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General home repairs (1 Viewer)

ghostguy123

ghostguy123

Footballguy
Figured I will just throw up this thread topic, plus I have a question.

My rental property had some leakage in the shower (upstairs). Sucks cause the place only has the one bathroom. Water was getting behind the wall, and I could see the dripping water on the other side of the shower when opening up the access panel. It dripped enough to where some water dripped downstairs around the light fixture in the laundry room.

Anyway, it was a 3 part issue:

1- Poor seal job on and around the tiles (standard 4x4 tiles)

2- The three nozzles were dripping back towards the wall

3- a part of the shower head was spraying up and back.

The poor seal along with extra water splashing up against the wall was causing the leakage.

Basically, I really need to re-do this area, but it would cause the bathroom to be shut down for a few days. In the meantime (now that the shower head and other hardware has been replaced), my tenants can take a bath without any water getting behind the wall.

They just told me they will be out of town for a week in July.

In the meantime, can I use silicon CAULK over all the grout lines as a temporary solution, and if so, how well will it work for 2 months? It's all going to be ripped out anyway, so it doesn't matter how it looks or if it is the correct long term thing to do.

Any help appreciated.

 
Sand said:
Silicone, properly applied, is water tight. I see no reason why that won't work.
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I can see it breaking down, looking like crap, and not working..........................but as long as this doesnt happen for 2 months it would be wonderful.

I would just re-do the bathroom right now, but my tenant declined and is more than happy to have a slightly unprofessional looking shower for a couple months rather than having the bathroom shut down for several days.

 
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Doctor Detroit said:
Eminence said:
ghostguy123 said:
Eminence said:
You the man ghostguy!
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Stay in your own thread you waste of humanity
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That's very unkind. I'm inclined to agree with Doctor Detroit on this one.
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I'd prefer you never agree with me. TIA.
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Does caulk on lips work?

Insert jokes here.

Seriously though, anyone actually know the answer to my original question?

In the meantime, please work the with the magical material I just threw out there for some jokes.

 
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Leviathan said:
The landlord.The longer he/she waits, the greater the cost.
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I am the landlord, which is why I am asking the question :nerd: :nerd: :nerd: :nerd: :nerd:

So yeah, it needs fixed. We got that covered.

Will the caulk patch up work for a couple months until then?

 
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If water is getting behind the tiles due to a bad grout job I see no reason why caulk would not be a good short term solution.

 
Are you sure it's the grout and not the waterproof membrane or other waterproofing that wasn't done properly?

I have a similar situation in my shower enclosure. The membrane wasn't installed correctly when it was built and water has gotten though the grout and into the wood framing of the enclosure. Currently, I have duct tape over all the grout lines, which cut down the water ingress by 95%. It's far easier than caulk and has worked for 6 months without much issue. No more drips into the ceiling downstairs, but I'm sure there's still moisture getting through.

I'm in the process of getting quotes to redo the enclosure now. This sucks because the tiles are 12" marble and there's no saving them. It's only about 10 years old too, so I know it was simply built wrong and this issue has been three from the start.

Good luck. I suggest you wait until July and limp by through whatever means you can if possible.

 
Meanwhile the mold continues to grow. What happens if your tenant reports that to the appropriate government agency in your area?

To answer your original question, yes, the proper silicon caulk will work, provided you have identified all the areas of ingress into the wall.

 
You could always try buying that product advertised on T.V. where the guy puts the screen door into the bottom of a boat. I have no idea if it works, but it could be the basis of a decent thread.

 
Oh, there's definitely mold in my walls, particularly under the bench in the shower. I can see it through the access panel. This is one of the reasons why I'm going to pay a pro to rebuild the entire enclosure. Be prepared for a similar cost, gg.

 
jon_mx said:
ChiefD said:
Silicon caulk will work just fine until July.
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Yeah, I am not sure what the concern is with silicon caulk. Will hold up for years.
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:goodposting:

As many others have said, silicone caulk will last for years. Many are using it instead of plumbers puddy for many seal jobs in the bathroom because it DOESN'T harden and crack over time. It's what they use to seal up glass fish tanks...It's not going to be the cause of any re-leak.

