Top Tips - Leaking Showers
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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.
Top Tips - Water Marked Ceilings
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I have included this because if you have had a leaking shower or something similar then you may well have an unsightly water mark on the ceiling. To address this is quite simple you need to block the mark before you repaint it, the best way to do this is applying PVA directly to the affected area, the ceiling needs to be dry, before you start and it does not hurt to apply a few coats, but let each coat dry first. Then give the ceiling a couple of coats of emulsion, which should do the trick, however really bad stains my take several more coats with PVA and then emulsion but they will disappear.
You may have a little more damage than just a watermark, it could of caused a crack in the ceiling, or if it is covered in some form of wallpaper, it may well of caused this to lift, and in extreme cases, the ceiling and any coving, may of even collapsed under the weight of the water. The wallpaper, will re-stick with normal paste, but the ceiling needs to be completely dry before you do this, I would just let the paper hang there while its drying if you can, then glue it back in place, if your lucky the paper will sit as it did beforehand, however if it leaves a gap because of shrinkage, just try adding some fine filler to the area and gently blend in when dry with fine sandpaper. Once it has, PVA the area and repaint. If there is a crack, try mixing the filler with slightly watered down PVA, this helps the filler to bond better within the crack itself, gently sand smooth and repeat the process as required for bigger cracks. Once dry, PVA and repaint. If the ceiling has collapsed then to be fair this is a much bigger job that will require the ceiling to be re-boarded in at least the affected area, and it would be better to look at re-plastering the whole ceiling, this size of job would be covered under your building insurance and if this is to big a job for you, just call us for a quote. |
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Top Tips - Exterior Painting
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If your home has timber windows, then it is important to maintain them properly, in fact any timber on the exterior of your home will need attention if it is to continue to carry out the purpose for its installation.
It is easy to see where and when this work is required when small flakes start to appear to the surface of the paint, this means that over time a combination of the elements, heat, cold and moisture have taken their toll. Once the paint starts to fail it will be a relatively quick process for the surface to worsen, especially as winter approaches you have been unable to refurbish the affected areas. The small cracks or blisters allow moisture to get in behind the paintwork, then as soon as the temperature drops to below freezing the moisture expands and causes the paint crack a blister even more, which eventually results in hardly any paint left at all. When this has happened it is important that you go about the refurbishment in the right way. Using a scrapper remove any loose paintwork, you may at this point notice that the timber itself has changed to a dark colour, or even rotten. If you do have rot then this must be cut out and removed completely or it will just come back to haunt you, but make sure you get it all. You may need to replace a full piece if it is that bad and if this is the case you want to contact a joiner as this can be tricky for a DIY fix. If the surface is not that bad but is wet or damp to the touch, it is really important to ensure this dries out fully before you attempt to apply any new paint. |