How to repair a shower drain leak without replacing pipes?

by delavin home May 30, 2024

Sources

Repair shower drain leak - Home Improvement Stack Exchange

diy.stackexchange

Leaking shower drain pipe; how to tackle this job : r/Plumbing - Reddit

How to Fix a Leaky Shower Pan Drain - YouTube

youtube

Answer

Here are the steps to repair a shower drain leak without replacing pipes:

Remove the shower drain cover and inspect the drain flange. The leak is likely coming from the gasket/seal under the flange.1
Use an exacto knife or scraper to remove any old putty or caulk around the flange.1
If the drain flange is loose, try wiggling and pulling it out. If it comes out, you can re-seal and re-install it.2
If the flange won't come out, you may need a special drain removal tool to unscrew the flange from below. These are called "shower drain removal tools" or "tub drain removal tools".1
Once the flange is removed, replace the gasket/seal with a new one from the hardware store.5
Apply plumber's putty or silicone caulk under the new gasket, then re-install the flange and tighten it down.5
As a temporary fix, you can try coating the area around the leak with PVC glue made for wet conditions and letting it dry. Repeat a few coats.2

The key is accessing and replacing the gasket/seal under the drain flange without having to cut pipes or tiles.125 Using the right tools to remove the flange is important to avoid damaging pipes.

References

1. Repair shower drain leak - Home Improvement Stack Exchange 2. Leaking shower drain pipe; how to tackle this job : r/Plumbing - Reddit 3. How to Fix a Leaky Shower Pan Drain - YouTube 4. How to Fix a Leaky Pipe - The Home Depot 5. Leaking shower drain - Love Plumbing & Remodel

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Author: Inspire DIY

Key insights

Dealing with a leaking shower can lead to costly repairs, but there are DIY solutions that can save you thousands of dollars.
The two common places for water leaks in a tile shower are the drain and the shower's membrane.
Any water that gets through gaps in the grout will run down the outside of the waste pipe and drip onto the plasterboard.
The layer of mortar shapes the fall of the floor, directing water to the center to prevent leaks.
Attention to detail is crucial in ensuring that water runs towards the drain and down the hole, preventing further leaks.
The process of fixing a tile shower leak without removing tiles involves prepping the pipework with acetone and plumbing cement, as well as removing old silicone and grout.
🧼 The recipe for removing grout haze is made from common household items, making it an accessible and effective solution for many people.
After sealing the tiles and grout with a penetrating sealer, the shower was used twice a day for six weeks with no moisture, leaks, or water damage, showing the success of the fix.

Timestamped Summary

00:00 Fix a leaking shower without removing tiles by following the tips in the video to prevent water damage and mould.
00:53 The shower is leaking from the waste pipe and the waterproofing membrane, so the waste plumbing pipe needs to be fixed and the shower stopped to let the flooring dry out.
01:49 Remove the drain grate, check for silicone sealing, and fix any gaps to prevent water leakage in a tile shower.
03:09 Replace old shower waste base and cut out mortar to fix tile shower leak without removing tiles.
05:01 Trim and adjust plumbing, apply mortar, and seal with silicone to fix a tile shower leak without removing tiles.
06:45 Fixing a tile shower leak without removing tiles involves gluing the pipework, removing silicone and old grout, and re-grouting.
08:03 Replace grout and silicone in the shower to fix leaks without removing tiles.
09:55 Seal around floor waste, tiles, and grout with penetrating sealer to fix shower leak without removing tiles, and after six weeks, no more moisture, leaks, or water damage.

