brand new bathroom but it leaks

[harrywyborn]

been a while since i posted a thread here, been very slowly renovating my PPOR for the last five years. Recently just finished reno on bathroom last room in the house, phew you might say but finally got my shower screen in ( i work for a shower screen company and have installed them as well) so no probs here, had our first shower in it and bam houston we have a problem.

within a minute or so we have water leaking outside in the hallway comming out from under the skirting onto the tiles. We had all the reno done by professinals, brother in law a builder he did all the structal work for me, water proofer did water proofing, tiler did the tiling along with the 40mm bedding in for the floor, plumber did plumbing etc, my work did screen.

i did all the tests to eliminate where the problem was comming from, ended up taping up the drain plug and filling it with water from a bucket to elimate the plumbing etc, and bam still have a leak, so the result has to be the water proofing.

my plumber came to test his pipes jsut to make sure all clear here, so the waterproofer has claimed responsibility for the leak, which is great as i forgot to mention that i paid everyone in cash with no receipts. So waterproofer has arranged for Megaseal to come and look at the leak to give him a quote for them to seal the grout lines etc.

what my questions to the forum are
1- would you be accepting the waterproofer just using Megaseal to seal the grout lines etc or
2- would you want to rip up the tiles and have the waterproofer redo his membrane and for him to pay the tiler to come back to retile along with new tile costs etc?

we have an ensuite we can use but when we reno this bathroom we used another waterproofer than normal as he wasnt available as we were on a time schedule before our first baby was born to get this done so we didnt have the hassle once our little one was born.

So what to do just go along and be happy that the waterproofer is paying for Megaseal to seal the grout line? or demand that they rip up our tiles and start again?

my main two concerns are that if megaseal do there job what happens then if it still leaks? and two since we paid cash and got no receipts if it still leaks who will then be liable the waterproofer or now megaseal?

advice needed please.

 

[jezza]

harrywyborn

1- would you be accepting the waterproofer just using Megaseal to seal the grout lines
No way, this is a bit like putting silicon on leaking gutters, yes will fix for short term but the leak will come back. Especially with showers as it involves vast temperatures and pressure

2- would you want to rip up the tiles and have the waterproofer redo his membrane and for him to pay the tiler to come back to retile along with new tile costs etc?
Yes this is what I would suggest, although the problem could be with the pipes, I had this problem recently and it could have cost a lot more than it did as it got itself under the first 4 planks of the floorboards when it was noticed as well as the tiles in the bathroom

Jezza

 

[Roachy]

I got megasealed to seal a leak in my bathroom. $780 later it still is leaking. Waiting to see what Megasealed does next.

I would get the waterproofer to rip it up and waterproof (his sole job).

 

[gerd]

within a minute or so we have water leaking outside in the hallway comming out from under the skirting onto the tiles.

Unless there are large sections of grout missing between the tiles and waterproof membrane not applied correctly at the cold joints, that amount of water leakage is not likely.

If the tiling job was done professionally without waterproofing it still would not leak to that extent.

Test the pluming in the wall yourself ( remove shower rose and cap the pipe, turn on cold and hot water for a couple of minutes one at a time not together).

Gerd

 

[NBS]

To be honest before waterproofing became the norm, many bathrooms where constructed and did not leak, now if a bathroom leaks we target the waterproofer (me included sometimes). My thinking now is for the waterproofing to fail it first must leak to get to the waterproofing.

When you filled with the bucket I assume you got the water from another location not the shower. I would also tape up around the perimiter of the tiles between the base and wall tiles. Do your test again see if it leaks.

For this to leak so quick It must be a serious hole in the waterproofing.

Your lucky the waterproofer claimed responsibility

Where the pipes pressure tested before the sheets installed?


Brian

 

[csc2]

did you change tap fittings, shower fittings???

sounds like you may have possibly cracked a copper pipe or one of the tap fittings is not correctly sealed to me....i could be wrong but id put bets this maybe the problem possibly???

worth looking at further.....its a pain....had a similar issue a few years ago...good luck

 

[harrywyborn]

To be honest before waterproofing became the norm, many bathrooms where constructed and did not leak, now if a bathroom leaks we target the waterproofer (me included sometimes). My thinking now is for the waterproofing to fail it first must leak to get to the waterproofing.

When you filled with the bucket I assume you got the water from another location not the shower. I would also tape up around the perimiter of the tiles between the base and wall tiles. Do your test again see if it leaks.

For this to leak so quick It must be a serious hole in the waterproofing.

Your lucky the waterproofer claimed responsibility

Where the pipes pressure tested before the sheets installed?


