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It looks like our shower drain is leaking. Having taken out the flange(?), the sealant that's come up is a bit mouldy so I'm guessing it's been leaking through here.
Now, taking it out, there was no gasket. Should there always be one? Or do some just fit with sealant directly? What type of stuff should I use to replace it?
should be a gasket and no sealant IME
There is usually a gasket but it needs silicone more than a gasket.
You shouldn't have sealant on a drain assembly. If sealant was there before then a dodgy job was done before. Maybe the shower hole is not aligned properly with the pipe so the gasket couldn't seal so silicone was used or something like that.
I have fitted a few over the years, never used silicone, never had one leak
i've helped quite a few plumbers fit trays on jobs and they've all used silicone as well as the gasket.
Following with interest. Ours has just started leaking - a very slow & slight seap from what appears to be a degraded gasket?
I'm no expert - it's more than likely to be the gasket, right?
Would the advice be to replace just the gasket?
Or does it make more sense to just replace with an entire plug/gasket/trap/overflow/cable kit? They don't appear too expensive. Are shower/bath drains a standard size/fitting?
As I say I'm no expert, but I'll generally have a go at stuff. Is it an easy fix/replace? Looks like a large, flat-head fixing from above. Does this unscrew & effectively release the top & bottom parts from the tray, allowing it to be removed?
Any suggestions & advice very much welcome.
TIA
Our house was built in 2006 and we've had all sorts of shower drain related issued since it was new.
Mainly because there isn't enough slope on the pipe and they installed it with no slack and a glued elbow under the floor so working on it is a real pain.
However the drain itself has never had or needed silicone anywhere near it. Just a rubber gasket underneath the drain hole in the tray and the flange screwing into it from above. Never leaked.
Maybe some make the mistake of sealing it from the top of the tray?
Edit. This is what is on ours now. Seal is underneath and the cap/top lifts and comes out for cleaning. Must remember not to unscrew the top when it the tray is full of water and the filter needs unblocking - this will result in the drain falling off and all the water on the floor... oops.
^^ that's our fitting.
So, I removed it and sealant had been used. There's about 1.5mm of misalignment on it and old sealant that came out had gunk and mould on it. So it had been getting wet,though maybe wasn't the leak.
Having sealed it and refitted yesterday, my wife AND then my son both had a shower this morning despite me saying not to. We got a small drip again. Tiny.
So, I've tested water all round the plug and this was fine. No leak.
I've then sloshed water around where the cubicle is mounted to the floor/wall. Lo and behold, a recreateable leak.
That's today's job: seal the cubicle where the plumber has failed. Bearing in mind the last shower tray they fitted they didn't place on sand, which then cracked, I shouldn't have been surprised I guess.
Our shower tray is a stupid design that was used when they built the house. It's a single cubicle with ridges that ride up the wall about 30mm on 3 sides. The tiles are then placed over this and rest on the tray, before being sealed in.
That part it ok and there would really have to be a problem for the water to get behind and leak over the top, however the shower base is a square of what looks like MDF or similar fibre glassed into the tray bottom.
Trouble is, the feet that hold the whole thing up are on corners of the tray and not under the strengthened wooden bit. It cracked once around where the wooden bit sits and then the whole tray squeaked and flexed when stood on. Didn't crack the actual 'inside' section but was very unnerving and seemed to dribble water out from somewhere, so something wasn't right.
We replaced the whole cubicle, including the tiles, plasterboard, door and drain and then put something like the below under the wooden tray bit as well. So far (6 yrs later), no more leaking.
Again - thats a poor installation . It should not be resting just on the feet. same as baths need additional support not just the feet.