Shower tray leaking in your Barking home, or a stain on the ceiling below? The usual causes, from sealant to a cracked tray, and how a leak is traced and fixed properly.
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Most shower tray leaks come from the seal between the tray and the walls, not from the tray itself. Silicone that has gone mouldy, split or pulled away lets water run down behind the tray every time the shower is used. Other common causes are a loose waste fitting under the tray, a tray that flexes because it was not bedded properly, or, less often, a cracked tray.
In Barking the problem shows up a lot in the Becontree estate houses and the terraces around the town centre, where bathrooms are small and showers often sit over timber floors. A leak there usually announces itself as a brown stain on the ceiling of the room below, or a soft floor next to the shower.
Tracing the leak comes before fixing it. Running the shower head at the walls only, then only at the tray, then filling the tray with the waste plugged, tells you whether the problem is the walls, the seal or the waste. Resealing fixes many leaks, but only if the old silicone is fully removed and the tray is stable first.
If the tray moves when you stand on it, or the floor underneath is soft, the tray needs lifting, the floor repairing and the tray re-bedding. A cracked tray needs replacing. In an older bathroom, this can be the moment to replace the tray and wall panels together.
Split or mouldy silicone lets water behind the tray.
A waste fitting that has worked loose leaks under the tray.
A tray that was not bedded properly moves and breaks the seal.
Less common, but needs a replacement tray.
Walls, seal and waste tested one at a time before any repair.
Soft timber under the tray repaired before re-bedding.
Usually failed sealant or a loose waste letting water under the tray and onto the ceiling below.
Often, if the old silicone is fully removed and the tray does not move. If it moves, it needs re-bedding.
Test the walls, the tray edge and the waste separately, one at a time, and watch for the leak.
Yes, including low-profile trays and wall panels at the same time.
Fix it soon. Water under a tray can rot the floor timbers and damage the ceiling below.
Yes, including the Becontree estate, the Gascoigne estate, Longbridge and Creekmouth.