Brian

yeah mate i did fill it up from a bucket from the laundry, plummer has tested the pipes and no leak occurs when i run the shower head into a bucket. I will try taping up the joints and see how that goes.

i spoke to my tiler he suggested that it would only be about $200 to retile, waterproofer was happy as megasealed was about $700, i will rip up and we will be starting again. but before i do i def going to tape up the joints and see how that goes.


thanks for the replies

 

[NBS]

I assume the waterproofing is as per norm, installed before the bedded is put in place. I attended a tiling seminar the other evening and the speaker (well reguarded) said he now does the waterproofing on top of the bedding and then the tiles. Allowing for curing time etc etc.

I thought about this and will now be doing this to my jobs in the main wet area.

I was meaning the whole join between the floor and wall tiles.

Sorry if i am not making sense big day and very tired.

Hope all works out.

Brian

 

[Jillian]

i would never used megasealed..learnt the hard way !! After paying them way too much the problem was still not fixed... i then had to re water proof and retiled

 

[craigb]

I agree its sounds like far to much water to be the hob, sounds more like a screw in the line that runs to the shower rose.

 

[joycenmat]

Whoever did the job should fix it! So the waterproofer so perhaps he can come back and fix it....Find the problem asap before it creates more damage..then fix it. I have seen some water damage lead into thousands...worth getting into now!

 

[Megasealed]

Hi everyone,

Megasealed here!

The main difference between the product used by Megasealed Bathrooms (called Megasealed) and grout is that Megasealed is a two part epoxy which bonds much much stronger to the tiles than grout. Megasealed (the product) is anti-fungal and also water and grease resistant which makes the bathroom easier to clean for longer. More importantly, we are so confident in the product (Megasealed) that we offer an industry leading 15 year product warranty.

Unfortunately the product still has to be applied by a human hand and in the few cases where there is still a leak after a service (we service 2000 showers a month so a few here and there is to be expected), this usually comes down to training of the technician doing the job. It's why we really do appreciate all feedback received by our customers. In fact we are Quality Endorsed by SAI Global and conduct quality control inspections both during and on completion of work is part of our company's processes.

Hope this information has been of help to you.

 

[antman1975]

Megasealed

I had an issue in my bathroom, where i had to rebuild everything as it wasnt picked up at the pest and building inspection time, so after spending close to $3500 rebuilding a bathroom, my shower was leaking, the tiler that built the bathroom for me stated that the water proof was failing underneath, and suggested that i call Megasealed in to give me a quote on how to best fix the soloution as it shows that water is getting through the grout joints, i called in Megasealed and their service was fantastic, they were able to get their consultant to my property on the same day i called them which is a fantastic turn around, the consultant that attended the property was very knowledgable regarding what the issue was that i was facing as well as what service we would require in our shower, the price of $695 was reasonable in my eyes than having to rip out a shower and re water proof and retile without a guarantee that the water proof would fail again, i advised megasealed that i wanted to think about the quote i was given and i would get back to them as i was also wanting to do somke research in regards to stopping leaking showers without removing tiles. so upon my research i done a ring around to the companies that come up in google after my search the companies being, sure seal, the shower repair centre, shower fix, stop leaking shower.com.au, sunshine coast shower seal, i spoke with each of these companies and when i asked if they could come out to inspect my shower and give me a quote and solution to fix the issue none of these companies could come out to see me they were happy to talk to me over the phone to give me a quote, my first though on this is how can a company number one know what issue you are facing unless they are on the premises inspecting the shower, i was then told by one particular company that they do what megasealed do, but upon further investigation i carried out i realised that this company was lying as megasealed were able to prove to me that thier product is manufacutured soley for them, another intersting fact i found out is that Megasealed are a quality endorseed business being the 5 ticks, so for a company that is a quality endorsed business this is another factor in dealing with a company that you know you will have peace off mind with, which after all my reasearch i was leaning towards Megasealed due to all the factors i had researched and the service they Megasealed had offered me in my initial consultation with them, from this i decided that i would go with Megasealed quote for $695, the technician that was sent to my property to carry out the service was fantastic, it was one of the first service people that i have dealt with that has actually given me a fact start time and attended to the site at the stated time they gave me, i also wanted to test the knowledge of the technician and asked his advise if what thier consultant sold me was correct, the technician was honest with me and advised the service would be needed as with his experience as a tiler before joining Megasealed, the only soloution would be to rip out the shower and rebuild again, but as the technician advised water proofing you can never be sure it wont fail again, and that with megasealed you get a 15 year warranty with the service and that Megasealed have been doing this service for 15 years and were the pioneers in the industry so know the product works and know the capabilities of the products they use, i considered this another benefit of using Megasealed compared to the other companies i called up. The technician done a fantastic job with the Megasealed service carried out at my property and i was impressed when the service was completed the technician also made sure that the rest of the bathroom was cleaned so that i wouldnt have to wory about cleaning myself. it has now been 3 months since i got this service carried out by Megasealed and i am full of praises of them not only have ther saved me momey from having to rebuild the shower again, my cleaning of the shower is a lot more easier now since the service was done and best of all my shower isnt leaking any more, i would highly recommend Megasealed to everyone i know for issues in their showers, due to their realiable and fast service the knowledge of all thier staff and technicians and ther great results they achieve for thier clients.

