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

[Qwerty]

Shut off water in that room, dry grout, then systematically work through each possible cause to work out the problem. Run shower, but only into a bucket, then the drain so you can rule out tray etc or see if it's seeping under tiles

 

[Dan]

^ he's switched on is our Geoff.

 

[Paula]

Shut off water in that room, dry grout, then systematically work through each possible cause to work out the problem. Run shower, but only into a bucket, then the drain so you can rule out tray etc or see if it's seeping under tiles

Yes, I can see that this is a sensible approach, but easier said than done! We have just come back from a two week holiday, and the damp patches were still there. Previously, when we had the same patches in the tiled shower tray (pre-epoxy) we let the tray dry out for two months and there were still wet patches! I am wondering now whether there is a leak even when the shower is not being used (perhaps from the valves?), but can't help thinking that we would notice damp patches on the grout on the walls if this was the case?

Anyway, would I be right in assuming that you wouldn't consider this sort of discolouration of the grout outside the wet area in a wet room as 'normal'? I know I am fussy (but I think that is justified considering how much money we've spent on this bathroom!), but was beginning to think that perhaps all wet rooms have these problems, and it's just not talked about?

 

[Dan]

I assume if it is a leak then, it's from a feed rather than waste.
Might be worth checking on our plumbing forum for some advice on that one?

Plumbing Forum | Plumbing Advice | Plumbers Forums | A forum for plumbers advice in the UK

 

[Paula]

Ok, just so I know that you all know what I'm talking about, I have taken some much higher quality photos (much better system now for uploading photos!) showing the extent of the discolouration on the dry side of the shower screen. As the screen is 2.2m high and the shower head is fixed at 2m on the wall, the area in question never gets wet from spray (the screen is 1.4m long, there is a small amount of darkening of the grout at the far end, away from the shower head, but not as bad as in the photos). The photos were taken 9 hours after the last shower, for reference.

Would welcome any comments!

 

[The D]

I must admit I hadn't thought that water could be coming from the walls...but if it was wouldn't we be seeing damp patches on the wall grout, too? These have not been replaced with epoxy, but dry out very quickly

I must admit on the one job there was signs on the wall but on the other there was no sign on the walls at all the water was just traveling through the adhesive and gathering at the lowest point. yours may not be the same problem but to be honest IMO grout will not let that amount of water pass through in a domestic shower without some serious cracks or pin holes. try cutting in to the grout on the dark patches and see if there is water trapped in that area.

 

[Paula]

I must admit on the one job there was signs on the wall but on the other there was no sign on the walls at all the water was just traveling through the adhesive and gathering at the lowest point. yours may not be the same problem but to be honest IMO grout will not let that amount of water pass through in a domestic shower without some serious cracks or pin holes. try cutting in to the grout on the dark patches and see if there is water trapped in that area.

This was the worst dark patch just after using the shower this morning: you can definitely see beads of moisture, plus the moisture on the tissue when I dabbed it. I am going to let it dry out and then run the shower hose directly down the drain and see if it returns. If not, we'll know if it is coming either from the shower valve or leaking from the waste, rather than somehow getting through the tiles. I'll let you know!

 

[Paula]

It seems it could be creeping in the adhesive bed... How is the drain sealed at the tile edges ?

This is how the drain is sealed: beginning to think now this may be where the water is creeping in? What do you think?

 

[Old Mod]

Can u take a hose pipe from shower head directly to the bath? That'll eliminate the shower head connector, the elbow behind the wall at the top of the pipe and the shower diverter all in one go or it will narrow it down to these three items hopefully.

 

[Paula]

Can u take a hose pipe from shower head directly to the bath? That'll eliminate the shower head connector, the elbow behind the wall at the top of the pipe and the shower diverter all in one go or it will narrow it down to these three items hopefully.

Thanks for that. We have two shower heads (one fixed, one on a hose), with the diverter /valve away away from both. The bath is quite a distance away, so this is a bit tricky! But I see what you mean

 

[Old Mod]

Well if my thinking is right (anyone else feel free to object)
This should break it down to either a water feed issue or a drainage one. If u are able, maybe unscrew static shower head and fix a garden hose to it. I know it's faffing about but I'm hoping it'll break it down into two halves.

 

[Paula]

Well if my thinking is right (anyone else feel free to object)
This should break it down to either a water feed issue or a drainage one. If u are able, maybe unscrew static shower head and fix a garden hose to it. I know it's faffing about but I'm hoping it'll break it down into two halves.

Yes, sounds sensible. But if it's not the water feed, then we'd have to work out whether the water is getting in through the tiles in the tray (perhaps around the drain?) or escaping somehow from inside the drain itself.Do you think this is possible?

 

[Dan]

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!

 

[Old Mod]

Well anything is possible, this is just a slight variation on what Geoff suggested, now I've read it sorry Geoff
But if u can take the water away from the shower and it reappears hopefully that should point to it being a problem on the feed side.

If not, it's either getting thro tiles during use, or the drain could be failing.

I'd leave it running a fair while in case it has to build up somewhere first.

 

[Dan]

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