Leaking shower pipe behind tiles?

[Rick74]

Hello,

I’d really welcome any informed/professional advice you can give me about a situation developing in my bathroom. We had the bathroom redone a couple of years ago but never installed an extractor fan as the room is small and we always fully open the box window after showering (I know this is insufficient).

Recently the paint on the wall in between the shower screen (which is attached on top of the tiles) and the window opening started bubbling and blistering. (See pictures) It started fairly close to the tiles and seems to be spreading outwards. At first I thought it was condensation and planned to install a fan but now I’m worried that it might be due to a leak in the shower pipe behind the tiles as it is developing quite quickly.

There isn’t any damage to the ceiling below the bathroom (no stains, sagging or dampness)and I can’t hear any dripping in the space behind the shower. However, I’ve read that leaks can occur in pipes where the cold and hot water mixes – and the shower handle seems to be in the ‘centre’ of the damage.
Obviously I don’t know what’s behind the tiles but would any water damage spread horizontally without impacting upon the ceiling below? Could it just be that it is the condensation?

We don’t want to have to start ripping out tiles as they are large expensive pieces rather than small squares, so I’d like to have a pretty good idea of what’s causing the problem before we go down that road.


View attachment 7198View attachment 7197View attachment 7196
Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance

Rick

 

[Rick74]

Here's a close up of where I've dug into the plaster

And here's the original pics from the original thread which seem to have been deleted. Any further advice welcomed.

 

[Rick74]

Hi there, unfortunately its taken 2 weeks for the above posts to be approved so I've lost momentum somewhat. Does anyone have any thoughts in light of the extra information I've provided above?

The paint bubbling/damage is still spreading.

Thanks in advance.

 

[petercj]

Did you take the shower plate off as suggested?

If you're not comfortable with doing that, I suggest getting someone in to work out what's going on.

Condensation shouldn't be a major problem this weather with the window open.

A damp meter, and a pipe detector would be useful if taking the shower plate off doesn't reveal the problem - if I were you I would get some opinions from a plumber, or maybe a builder who does plumbing as well.