 

[Collector]

take the shower head off and plug pipe with appropriate fitting (available from bunnings etc) then turn taps on - if leaks then the problem is with the plumbing - if it doesn't then its the water proofing

 

[pennyk]

, i would highly recommend Megasealed to everyone i know for issues in their showers, due to their realiable and fast service the knowledge of all thier staff and technicians and ther great results they achieve for thier clients.

mmmm, you dont work for them do you? A few too many "fantastics" for a first time poster.... sounds suspicious

 

[Jaggannath]

mmmm, you dont work for them do you? A few too many "fantastics" for a first time poster.... sounds suspicious

Funny you should say that, there were a few alarm bell ringers for me in that diatribe too.

 

[Megasealed]

Have to admit Antman 1975, as Megasealed's Marketing Manager I couldn't have put it better myself! You captured the very reasons why we are the longest running company in the industry and the market leaders.

Antman - I'd like to ensure your consultant and technician get the reward and recognition they deserve for the fantastic job they did for you. Please call me on 02 9289 3613 or email [email protected] with further information so I can make this happen!

 

[ozsupra]

I fully support the positive comments regarding MegaSeal.
I did a reno nearly four years ago. Major shower leak followed, I'm talking a river.... Megaseal came in (roughly $600) - never leaked since. If it failed tomorrow, I still have had my monies worth.
A.

 

[Melbournian]

been a while since i posted a thread here, been very slowly renovating my PPOR for the last five years. Recently just finished reno on bathroom last room in the house, phew you might say but finally got my shower screen in ( i work for a shower screen company and have installed them as well) so no probs here, had our first shower in it and bam houston we have a problem.

within a minute or so we have water leaking outside in the hallway comming out from under the skirting onto the tiles. We had all the reno done by professinals, brother in law a builder he did all the structal work for me, water proofer did water proofing, tiler did the tiling along with the 40mm bedding in for the floor, plumber did plumbing etc, my work did screen.

i did all the tests to eliminate where the problem was comming from, ended up taping up the drain plug and filling it with water from a bucket to elimate the plumbing etc, and bam still have a leak, so the result has to be the water proofing.

my plumber came to test his pipes jsut to make sure all clear here, so the waterproofer has claimed responsibility for the leak, which is great as i forgot to mention that i paid everyone in cash with no receipts. So waterproofer has arranged for Megaseal to come and look at the leak to give him a quote for them to seal the grout lines etc.

what my questions to the forum are
1- would you be accepting the waterproofer just using Megaseal to seal the grout lines etc or
2- would you want to rip up the tiles and have the waterproofer redo his membrane and for him to pay the tiler to come back to retile along with new tile costs etc?

we have an ensuite we can use but when we reno this bathroom we used another waterproofer than normal as he wasnt available as we were on a time schedule before our first baby was born to get this done so we didnt have the hassle once our little one was born.

So what to do just go along and be happy that the waterproofer is paying for Megaseal to seal the grout line? or demand that they rip up our tiles and start again?

my main two concerns are that if megaseal do there job what happens then if it still leaks? and two since we paid cash and got no receipts if it still leaks who will then be liable the waterproofer or now megaseal?

advice needed please.

isn't there a waterproofing certificate?

 

[Megasealed]

what my questions to the forum are
1- would you be accepting the waterproofer just using Megaseal to seal the grout lines etc or
2- would you want to rip up the tiles and have the waterproofer redo his membrane and for him to pay the tiler to come back to retile along with new tile costs etc?


my main two concerns are that if megaseal do there job what happens then if it still leaks? and two since we paid cash and got no receipts if it still leaks who will then be liable the waterproofer or now megaseal?

advice needed please.

Hi Harrywyborn,

Megasealed here. I noticed you first posted this back in July. Does this mean you still don't have a resolution? To alleviate your concerns, if Megasealed seals the grout lines with our exclusive Megasealed product, you will receive a product warranty of 15 years. So if it leaks again through the grout lines over the next 15 years because the Megasealed is not working properly, we will come and repair it for free under that warranty. If however Megasealed seals the grout lines with Megasealed and your shower still leaks but not from the grout lines then obviously this leak repair would not be covered nor repaired under the Megasealed warranty (and responsibility would fallback once again to the waterproofer).

Harry, Megasealed have been in business for over 16 years and we are a national Quality Endorsed company by SAI Global so you can be confident that if we do the work and 10 years down the track you get a leak, we will still be around!

Let me know if I can be of any assistance. You can also email me directly on [email protected] or visit our website www.megasealed.com.au for more information.

Cheers

Cate Dunwoody - National Marketing Manager