Help! Tiled wetroom floor looks perfect but grout doesn't dry out!

[Paula]

i will put £10.00 on it being a leak from the shower control. any takers ??

By the way what did you think of the picture of the waste I posted? Do you think it could be leaking around the join between the metal and the tiles?

 

[padtheplumber]

Do you know what type of pipework was used for the installation to the shower & heads, ie copper / soldered or plastic / pushfit? Is there any access behind the valve, like an airing cupboard - somewhere a hole could be cut in a stud wall to check for leaks? Can the cover plate for the shower be removed?
These are the sorts of things I'd be looking at first if I had been called out to investigate for a leak.
Looks like a nice job by the way

 

[Paula]

It's possible I think yeah.

It's starting to get quite hard for us to troubleshoot because we're just winging it a bit here.

Do you think it's worth getting a plumber in to actually take a look. They see this all the time I'm sure. Or even a tiler, but I can't see how, until we've found out what's going on, a tiler can actually trace the leak if he's not a plumber.

By all means keep contributing to the thread and maybe we will pull this off for you.

But consider getting a plumber round! I'm sure this must be doing your tree in!

Yes, I agree! And yes, this is sending me bananas, but I need to find out why the bathroom is not working as it should do, having gone to so much effort and expense to build it (it was part of a new extension on our house). You guys have been so helpful, I am really grateful for all the advice you are giving me. So far we've had a grout 'expert' from Bal, the tiler who did the work and our builder round, but nobody seems to want to sort the issue, and I get the impression that they think in the end I will just give up and go away! From what you are all saying, this situation is obviously not 'normal' for wet rooms (I don't know as we've never had one before). It's spoiling the look of our lovely new bathroom and possibly storing up problems for the future, so I feel it needs resolving.

We'll not use the shower, as you suggest, and carry out tests, and then if it looks like a problem on the feed side, I'll get the plumber who put it in to have a look.

 

[Paula]

Do you know what type of pipework was used for the installation to the shower & heads, ie copper / soldered or plastic / pushfit? Is there any access behind the valve, like an airing cupboard - somewhere a hole could be cut in a stud wall to check for leaks? Can the cover plate for the shower be removed?
These are the sorts of things I'd be looking at first if I had been called out to investigate for a leak.
Looks like a nice job by the way

Thanks! I think the pipework up in the loft feeding the shower is plastic, but when it gets to the bathroom it's copper, and definitely copper at the valve. No, it's an outside wall, but the cover plate for the valve can be removed. We'll try to run the shower in to the bath, without going down the drain, and see if the water still appears, as has been suggested. Then if it does I'll get the plumber who fitted it back.

Thanks for your help!

 

[padtheplumber]

Also double check the silicone sealant around the shower area, it can look fine, but I've seen it happen before when you get up close you can get a thumbnail under it where it hasn't quite taken to the tiles.

 

[Paula]

I've summarised this and hope I've got it right! haha

But please check this thread out at our plumbing forum.

Problematic thread on TilersForums might be a leak in shower - can you help us? - Plumbing Forum

Very impressed, well done! Would only pick you up on your spelling of "permanent" (!!!) and the fact that it was actually a couple of months, not weeks, earlier this year, that we didn't use the shower, and the grout in the former was still wet.

It was a great idea to post this on the plumbing forum, so thanks.

 

[Dan]

Very impressed, well done! Would only pick you up on your spelling of "permanent" (!!!) and the fact that it was actually a couple of months, not weeks, earlier this year, that we didn't use the shower, and the grout in the former was still wet.

It was a great idea to post this on the plumbing forum, so thanks.

Apologies. I did it during a few second gap I had between email batch sending earlier so didn't have time to click on Google Chrome to correct the spelling. I did click it though.

 

[Paula]

Also double check the silicone sealant around the shower area, it can look fine, but I've seen it happen before when you get up close you can get a thumbnail under it where it hasn't quite taken to the tiles.

Ok, I will do that, but I have been down on my hands and knees quite a few times and it looks fine to me!

 

[Paula]

Apologies. I did it during a few second gap I had between email batch sending earlier so didn't have time to click on Google Chrome to correct the spelling. I did click it though.

Was only pulling your leg!

 

[Dan]

Problematic thread on TilersForums might be a leak in shower - can you help us? - Plumbing Forum

Another one thinks it's a leak to the shower head.