image source: wikibase.info
Ever notice how water never stays where you want it to? It’ll always run downhill, but it so often seems to be the wrong hill. Now, in defence of your average shower enclosure, it’s not an aquarium. It’ll keep most of the water where it should be, but you can’t expect miracles. The big problem spots in most showers are where different materials or panels meet. So, assuming that everything has been installed properly and cleanly, in shower waterproofing let’s look at where your damp spots are coming from.
If you have an acrylic or synthetic granite shower base and your walls are damp right where the base meets the wall or floor, you probably have water running behind the door along the tiling flange. Look for spots where the shower walls meet the base where the calking has failed or isn’t sticking. Once you’ve eliminated that possibility, it gets a bit messier. If you can’t keep the water from getting into that spot, you have to keep it from running out, so clean up that front corner and fill it nice and full of silicone. Maax actually recommends doing that and leaving a 1″ gap in the calking at the inside corners to let water in there run back into the base and drain.
If you have a leaky shower door, check where it’s calked. I know this is going to sound counter-intuitive, but the calking on shower doors is almost always done on the outside of the door. If you have silicone on the inside of it, there’s a good chance that’s what’s causing the problem. Shower enclosures are designed to drain back into the shower, so you need to let them.
Those two sources cover almost all of the leaky showers I’ve seen. I know it may not cover everything, and if it doesn’t, let me know 613-749-1512 or in person at 5-850 Industrial Avenue in Ottawa. I’d be glad to share what I’ve learned if you’re having drips.
