago, and hadn't been a problem before.

But maybe a whole new shower is the easiest solution. Just seems expensive.

From my own experience I see a lot of shower trays having moved slightly after settling over the years.
Often the joints between the wall tiles and shower tray open slightly, or between the door and the tray.
I doubt you will need to replace the entire shower. Most likely all you need are all the door / tiles / shower tray joints racked out and re-sealed using a descent quality sealant like tec7.

Outkast_IRE

K.Flyer wrote: »

From my own experience I see a lot of shower trays having moved slightly after settling over the years.
Often the joints between the wall tiles and shower tray open slightly, or between the door and the tray.
I doubt you will need to replace the entire shower. Most likely all you need are all the door / tiles / shower tray joints racked out and re-sealed using a descent quality sealant like tec7.

The only issue with tec7 is that its not mould resistant ( not to any great extent anyway) have seen it on a few shower repair jobs and its turned red & brown after a few years.

But i agree with the overall advice - a good quality bathroom sealent - strip out all the old stuff and redo it.

salad17

K.Flyer wrote: »

From my own experience I see a lot of shower trays having moved slightly after settling over the years.
Often the joints between the wall tiles and shower tray open slightly, or between the door and the tray.
I doubt you will need to replace the entire shower. Most likely all you need are all the door / tiles / shower tray joints racked out and re-sealed using a descent quality sealant like tec7.

I did strip out and recaulk all around the existing shower tray, extensively. This was actually a bit of a nightmare before I cut out the plaster to find the water was coming through by the radiator pipe. I thought about cutting out the grout and regrouting the tiles but I haven't done tiles before and it seems a bit over the top. Have resealed where wall meets floor and anywhere else I could find.

K.Flyer

salad17 wrote: »

I did strip out and recaulk all around the existing shower tray, extensively. This was actually a bit of a nightmare before I cut out the plaster to find the water was coming through by the radiator pipe. I thought about cutting out the grout and regrouting the tiles but I haven't done tiles before and it seems a bit over the top. Have resealed where wall meets floor and anywhere else I could find.

Caulk is not the correct medium to use. If water is still escaping you have not sealed the shower enclosure correctly.

salad17

Sorry it wasn't caulk, I just can't remember the correct term. It was a white mould resistant silicone specifically for showers, and it wasn't just an ol cheap one. I don't think it could be from where I sealed. In any case it still looks as though it's coming through the pipe hole when I look at the ceiling floor boards.

Any recommendations for professional tradesmen who are good with this sort of thing? I asked my plumber but he said it's not his area really.