Leaking shower disaster -help

7 years ago

We are currently having an extension built and fairly major renovations to the rest of the house. We decided to get the bathroom done, we had an over batch shower which had a tendency to leak no matter how much sealant was used. The builder said no bother, buy what you want and we will fit it. I'm guessing this is mistake number one. We purchased a low profile slate tray and a sliding door. The plan to have an alcove shower built which would minimise leaks. Both were 1200mm. I had some issues as the builder kept ignoring me when I said the door had to sit on a lip of6mm wide, as per manual. He said don't worry once the floor is in place it will be built up to 6mm. The shower door had a tolerance of 20mm width wise, however before the door was fitted I realised they hadn't allowed for the tile depth and they had to move the wall. This meant the tiles were not touching the tray for 1/2 a wall. Since day of installation it has leaked. The builder is saying it's because we bought the wrong size door with not enough tolerance, so they couldn't tile down to the tray. He also said the lip was an issue. I appreciate the combination might not be right but I'm not a builder and would have expected to be told it was an issue before installation. They have tried many layers of sealant, however no joy. Came back today to have no shower door and lip removed. Ceiling partially down in kitchen. Any ideas how to solve this? I have a £300 shower door which I'm being told is useless and a gap between the shower tray and the hallway you could fit a finger through. Don't want to be fobbed off but want it resolved. 6 weeks in I just want a working shower! Pictures aren't very clear, 1st one is where the lip was removed. 2nd trying to show gap.
We have another month of the build to go , so also don't want to fall out with builders.

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PRO

Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre

7 years ago

Hi there, sorry to hear about the problems you've had. Ashton's have given good advice, and the flex-seals are a good option to reduce your risks of leaks further. I too would be interested to know what tray you used? The quality of trays can vary hugely, and over the years we've narrowed down what we use to a few suppliers we trust. It is not until you come to fit or, indeed, still later that you find that "bargain" was actually an expensive mistake.

I'd echo mayfly's advice too - by splitting all the elements of your bathroom (different products from different suppliers, different builders/tilers etc), you leave yourself open to escalating problems with everyone blaming everyone else. If you go to a single independent, they'll put together a package based on products and tradesmen they trust, and if anything goes wrong you only have to deal with one company, and they'll normally move heaven and earth to fix it. And their tradesmen & suppliers will move heaven and earth to sort it too - they won't want to risk losing all that repeat trade where they might walk away from a single difficult job. It might look as though the up front price is a little higher than doing it all yourself, but when things go awry you may find it is a false economy.

I hope you get the problem sorted and good luck with the kitchen too!

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Comments (6)

mayfly182
7 years ago
I have to admit I'm not understanding everything here. The lip has to be 6mm wide but the floor will be built UP to 6mm? Is the gap between the tray + tiles horizontal or vertical, or both? What does the size of the door have to do with being able to tile down to the tray?

I can tell you what you should do though. Hire a specialist bathroom firm and take the builder out of it. If you're paying them on a per-job basis you could ask for a reduction in what you're paying, if you're paying per hour it's probably gone.

There's good reason to suspect your builder is not actually capable of tiling. Forgetting to allow for the thickness of tiles is a real rookie error, and coupled with all the other problems it sounds really bad. If I was you I would be wary of trusting them with any more work than you have to, especially the technical stuff. There's nothing worse than spending loads on a renovation and decorating only to discover that some of the underlying work was botched and you have to do it again.
lynnbryson1664
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi, Spoke to the builder today, and they have admitted they shouldn't have fitted it as it was. Also, the tiler hadn't tiled the lip on the inside, just put a trim on, so water was leaking all along one edge. They are starting again for the door lip and tiling it properly. Looks like the plumber and tiler had been left to their own devices with no supervision from the builder ( or us). The issue should hopefully be fixed next week. The kitchen is coming the week after and I don't want my shower landing in it!
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PRO
Ashton Bathrooms & Ashton Furnishing
7 years ago
On our fitting jobs where the customer has purchased a low profile slate shower tray we always fit the doors & side panels on the tray never off the tray. We also advise the customer to purchase some flex-seal strip which goes behind the shower tray for some extra leak proofing as we have found water can find its way anywhere. Which shower tray have you purchased just out of interest? I hope the builders rectify this for you.
lynnbryson1664
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks, we wondered about the strip as it was mentioned on the installation instructions but wasn't used by the plumber when installing. We weren't sure if it should have been him or the tiler, before tiling. We asked when it started leaking and were told it was optional and not required. I'll ask them to use it on the bit they are redoing. Thanks for your help.
PRO
Marc Oliver Bathrooms
7 years ago
Glad you chose to speak to the builders as you have to give them a chance to put things right, if they can't do that, you can then go to another bathroom installer and get them to put right the problem, you are then within your rights to bill the original installer for this work, however, good luck with getting the money out of them as it is a rarity.

The first thing that they should have checked is the size of the shower, Ok, a mistake has been made, but you are not the professional here, they are, so they have to check the products before installation as installation is generally classed as acceptance of a product and the supplier will probably not take it back.

Leaking shower disaster -help

Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre

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mayfly182

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Leaking shower disaster -help

Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre

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mayfly182

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