Leaking bath or overflow?

[Badger10]

Hello, my neighbour’s bath has been leaking intermittently (once or twice a week) into my living room for the past 2 months (I have no ceiling at the moment thanks to a different leak!) but I’m about to put it back up.

As there’s no ceiling I can access the bottom of their bath and I can see water is leaking from the waste trap but there are also a few drops of water appearing on the underside of the bath tub itself. The plumber who came today said he would replace the waste but that the drops of water under the tub itself were somehow caused by the overflow, rather than any kind of crack in their bath. I don’t understand how this can happen, particularly as several times when it’s leaked they’ve told me that there was only a small amount of water in the bath, can someone advise whether that sounds correct?

Many thanks for any advice

 

[rpm]

Never believe what you are told (by a customer) until proven is all I have to add.

 

[Old Account]

Hello, my neighbour’s bath has been leaking intermittently (once or twice a week) into my living room for the past 2 months (I have no ceiling at the moment thanks to a different leak!) but I’m about to put it back up.

As there’s no ceiling I can access the bottom of their bath and I can see water is leaking from the waste trap but there are also a few drops of water appearing on the underside of the bath tub itself. The plumber who came today said he would replace the waste but that the drops of water under the tub itself were somehow caused by the overflow, rather than any kind of crack in their bath. I don’t understand how this can happen, particularly as several times when it’s leaked they’ve told me that there was only a small amount of water in the bath, can someone advise whether that sounds correct?

Many thanks for any advice

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I believe you could also have a leak from the sealant around the bath. it could run down the bathtub and then start dripping. But also to, you could check the overflow by pouring water down the overflow. it might be the washer around the overflow which does not seal anymore.

perhaps, you could check that first before hiring another plumber. just run water down the drain only, then check the overflow only, after all that check the shower screen corners and the bathtub seal.

you will be surprised how much water could leak through just the sealant.

 

[Badger10]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I believe you could also have a leak from the sealant around the bath. it could run down the bathtub and then start dripping. But also to, you could check the overflow by pouring water down the overflow. it might be the washer around the overflow which does not seal anymore.

perhaps, you could check that first before hiring another plumber. just run water down the drain only, then check the overflow only, after all that check the shower screen corners and the bathtub seal.

you will be surprised how much water could leak through just the sealant.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Old Account]

Thanks for the advice!

you are very welcome.
it is an advantage for you that the ceiling is off so you can really inspect the whole bathtub. just do step by step and check the trap,overflow and the sealant - especially the corners. Perhaps you will see a fungus or mould on the sealant and a lot of times the silicone will slightly becomes lose from the bathtub or tiles perhaps both.

good luck

 

[Best]

And sometimes taps (whether a mixer or shower mixer or single taps) are not sealed properly to bath, or not even overlapping the holes in the bath, so that's another thing to have checked. Although I would think what Matchless.plumb said about sealant around bath is a very common cause of leaks as well as waste and trap connections.

 

[Badger10]

Thank you both! Can I just check as what is really confusing me is the drops of water that appeared on the bottom of the tub itself about an inch or 2 from the plughole as soon as the water started running. They just seemed to appear on the bottom of the tub - I don't think they had run down the sides as a result of sealant. Does the explanation that they are due to a problem with the overflow make sense?

 

[Best]

The overflow fitting can let water past it if it hasn't been tightened up properly or needs sealant. Usually leaks when a shower above bath is being used. Again this is a common happening due to careless installers who don't consider that an overflow to bath joint is still important to seal.
Other points to note about a bath is it should be fitted onto a baton of wood that is screwed to the walls to support the edge of bath so that it won't move away from seal. A flexible rubber strip upstand can also be fixed to bath or shower tray edges to form a flexible seal behind tiles.

 

[Best]

Thank you both! Can I just check as what is really confusing me is the drops of water that appeared on the bottom of the tub itself about an inch or 2 from the plughole as soon as the water started running. They just seemed to appear on the bottom of the tub - I don't think they had run down the sides as a result of sealant. Does the explanation that they are due to a problem with the overflow make sense?

It could well be also the overflow leaking, but below taps need checked as I know this can also cause massive amounts of water passing.
Also if the bath is the type that has a lot of fibreglass reinforcement, then if the plastic has a crack, water can penetrate down and into the fibreglass part. Hopefully not though

 

[Old Account]

you also could fit one of those to hold the bathtub in place.
however, just let water run inside the bathtub and check for cracks if you do not believe it could come fromthe bath selant. if you let it run you will see where it is coming from.
badewannen leisten - Google-Suche:

 

[Badger10]

It could well be also the overflow leaking, but below taps need checked as I know this can also cause massive amounts of water passing.
Also if the bath is the type that has a lot of fibreglass reinforcement, then if the plastic has a crack, water can penetrate down and into the fibreglass part. Hopefully not though

Many thanks!

 

[Badger10]

you also could fit one of those to hold the bathtub in place.
however, just let water run inside the bathtub and check for cracks if you do not believe it could come fromthe bath selant. if you let it run you will see where it is coming from.
badewannen leisten - Google-Suche:

Thank you!

 

[student plumber]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I believe you could also have a leak from the sealant around the bath. it could run down the bathtub and then start dripping. But also to, you could check the overflow by pouring water down the overflow. it might be the washer around the overflow which does not seal anymore.

perhaps, you could check that first before hiring another plumber. just run water down the drain only, then check the overflow only, after all that check the shower screen corners and the bathtub seal.

you will be surprised how much water could leak through just the sealant.

I was asked to look at a leaking bath as the ceiling was wet underneath.
Couldn't get under the bath as it had been tiled and there wasn't an access panel in the panel, all grout no sealent.

But there was some damaged tiles above the bath at the shower end that actually came away but stayed put.
I confirmed the bath didn't leak by running some water.
And they said it leaked when having a shower.

As previous posts say, put water down different parts at a time to rule parts out.

 

[student plumber]

Just realised date.
Oops, probably sorted by now.
Sorry.