Leaking shower - Megasealed?

[davidviles]

Leaking Showers, Bathroom Waterproofing

Hi Members,
There are Industry Best Practice Books available from the Master Builders Association NSW, the Blue Book is on bathroom waterproofing and contains 220 pages of information.
The Red book is on balcony deck waterproofing and contains a similar number of pages.

As for AS 3740 the standard for waterproofing bathrooms "I wouldn't follow it". It is a minimal requirement document that is called up in the Building Code of Australia. I was on the standard working committee fro close on 6 years and on resigning told them it will take another 2 decades for them to get it right and that you cannot have a minimal standard for such a critical area in a building.

My recommendation to members in this forum is to over comply and seek publications put together by reputable people, not bureaucrats or people that test products in controlled situations such as laboratories.

I for one am sick and tired in seeing the consumer being ripped off and taken as a mug.

Regards
David

 

[turk]

David

I'm confused, from your website :-

The resulting "Blue Book", covering Internal Wet Area waterproofing is now an industry standard, a TAFE textbook and a reference book, used interstate and overseas as a valuable reference tool.

Now also available, is the second in the series of "Best Practice Guides", namely the Balcony waterproofing manual.

April Building Solutions is proud to be associated with the production of the above handbooks and intends to continue advocating a philosophy of "Best Practice" in the waterproofing industry.

 

[DavidMc]

Hey guys,

I have a leaky shower. It's a 50's unit and I intend to hold for 30+ years.

Sounds like the megaseal route is just a band-aid solution and I should really get it re-tiled.

Any recommendations in inner Melbourne area?

My plumber said just any tiler should be able to do this.


David.

 

[RedApple]

Hi abcdiamond,

did you end up using the Prelude shower system from decina ?
were they easy to install and worked well ?

Sad to hear the re-tile only lasted 5 years for you, did the tiler provide some sort of warranty or compensation for the failed waterproof ?

5 years later... It needs doing again !!!
Not sure what has happened yet, but it has the same problem again. I think I'll look into Brenda Irwins suggestion of the "Prelude shower system from www.decina.com.au".

 

[geoffw]

Hi abcdiamond,

did you end up using the Prelude shower system from decina ?
were they easy to install and worked well ?

Sad to hear the re-tile only lasted 5 years for you, did the tiler provide some sort of warranty or compensation for the failed waterproof ?

As it's been five years since this post, the new system may well need redoing.

However abcdiamond hasn't been active on the forum since 2008.

 

[RedApple]

hello Geoffw, yes u're right, this is an old thread afterall

Been digging up posts on this forum about the topic as i've also got a leaking tiled shower as well I've noticed that you also started a thread on a similar issue back in 2003. Did you eventually rip out the tiles, redo the waterproofing then retile on top ? Did this method last over the past 10 years for you ?

As it's been five years since this post, the new system may well need redoing.

However abcdiamond hasn't been active on the forum since 2008.

 

[geoffw]

hello Geoffw, yes u're right, this is an old thread afterall

Been digging up posts on this forum about the topic as i've also got a leaking tiled shower as well I've noticed that you also started a thread on a similar issue back in 2003. Did you eventually rip out the tiles, redo the waterproofing then retile on top ? Did this method last over the past 10 years for you ?

I'd almost forgotten about that. I've recently had two showers done in a different property. I haven't had any reports back about problems in the original property, but it's going to be worthwhile to get the PM to check next visit.

 

[RedApple]

that's great, at least the job lasted 10 years 4 you, quite a while

so scared of re-tiling only to have the same issue pops up again a few short years later.

I'd almost forgotten about that. I've recently had two showers done in a different property. I haven't had any reports back about problems in the original property, but it's going to be worthwhile to get the PM to check next visit.

 

[RedApple]

Hi Jacque,

After the re-tile job, has the leak stopped until now for you ? If so would you mind sharing the name of the tiler who did the shower for you ? I'm having a similar shower leaking issue (for IP in Sydney) and would really appreciate the good reccomendation if you don't mind sharing.

Many thanks

I had a megaseal put in by some guy who also guaranteed his work for 12 yrs. Not 12 mths later, the leaking began again into my BIR (backs onto bathroom wall) and he came back and told me that it wasn't his fault, as the wall had movement in it

So much for guarantees. Read the fine print!

Anway, ended up having to remove all tiles and re-do. When we took them off, discovered that their was a significant crack in the actual wall sheeting. The timberwork behind was saturated and also had to be replaced. Big job, but necessary to prevent further damage. I never should have wasted my $300 on the megaseal thing. Waste of time and money. The bathroom tiler also informed me that most of them don't regrout properly (he was right in my case, as the guy just went over the old grout with a thin layer of new stuff to make it look good) and you can buy the seal they use very cheaply from Bunnings.
Ah well, you live and learn

 

[rockDr]

RedApple,

How old is the shower? And what is it constructed with? For eg glass, fibreglass, lamiplex etc

We recently bought our second IP and knew the shower needed 'resealing' at a minimum.

Once we took possession of the property I had a friend come and check it out who does bathroom renovations for a living.

The shower was a lamiplex style walls and tiled in. We could have resealed but that would lead to the problem potentially occurring again in the future.

Basically the lamiplex showers never ever actually seal properly. My friend said whoever invented those things must have been a tiler, as it keeps a lot of people in work replacing these old style showers!

If it is a glass shower with tiled floor and there have been several attempts to seal the shower, all the old sealant needs to come out and be redone. It also depends if the grout needs to be regrouted.

 

[RedApple]

Hi rockDr,

the previous owner had the whole bathroom was renovated just 2 years ago as it was leaking back then.

the shower floor and walls are tiled with 2 framed shower screens.

here's the photo of the shower, its actually square but sale agent stretched the photo to make it appear rectangular hence larger.

does it look like a lamiplex to you ?

RedApple,

How old is the shower? And what is it constructed with? For eg glass, fibreglass, lamiplex etc

We recently bought our second IP and knew the shower needed 'resealing' at a minimum.

Once we took possession of the property I had a friend come and check it out who does bathroom renovations for a living.

The shower was a lamiplex style walls and tiled in. We could have resealed but that would lead to the problem potentially occurring again in the future.

Basically the lamiplex showers never ever actually seal properly. My friend said whoever invented those things must have been a tiler, as it keeps a lot of people in work replacing these old style showers!

If it is a glass shower with tiled floor and there have been several attempts to seal the shower, all the old sealant needs to come out and be redone. It also depends if the grout needs to be regrouted.

 

[Brenda Irwin]

Its the water hitting the floor and bouncing back out the gap between the glass door and the lip of the entry?
Go to bunnings and buy a peel and stick weather strip. Don't worry if its doesn't say water proof, with the glues they use on them they stay a long time stuck.
Put it on the inside of the glass door at the bottom, leaving just enough space for the door to swing open.