Video Full Text

00:00 If you have a leaking shower causing puddles of water, mould, potentially damage to your flooring and framework timber, then we've got something in common but where do you start when it's time to get the problem fixed you could either hire a bathroom contractor and potentially spend thousands or do what I've done follow the tips in this video and I'll show you how I stopped my shower from leaking without lifting a single tile. G'day, welcome to Inspire DIY. I'm Kent, six weeks ago. I took on the project of fixing the issue but I really wanted to test it out before. I showed you whether it works or not, this upstairs shower has been leaking which subsequently meant that the downstairs ceiling became wet, and then mould appeared! It's unfortunately common for these tiled showers to leak over time. Stay tuned as I recap the steps that I took to fix the issue. So let's have a look at the underside of this upstairs shower.
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00:53 An inspection hole has been cut in the downstairs bathroom ceiling below the shower that's leaking in an attempt to see where a leak is coming from. I can see a lot of water damage to the subfloor which is most likely from a faulty waterproofing membrane. It's clearly no longer a waterproof layer. I can only guess that it's coming from around the tile pan and not further up the wall and we can't see inside the walls unless we make a hole. As soon as I turned on the shower up there we can see water dripping out of this waste and we can see a leaks coming from around the waste pipe so let's get. This fixed undo any brackets and dislodge the waste plumbing pipe from the shower waste. There's two common places that the water leaks from the first is the drain, and the second is the shower's membrane. So we stopped using the shower upstairs to let the timber and the particle board flooring dry out.
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01:49 But this doesn't fix the problem. I'm going to start today by removing the drain grate and drain and having a closer look inside. Some have a screw that can be removed. Some are just a friction fit and some are glued in place. I had a feeling that I was going to break this drain trying to get it out but that doesn't matter. It seems to be stuck in here. Pretty tight turns out. It was sealed to the drain base with silicone. Oopsy I accidentally dropped the screwdriver down the drain but that doesn't matter. I just used this magnetic tool and was able to retrieve it. So this drain looks like it's been made of two separate parts and all bunged together with a whole lot of silicone, essentially it's blocked off the waterproofing membrane from delivering any water to the waste pipe. There is or was a membrane under this mortar and I can see the remnants of membrane on the inside of this waste pipe. It's definitely not intact now around the drain. Any water that's getting through any gaps in the grout finds its way. Here. It's just going to run down the outside of the waste pipe and drip onto the plasterboard.
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03:09 Below. I just did a bit of a drawing up here to try and explain how the layers work so right at the bottom. We've got. The floor joists on top of that we've got a layer of particle board. Flooring. You can see how the plumbing sort of comes out through the bottom of that flooring. Now that subfloor is what we can see all the water damage on on top of that subfloor is a membrane that gets painted on it. Gets painted down almost like one complete skin down inside that pipe and then about 1500 or whatever five foot up the walls. On top of that membrane. We've got a layer of mortar which sort of shapes the fall of the floor directing water to the center. Obviously there's going to be a little hole in the center. Here on top of that goes the tiles and then the floor drain, the floor waste for your shower. Removing all the silicone from around this, that silicone has not adhered to the mortar. It was a failed attempt that someone's done at one point so we'll remove the shower waste base. The membrane is a rubbery sort of bitumen based sealing compound that was used and it's not intact, the integrity of it is lost and it's left gaps around that pipe. The first job is to change the shower pan waste for a new one. It's slightly bigger so the mortar here is going to need to be cut out a bit to fit the replacement waste outlet. I had a Dremel tool to use which I just sort of cut out some of that mortar with, and while I've got the Dremel I cleaned up a bit of the silicone and grout that's been left behind.
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05:01 I'm just checking that when the plumbing gets reconnected to the new floor waste that we're still going to have fall on the plumbing which means the water is going to be able to escape running away from the shower turns out. We need to trim about 10mm off the top of this plumbing just to accommodate the slightly bigger floor waste that we've put in. And this means that then as we lift it up into the new floor waste we're still going to have fall away from the shower. I just used the multi-tool to cut the pipe and then just cleaned up the end of the pipe with some sandpaper. I've mixed up some mortar, this is so that when I fit the shower waste in it's going to be a nice solid fitting. Now I'm taping up the bottom of that floor waste because I want to make sure the inside of that socket is going to stay clean because that's where the plumbing is going to need to be glued to. So I've just uh put plenty of mortar in there... and push it into place. This is where I want to be very fussy and make sure that I'm at least level or slightly below the height of the tiles, just so any water that's sitting on the shower. Floor wants to run towards the drain and down the hole, I'm going to clean up around the floor waste any extra mortar that sort of squeezed out because I actually want to seal around this with silicone. Just checking that my level's right, that it's sitting slightly lower than the tiles and let it set for a couple of days.
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06:45 Now that we're back underneath the shower. We can see that the mortar is set our pipes cut. We're ready to glue it into place. So we just prep the pipework with some acetone and then with some plumbing cement. I've got my lovely wife standing on the shower waste up in the top shower so as I push. This up there's no risk of me dislodging it, press it up in place hold it there for a minute and replace the brackets. The second job is we need to remove all the silicone from around the shower, heating it up with a hair dryer and cutting it out with a sharp knife or a chisel. Then clean off any remnants with methylated spirits. Next we need to remove all the old grout using a grout saw or a multi-tool if you have one. I'm glad. I did have a multi-tool because this epoxy grout was a really hard product to remove use your dust mask and earmuffs. If you have one, all we need to do is remove a two or three millimeter layer so a new layer of grout can be applied. I'm covering up around the new floor waste with some masking tape because I want to seal around this with silicone, not grout. Next we finally get to do some re-grouting! So mix it up.
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08:03 Toothpaste consistency, spray some water on, this definitely helps. This is a messy kind of job but thankfully it's really forgiving and anyone can do this. All of these jobs that I'm doing. I've linked to these videos in the description below. So if you want a detailed tutorial. On any of these jobs you can find it there. After about 20 minutes the grout will have set enough for you to wipe off the excess with a sponge, wipe it down, don't use too much pressure because that might wipe the grout out of the gaps and just rinse the sponge off often in water. This is a shot of the day after grouting once it's dried, and then after we've removed the grout haze. So here's my recipe and if you're going to take any tip away from watching this video. This would be the one to get! So make this recipe using things you've probably got in your cupboard at home, it's really effective! All you need to do is spray it onto the tiles and wipe off that grout haze it's really good. Next job is to replace the silicone push the silicone into the gap ahead of the nozzle. I used an acetoxy-cure silicone. It smells a little bit like vinegar while it's curing but this stuff is better for wet areas like bathtubs and showers. With a soapy water mix you can dip your finger in and smooth out the silicone, any excess on your finger just wipe it off on a paper towel, and wet your finger and carry on smoothing. It off. Your finger seems to put the perfect radius on the silicon remember to get all the corners like under the step.
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09:55 I also want to seal around the floor waste as well forcing it in as much as I can and this is such an important part to seal properly as all the shower's water heads to this drain. Lastly seal the tiles and grout with a penetrating sealer, once it's set we can test out the shower and as promised here's my review and did it work? So six weeks later, with the shower being used twice a day, there's no moisture! There's no leaks! The floor under the shower is dry! The reassuring thing is that there's no more water damage to the house and there's not a trace of mould. So I feel like that was a success if you want to see any of the products that I've used. I'll add them in the description below. If you like this video or you found it helpful, subscribe and join me at Inspire DIY. For more how-to videos, we'll see you there.
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