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mdenton2014

Shower stall question

11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

I notice this morning that there appeared to be a small leak just outside our shower. So, I removed all of the old caulking, dried the shower out, and then added new caulking.

From there, I scraped the wall expecting just a little spot of paint to come off. Instead, a large amount of wall crumbled. The wood behind it is also wet. ( I now have a fan on this region.) im making a trip to Home Depot, but am wondering if I have an even bigger problem that what meets the eye. There isn't any old caulking between the floor pan and wall panels nor between any of the wall panels themselves. Does anyone know if these are designed to be this way or if we should consider taking this out because there is probably water behind it?

We just bought this house in September, but there doesn't seem to be any water leaking to the rooms beneath this bathroom. And, this is the shower the whole family uses (even though we have three functional bathrooms).

Sorry, I don't know why the one pic is turned, but it's where my wall crumbled.

Comments (14)

  • 11 years ago

    Thank You! I don't see any stamps or markings on it, but I'll see what I can figure out.

  • 11 years ago
    The installation of the door may be causing a problem if there are any screws missing in that corner also.
    mdenton2014 thanked J Petempich
  • PRO
    11 years ago
    This must share a wall with some other room. Cut open the drywall in an adjacent space. Often these showers don't require caulking at that seam, they snap together. As mentioned it could be the shower door, a leaking valve, joint at the shower head... Check it out now!
    mdenton2014 thanked Ellsworth Design Build
  • 11 years ago

    I don't see any screws at the bottom of the door. It appears to be just caulked in, but we can look at that closer tomorrow. My daughter was showering when I noticed the wet spot this morning. Hopefully tearing out the old caulk and putting in new will fix the leak.


    Ellsworth-Hallett, there is another bathroom on the other side. There doesn't appear to be any damage (according to my husband). It makes me feel better to know that these don't always have to be caulked since we have no idea when it was it was installed.


    Thank you all for quick replies!


  • 11 years ago
    When you removed the old caulking did you see spots where the caulking was missing or loose? I am assuming this caulking was on the door frame. When I was suggesting that you try to find the source of the water leak, it was to ensure that the water was leaking out from that door frame/ wall transition...as opposed to the leak being somewhere behind the wall.
    Hopefully you did fix the issue with the new caulking, but keep a close eye on it. Let that wood really dry out over many days before you patch that spot on the wall.
  • 11 years ago

    Yes, it was loose and discolored across the bottom. I will definitely keep an eye on it and have banned use of the shower until I can get everything dry. I ordered red Gard from Amazon and it should get here later this week.

  • 11 years ago
    Redguard?? What are you doing with that? It is a paint on waterproof membrane.
  • 11 years ago

    My thought was to let that wood dry and coat with the membrane to protect the wood in case it happens again. Is that illogical?

  • PRO
    11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Your glass and or pan/wall connection are letting water out. VERY common. turn on shower , direct head to spray that side wall and corner......... close glass and stand outside. You should find the leak. It may take a while until the bottom track fills up( if its sealed improperly ( on the inside).

    Sometimes the screws in the vertical track rust out, water gets in and thru screw holes behind shower and trickles down and/or wicks up and you aren't seeing it..( i dont think thats your issue here)

    More Likely?????

    The bottom track should be 100% siliconed only on the outside of shower.
    As the track has weep holes to allow water to run back into shower.

    So many times ill find a previous repair attempt where someone siliconed the inside of bottom track or worse has screwed thru the track and shower curb/flange not knowing these bottom tracks are meant to be friction fit and held in place by the verticals, water then gets thru the weep holes and finds its way out of the outside corners of track or worse thru screws if someone did that..

    These cheap glass enclosures need maintenance regularly in the form of silicone and watching the screws.

    Fix???

    You need to fix the root problem (leak) and then remove drywall and corner bead and baseboard to remove all mold/water damage and then repair. AFTER you fix the leak at its source and then proactively maintain it.

    Also i would silicone this snap fit connection just inside and outside the frame... Ill bet this is where your water comes from............

    good luck!

    mdenton2014 thanked Mint tile Minneapolis
  • PRO
    11 years ago

    Yay tundra for the long and probably spot on solution.


    Waterproofing the wall won't do anything, you need to keep the water in the shower.

    mdenton2014 thanked Ellsworth Design Build
  • PRO
    11 years ago

    LOL! that was a long wind......


    mdenton2014 thanked Mint tile Minneapolis
  • 11 years ago

    Wow! Thank you! All of the caulking was on the inside so I had removed that and just added new there. I will do as you suggest though!

  • 8 years ago

    I know this is an old post, but I thought I’d finally add my update! We could never get that door to stop leaking so I finally just took it out shortly after these posts and put up a shower curtain. I found these water diverting corners on Amazon and now we aren’t having any trouble with water leaking out.