drip, drip, drip...

[pconroy]

On my head in the living room.

Right above is the Master Shower enclosure. 2nd story. Simple affair - square pan 36", glass enclosure.

Re-caulked everything. I mean everything. Pulled apart glass enclosure, cleaned seals, reassembled. Added some extra caulk there too. The Next Homeowner will love me for that.

Still dripping when someone takes a shower.




Test #2 - pour water directly into drain!  Directly - poured 3 or four gallons right smack into the drain. Nothing splashed. No one inside the shower.
No drip.

Test #3 - plugged drain. Filled shower pain. No one inside the shower.  Let sit for an hour.
No drip.

Test #4 - turn on shower, again with NO ONE in it. Just let the water run.
No drip!


Test #5 - plug drain again, fill the shower pan.  This time get in shower and move around.
DRIP!!!

Ok - so there doesn't FEEL like a whole lot of movement - the pan feels pretty good. But obviously something is flexing?



No easy way to pull the pan out without tearing up the shower.  I'd have to dismantle the enclosure (parts no longer made), cut out the tile...  Yuck.




Suggestions for another test???
Is it the connection between the pan and the drain pipe???


thanks

[CStan]

On my head in the living room.

Right above is the Master Shower enclosure. 2nd story. Simple affair - square pan 36", glass enclosure.

Re-caulked everything. I mean everything. Pulled apart glass enclosure, cleaned seals, reassembled. Added some extra caulk there too. The Next Homeowner will love me for that.

Still dripping when someone takes a shower.




Test #2 - pour water directly into drain!  Directly - poured 3 or four gallons right smack into the drain. Nothing splashed. No one inside the shower.
No drip.

Test #3 - plugged drain. Filled shower pain. No one inside the shower.  Let sit for an hour.
No drip.

Test #4 - turn on shower, again with NO ONE in it. Just let the water run.
No drip!


Test #5 - plug drain again, fill the shower pan.  This time get in shower and move around.
DRIP!!!

Ok - so there doesn't FEEL like a whole lot of movement - the pan feels pretty good. But obviously something is flexing?



No easy way to pull the pan out without tearing up the shower.  I'd have to dismantle the enclosure (parts no longer made), cut out the tile...  Yuck.




Suggestions for another test???
Is it the connection between the pan and the drain pipe???


thanks

I'm not plumber, but after all of that I would assume the drain pipe is leaking -- it could be corroded in a spot.  Some people overuse drain openers over a number of years.  Could be lots of causes.

[joe1086]

Cut a hole in the living room ceiling for an inspection? If a drain leak you may be able to repair from below. If a pan issue then repairing the LR ceiling will only be an additional minor nuisance. 

[Turner52]

If it's because the pan is flexing, cut some small holes in the subfloor from the living room ceiling. Fill full of spray foam. Hopefully will work. Much easier to fix the ceiling than the shower.

[rwe2156]

Do gotta do this right.

You could start with a scope through a hole in the ceiling to inspect (hopefully no insulation). You can be get an inspection scope fairly cheap at Harbor Freight.

You might be able to fix a drain from underneath - or not. If not, the pan needs to come up to inspect floor and drain. You may be surprised at the damage already there.

Plus you're risking mold.

If it were me, I'd call a plumber.

[MstrCarpenter]

First things first; take pictures, then take notes. Your Insurance company will not usually pay for damages caused by a long term leak. (So it just happened when you and your wife were in there together) They will however pay to have the ceiling replaced, especially if you removed it to stop mold formation. Next question is do you have a one piece shower base and tile walls, or is it a site built mortar and tile shower with a "shower pan" or "shower base liner"? If the base is fiberglass (or composite) there may be a hairline crack that opens with weight. I have repaired drains with slip connections (commonly used on sink drains) that got pulled apart due to deflection of the floor joists. (Plumbers sometimes notch when they should drill.) Even if I found the cause of the leak and fixed it, I would still open the ceiling to at least dry it out with a small fan for a day or so. If mold starts to grow, it can return and prosper with higher humidity.

[EightFingers]

Could be getting behind the shower valve escutcheon. I had the exact same problem in a rental I owned. Put some plumbers putty in there.

[crokett™]

Open the living room ceiling. You need to see what's going on in there, and you likely need to dry things out. Hopefully it's not a popcorn ceiling. Also, if it happens when there's water in the shower pan and the pan is flexing, it is most likely either the pan to drain fitting or the drain itself. Either way you'll want the ceiling open.

[Flat Lander]

As Eight Fingers stated, there is no water deflection when pouring down drain, standing in shower deflects water all over shower.
As he said remove plate and caulk or putty behind. Also check outside of shower around base after getting in and showering.

[pconroy]

Thanks all - checked for splash back, didn't find any. Splashed water all over the shower - no leak. Only when someone is *in* the shower. So I think those that said the pan is flexing are right.

House is 20 years old, so the pipes are PVC. No one, AFAIK, has ever put drain cleaner down them.

Mold does happen, but it's not a huge concern in Colorado. Dry air, we keep windows open, etc.
So there's most assuredly some mold, but likely not a lot.

There's already a hole in the ceiling. I've got no issues making that bigger.
The drywall repair team is going to have a field day in our entire house anyway, what's one more hole?

I've caulked around the pan/drain connection.
And cobbled up a work-around with the 3D printer.

I took a shower this AM and had no leak. But the test case will be having my son take one.

I'm not fooling myself, this isn't a long term fix. I'm just trying to buy some time until building resources out here become available. And we can remodel the bathroom. All I need is 12 months or so.