Water leak around bathtub edges - Tile Advice

Alex20 · Nov 23, 2020

We had the bathroom refitting over 2 years ago. We have been experiencing a recurring issue with water leaking through the gap between the bath tub and the tiles . Next to to the bathroom is a bedroom, and we have seen the water leak through the wall and the flooring in the next room. We have just been resealing the gap with silicone, however, its got to the point where we want to have a permanent or at least a long term solution as after a while the silicone doesn't hold and starts peeling a bit. We would love to be able to use the tub for a bath and not just a shower, however because of this issue we worry the weight will make the gap bigger.
We have had a half moon acrylic seals placed where the gap is, but we still have issues with the silicone peeling.
Are there any permanent/long term solutions to this ?
Thank you in advance

Dave · Nov 23, 2020

Hi. Not an easy fix. There mustn’t be any seal between the bath and the wall for water to leak through to adjacent room. So you have any spare tiles ?

Alex20 · Nov 23, 2020

Dave said:
Hi. Not an easy fix. There mustn’t be any seal between the bath and the wall for water to leak through to adjacent room. So you have any spare tiles ?

Thanks for replying back quickly. I see, what kind of seal do you mean? some kind of waterproofing? abd yes there are spare tiles.

Dave · Nov 23, 2020

Alex20 said:
Thanks for replying back quickly. I see, what kind of seal do you mean? some kind of waterproofing? abd yes there are spare tiles.

Silicone seal , the bath too wall.
does the bath move when you press down in that corner?

Alex20 · Nov 23, 2020

Dave said:
Silicone seal , the bath too wall.
does the bath move when you press down in that corner?

No not if I press down, but it has when sitting in the bath.

Dave · Nov 23, 2020

Alex20 said:
No not if I press down, but it has when sitting in the bath.

It needs strengthening up to prevent any movement and fully sealed. Take a row of tiles off and damage from water ingress you have , repair and dully seal the bath to wall transition and then retile and seal again.

CJ · Nov 23, 2020

Take side panel off the bath and check the feet on the bath........they could have worked loose

faceman · Nov 23, 2020

Hi Alex, I had a moan at a builder today because in the bathroom I tiles the bath was only fixed to the wall with silicone. I have a rule normally that all baths should have a batten. This stops the corners especially being able to flex and dip. Its obvious when I'm tiling as the weight of my tiles is pushing the corners and I struggle to keep them level. If it has a batten it can go nowhere. A lot of baths these days are very flexible. I solved the problem by crawling under the bath and putting my own props in on the corners.

Alex20 · Nov 25, 2020

faceman said:
Hi Alex, I had a moan at a builder today because in the bathroom I tiles the bath was only fixed to the wall with silicone. I have a rule normally that all baths should have a batten. This stops the corners especially being able to flex and dip. Its obvious when I'm tiling as the weight of my tiles is pushing the corners and I struggle to keep them level. If it has a batten it can go nowhere. A lot of baths these days are very flexible. I solved the problem by crawling under the bath and putting my own props in on the corners.

Thanks, I think we'll have to check this, I am not entirely sure if the builder fitted battens.

Water leak around bathtub edges - Tile Advice

Alex20

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Dave

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Alex20

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Dave

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Alex20

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Dave

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CJ

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faceman

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Alex20

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