Some of you may remember that a while back I posted about a plumbing
problem in a shower enclosure. Couldn't find the leak and neither could
the plumber. Simple reason - it wasn't in the pipes!
Now I knew absolutely nothing about tile setting. But I accidentally ran
across a reference to sealing the grout. I knew the shower had been re-
grouted just before we bought the house. But I didn't know if it had
been sealed. So I ran a garden hose in through a window and sprayed it
on the walls. Eureka - it leaked!
Went to Home Depot and bought some spray cans of sealer, covered
everything I didn't want to seal, and liberally sprayed the walls. The
shower no longer leaks and I now know a little bit more about tile than I
did.
All problems are obvious *after* the solution is found :-).
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 19:47:08 -0600, -MIKE- <[email protected]>
wrote:
>On 12/5/15 6:53 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
>> Some of you may remember that a while back I posted about a plumbing
>> problem in a shower enclosure. Couldn't find the leak and neither could
>> the plumber. Simple reason - it wasn't in the pipes!
>>
>> Now I knew absolutely nothing about tile setting. But I accidentally ran
>> across a reference to sealing the grout. I knew the shower had been re-
>> grouted just before we bought the house. But I didn't know if it had
>> been sealed. So I ran a garden hose in through a window and sprayed it
>> on the walls. Eureka - it leaked!
>>
>> Went to Home Depot and bought some spray cans of sealer, covered
>> everything I didn't want to seal, and liberally sprayed the walls. The
>> shower no longer leaks and I now know a little bit more about tile than I
>> did.
>>
>> All problems are obvious *after* the solution is found :-).
>>
>
>Don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if the shower is leaking through
>the grout, there are bigger problems than grout sealer. The purpose of
>grout sealer is really to prevent mold in the grout. The wall behind
>the tile should be water proof to begin with. One should be able to
>spray water onto a properly prepared subsurface for tile, without tile,
>and not have any leaks. In other words the subsurface should be
>waterproof.
What he said. Sorry.
>
>I don't remember your first post about this, so I can't speak to your
>specific problem.
>
>Where was the water leaking? Into the walls and down through the floor?
On 12/5/2015 7:47 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
> Don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if the shower is leaking through
> the grout, there are bigger problems than grout sealer. The purpose of
> grout sealer is really to prevent mold in the grout. The wall behind
> the tile should be water proof to begin with. One should be able to
> spray water onto a properly prepared subsurface for tile, without tile,
> and not have any leaks. In other words the subsurface should be
> waterproof.
Yep. Why gawd made "RedGard":
https://picasaweb.google.com/111355467778981859077/EWoodShopTwoBathroomRefresh2013?noredirect=1#5881932233006781314
Even if it's blue:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111355467778981859077/19818BathRemodel?noredirect=1#5967692262455456802
--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 00:21:09 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Sun, 06 Dec 2015 15:40:56 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
>> Probably was. Keep an eye on it after you shower a couple of times.
>> When you add the weight of you and a couple of girl friends it can
>> separate and leak.
>
>At my age? If it'd get 2 girlfriends in the shower with me it can leak
>till the cows come home!
If I got two girlfriends in the shower with me, I wouldn't worry about
the leak either. My wife would make sure of that!
>
>OTOH, I also replaced the caulking between the walls and the shower pan,
>so that may have been the problem instead of the grout.
... ya think ..
John T.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: [email protected] ---
On 12/5/15 6:53 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
> Some of you may remember that a while back I posted about a plumbing
> problem in a shower enclosure. Couldn't find the leak and neither could
> the plumber. Simple reason - it wasn't in the pipes!
>
> Now I knew absolutely nothing about tile setting. But I accidentally ran
> across a reference to sealing the grout. I knew the shower had been re-
> grouted just before we bought the house. But I didn't know if it had
> been sealed. So I ran a garden hose in through a window and sprayed it
> on the walls. Eureka - it leaked!
>
> Went to Home Depot and bought some spray cans of sealer, covered
> everything I didn't want to seal, and liberally sprayed the walls. The
> shower no longer leaks and I now know a little bit more about tile than I
> did.
>
> All problems are obvious *after* the solution is found :-).
>
Don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if the shower is leaking through
the grout, there are bigger problems than grout sealer. The purpose of
grout sealer is really to prevent mold in the grout. The wall behind
the tile should be water proof to begin with. One should be able to
spray water onto a properly prepared subsurface for tile, without tile,
and not have any leaks. In other words the subsurface should be
waterproof.
I don't remember your first post about this, so I can't speak to your
specific problem.
Where was the water leaking? Into the walls and down through the floor?
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply
On Sat, 05 Dec 2015 19:47:08 -0600, -MIKE- wrote:
> Don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if the shower is leaking through
> the grout, there are bigger problems than grout sealer. The purpose of
> grout sealer is really to prevent mold in the grout. The wall behind
> the tile should be water proof to begin with. One should be able to
> spray water onto a properly prepared subsurface for tile, without tile,
> and not have any leaks. In other words the subsurface should be
> waterproof.
Yes, after I started looking I learned that as well. But this house was
built in 1956. I don't know if the same building codes were in effect
back then. But I do know the walls are still standing. At my age, they
don't have to last a whole lot longer :-). And no damage is visible from
the basement below the shower.
But even if the subsurface isn't waterproof, the sealer is keeping it dry
so that would seem to eliminate the problem.
OTOH, I also replaced the caulking between the walls and the shower pan,
so that may have been the problem instead of the grout. Either way the
leak is gone so we're happy.
On Sun, 06 Dec 2015 15:40:56 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> Probably was. Keep an eye on it after you shower a couple of times.
> When you add the weight of you and a couple of girl friends it can
> separate and leak.
At my age? If it'd get 2 girlfriends in the shower with me it can leak
till the cows come home!
On Sun, 06 Dec 2015 14:26:45 -0500, hubops wrote:
>>OTOH, I also replaced the caulking between the walls and the shower pan,
>>so that may have been the problem instead of the grout.
>
>
> ... ya think ..
> John T.
Actually, I don't. The old caulking looked fine. But as I said, I'm no
expert so you could easily be right.
On Sun, 6 Dec 2015 18:40:45 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>OTOH, I also replaced the caulking between the walls and the shower pan,
>so that may have been the problem instead of the grout. Either way the
>leak is gone so we're happy.
Probably was. Keep an eye on it after you shower a couple of times.
When you add the weight of you and a couple of girl friends it can
separate and leak.