How To Identify The Cause Of A Leaking Shower

Finding the cause of a leaky shower can be tricky.  Here's how to track down the source of a leak, before calling out a contractor to fix it.

Signs of a leaking shower

When you're looking for the source of a leaking shower, don't necessarily expect to find it in the bathroom!  Water naturally flows downhill.  This means that a leaky shower pipe could result in staining on your kitchen ceiling or even water dripping through a light fitting in your lounge.  Look out for signs of black mould on your downstairs ceilings, stains or water dripping from unexpected places.  All these things could indicate your shower is leaking.

Causes

Before you rush to call out the plumber, try to establish what's causing the leak.  It could be something simple that you can fix yourself. 

The first things to check are the seal around the shower door and the sealant around the shower tray.  Make sure these are watertight

Inspect the drain carefully.  Is the drain firmly set, or does it feel loose?  To test this, take a piece of rubber hose and attach it to the tap outside the shower stall.  Run the water down the drain for 10 minutes.  Now wait an hour, then look to see if the leak appears.  If it does, you know the problem lies within the drain plumbing.  If this draws a blank, move on to testing the drain itself.

Fill the shower tray with water.  Wait an hour and check the usual area for evidence of a leak.  If it appears, you know the problem is actually with the drain.

If there's constant dripping when the shower is in use, then a leak before the valve is to blame.  If not, you should move on to check the shower plumbing.  Plug up the shower outlet and open the valve up fully.  This will effectively pressurise the pipe.  Now take the shower head off and block the shower pipe with a threaded cap.  Turn on the water and allow it to run for 10 minutes.  The pipe will fill with pressurised water.  If the leak manifests itself, you know it originates in the valve-to-shower head connection.

Your next point of investigation should be the tile surround.  This is the most common perpetrator of leaking showers.  All you need to do to check this is to wash the shower walls down using your hose.  Test each wall in isolation by running water over it for 10 minutes or until the leak appears.

Once you've found the wall that's the issue, look carefully over the tile grout.  Any hairline cracks, damaged or spongy grout may indicate you need to have the shower cubicle re-grouted.

Finally, double check everything to make sure that nothing's been missed.

You can save your plumber a lot of time (and yourself money), if you can identify the source of a leaking shower before the tradesman arrives.  Check each area methodically until you've located the problem, and cross-check to make sure.  If you're unable to find the cause of the leak, or if you can but don't know how to fix it, always consult a professional from a business like The Shower Doctor.