Shower pan leak

skyline137

A second floor shower pan drain seal leaked. It did quite a bit of damage to the first floor ceiling. The “no caulking required” seal was only a few years old. Either the manufacturer changed the size or the first one shrunk.

hot_rod

Or is it the shower pan to clamping ring seal that is leaking?

Plug the drain and flood the shower to the curb threshold. If it leaks it may be the pan installation.

After you replace the seal :)

mattmia2

it didn't shrink so much as it was forced in to that smaller diameter between the drain pipe and drain and hardened that way as it aged. it could have shrunk after the pipe was no longer in the middle of it but i suspect it was compressed that way in use and just fossilized like that.

skyline137

The seal came with the shower base. The pan and seal were the same brand. I don’t know why it shrank. It did last longer than the 1 year warranty. I’m not using that brand seal again I’ll try something different and put a bead of silicone around the pipe first.

Mad Dog_2

I always installed them with Marine-Grade Silicone on all sides and neatly wiped off excess. Added leak prevention. Mad Dog

skyline137

skyline137

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1896817#Comment_1896817

The leak happened a few months ago. I thought it was interesting that a seal that came with the pan actually didn’t. I replaced it with a toilet tank to toilet gasket. It’s not leaking as observed from the hole in the ceiling underneath. I wanted to make sure before ceiling was repaired.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, If it isn't too, too ugly, I'd put an access hatch in that ceiling. That way, the shower will never leak again. 😉

Yours, Larry

mattmia2

there are access panels that are designed to install in a hole you cut in the celling after the ceiling is installed, they have a flange that covers the edge of the hole instead of being mudded in. unless this is in like your living room or dining room or a bedroom where you'd rather not think about there being a hole there.

JUGHNE

I have used a cold air grill to cover the uglies. The wall face type not the baseboard.

skyline137

I need to replace a 3’x4’ piece of if sheetrock in the first floor kitchen and repaint. The house is 70 years old and has be remodeled a few times. Card board and a staple gun works for now.

hot_rod

Is it a moulded one piece shower base? Or a tile floor with a pan liner below.

Looks like a creative homemade P trap?

mattmia2

looks like it does not meet code. makes one wonder what is happening at the shower pan.

skyline137

It’s a moulded plastic shower base which replaced a 60 year old tile shower floor during a bathroom remodel. The seal obviously shrank and no longer sealed as can be seen by the first side by side photo. That seal came with the base same brand as the base.

mattmia2

normally it would be compressed between the drain and pipe and clamped in place in some way to keep the synthetic rubber compressed between the 2 usually either with a plate and some screws or a compression ring that screws in to the drain

skyline137

The rubber seal is friction fit between drainpipe and pan as in the image

mattmia2

that is terrible design. not only is there nothing to compress the gasket, the drain is on the outside of the pipe instead of the inside so even the slightest amount of leakage is dripping down to the floor below rather than in to the pipe.

skyline137

It is a terrible design especially when the seal shrinks. The

type of seal in the image with RTV silicone is a tight fit and has not leaked in a few months. I’m having some rooms painted in a few weeks and it will be repaired.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I've had pretty good luck with the gaskets that come with the shower drains. They typically come with a threaded compression ring that you tighten down with a key.