That said, you have to apply it right. Without seeing your exact situation, I think what you need to do is get a good look at the back of the tiled wall. Sounds like you have an access panel there and have done that. Look at where it's coming in, and note it. Wait for it to dry out, THEN caulk those areas well...Use a puddy knife to really work the silicone into the gaps. If it's leaking around fixtures (i.e. where the pipe comes out of the wall for the shower head, etc. consider using some scrap hardibacker to close the gap in, THEN silicone around those seams. You can drill a hole in the hardibacker the diameter of the pipe, cut that in half, disecting the hole, then slide that in and mount it BEHIND the wall where the shower head comes in, then silicone the gaps from both sides. That will help support the silicone if you have big gaps.

You said the showerhead was spraying backwards - You weren't specific, but I'd guess it's coming from the pipe/showerhead joint. Take the shower head OFF, clean off the threads, re-apply silicone tape (not caulk!) and re-attach. Don't overtighten. That should fix that backwards spraying thing.

As noted, this is a temporary fix. I'd never use silicone on the grout of tiles I wasn't planning to replace. It'll look like ####. You're obviously going to have to rip it all out and re-tile and do it right when they're out of town.

 
The Z Machine said:
Are you sure it's the grout and not the waterproof membrane or other waterproofing that wasn't done properly?

I have a similar situation in my shower enclosure. The membrane wasn't installed correctly when it was built and water has gotten though the grout and into the wood framing of the enclosure. Currently, I have duct tape over all the grout lines, which cut down the water ingress by 95%. It's far easier than caulk and has worked for 6 months without much issue. No more drips into the ceiling downstairs, but I'm sure there's still moisture getting through.

I'm in the process of getting quotes to redo the enclosure now. This sucks because the tiles are 12" marble and there's no saving them. It's only about 10 years old too, so I know it was simply built wrong and this issue has been three from the start.

Good luck. I suggest you wait until July and limp by through whatever means you can if possible.
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I am absolutely NOT sure it is just the poor grout/caulking.

However, the caulk/grout was definitely not sufficient.

I have everything all caulked up now. Let's hope this holds for a couple months. I am fairly certain the shower wall will be coming down when this gets replaced.

 
Ditkaless Wonders said:
Meanwhile the mold continues to grow. What happens if your tenant reports that to the appropriate government agency in your area?

To answer your original question, yes, the proper silicon caulk will work, provided you have identified all the areas of ingress into the wall.
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We did not see mold anywhere behind the wall in the access panel. My tenant will have a hard time reporting mold that they can't see.

If they want to report it and make me fix it now, fine. The only reason I am waiting is because I did not want them to be without a bathroom for several days.

And yes, I caulked every grout line and also tore out and replaced the caulk above the tiles and around the tub.

 
Ditkaless Wonders said:
You could always try buying that product advertised on T.V. where the guy puts the screen door into the bottom of a boat. I have no idea if it works, but it could be the basis of a decent thread.
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haha, agreed. Seems like everyone should just spray that stuff on their roof ya know.

 
The Z Machine said:
Oh, there's definitely mold in my walls, particularly under the bench in the shower. I can see it through the access panel. This is one of the reasons why I'm going to pay a pro to rebuild the entire enclosure. Be prepared for a similar cost, gg.
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:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :moneybag: :moneybag: :moneybag:

I am anticipating a couple grand for a nice job after ripping some stuff out. If it costs less, great.

I am not too upset though. I should have just done this before anyone moved in.

 
Fat Nick said:
You said the showerhead was spraying backwards - You weren't specific, but I'd guess it's coming from the pipe/showerhead joint. Take the shower head OFF, clean off the threads, re-apply silicone tape (not caulk!) and re-attach. Don't overtighten. That should fix that backwards spraying thing.
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We replaced the shower head.

There was also probably water getting in the hole in the wall where the shower head was. It wasn't sealed around the ring that is up against the wall.

Some of the water running down the wall had to have gotten in that area and dripped down.

 
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