| If your shower has been leaking it is important that it is repaired quickly. Most showers that fail have an underlying problem that in most cases cannot really be solved and can be just the service life of the fitting itself has passed. My apology for some of the photos, but they do show the damage caused, and what lies behind that particular shower tray. The next two images are of a bathroom on the ground floor, this had been leaking for years without causing any visible problems, because of the void under the floor, the damage was extensive and required a lot remedial work. Most home owners think that to solve a leaking shower problem, a little more sealant on top of the old failed sealant will do it, but in actual fact all the old sealant must be fully removed and these areas completely dry. The trouble is, this is nearly imposable to achieve, because the wall behind the tiles tends to have soaked up the leaking water which needs to dry before it is sealed, otherwise you are just sealing moisture behind the tiles which will in conjunction with the plaster turn to mould, which will eventually seep through the grout and cause it to discolour, normally a dark or black colour which despite your best efforts will no disappear. |  |
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To have a fighting chance of solving the leak you should stop using the shower straight away, you will then need a sharp Stanley knife and start removing the bulk of the old sealant, with the aid of a scrapper, you then need to remove every last piece of old silicone, when you think are done just over it one more time, the resulting gap between the tiles and the tray will still have debris in it so it is also important to clean this also. Wrap toilet paper around the edge of the Stanley of scrapper and manoeuvre it along the gap until it is bone dry.
This process should take you at least 2 hours to prepare before it is ready for resealing, if the toilet paper still has signs of moisture leave the shower for as possible or even place a small blow heater in there to aid drying out. Then seal the whole shower using a good sealant such as Dow 785 which is anti-fungal, using a corking gun apply each area at a time and smooth out with a moistened finger or tool, ensure there is enough covering the gap, and repeat around the whole shower paying attention to the corners, leave for 24 hours to cure and test.
This is the only way to give yourself a fitting chance so undo all your hard work by using a cheap alternative, and also be prepared for it to fail at some point in the future, it might last only 3 or 6 months, but it could also last a number of years, you will soon know if you saved it in time if no fungi are visible within the grout and sealant. I hope this was useful and please rate it below, if have a problem with your shower and need our help then please contact us, I am sure we will be able to help.
This process should take you at least 2 hours to prepare before it is ready for resealing, if the toilet paper still has signs of moisture leave the shower for as possible or even place a small blow heater in there to aid drying out. Then seal the whole shower using a good sealant such as Dow 785 which is anti-fungal, using a corking gun apply each area at a time and smooth out with a moistened finger or tool, ensure there is enough covering the gap, and repeat around the whole shower paying attention to the corners, leave for 24 hours to cure and test.
This is the only way to give yourself a fitting chance so undo all your hard work by using a cheap alternative, and also be prepared for it to fail at some point in the future, it might last only 3 or 6 months, but it could also last a number of years, you will soon know if you saved it in time if no fungi are visible within the grout and sealant. I hope this was useful and please rate it below, if have a problem with your shower and need our help then please contact us, I am sure we will be able to help.
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