bath/shower problems - need advice please!

[skuba]

a while ago i noticed water dripping through the plaster in my kitchen ceiling which has gone damp...

i think the water is leaking through the silicon seal of the bath...

on the next picture you can see where the water has been streaming down the walls under the bath. also, when the bath is filled with water and you're stood in it the gap in the silicon obviously gets bigger. i was going to try and re-seal the bath, but my mate said that the bath might not be on it's feet correctly. so when i got home i took the side off and was surprised to find 2 of the bath's feet balancing on 2 pieces of timber...

the thing is, now i'm unsure what to do for the best. i was going to suggest to the mrs that we just avoid using the shower for the next few days, but i don't even know if it's safe to take a bath!

any advice on how to resolve the problem and whether or not our bath is actually safe would be much appreciated

thanks

 

[kevplumb]

as long as its level and stable it should be ok

fill the bath BEFORE you reseal it and use a good quaility sealant

 

[mysteryman]

Firstly, and being pedantic, it is silicone. Silicon is very different.

The feet need to be screwed to the floor and the locknuts need to be tight. There should also be fixings to the wall near the back corners. The fact that one of the feet is over a gap in the floor doesn't help. This is a fairly untidy job.

Get the bath securely fixed, rake out all the old silicone, and put a generous bead all the way round, in one continuous strip if you can. You need to clean and dry the area very thoroughly first. It would be useful to lower the bath by about 8mm so that there is a gap all the way round to be filled with silicone, leaving room for flexing. Level it carefully, and use good quality mastic.

 

[zanwan]

That pipework under the bath is not very impressive, to say the least. It seems to be all over the place?

The plank of wood the bath is resting on does not appear to be resting on much on the right hand side. It appears to be almost half its width, surely thats dangerous? The plank needs to be a full width plank. Remember, 70litres of water will weight 70kg+, add the that the weight of the average man, your looking at another 70-80kg, add to that you and your missus having a romantic bath together, thats a lot of weight being supported by what appears to be a 2inch bit of wood!

I say remove that wood and get a new wider peice in there. Also when you reseal the bath, fill it with water as the bath will naturally sink and move slightly when full of water. So if your sealing it with an empty bath, when the silicone drives, and the bath is filled, it will come away from the wall, allowing water to penetrate.

Good luck and dude, for gods sake no romantic baths for now!

 

[skuba]

thanks for your replies

there are 2 feet that are positioned on planks of wood which are laid across a gap. the problem is, one of them is resting on a decent amount of timber, but the other one is only resting on an old 2" bit of wood on the edge of the wall