The ballad of old house - bathroom leak, help!

I have a never ending fix for this Rutherford house it seems.
Floor sander came and said there are leak from bathroom shower that damage the floorboard, it will cost additional $350 to fix the board.

Now, I also need to fix this leak. Which trades can do this properly? :(

floor (1).jpg

floor (2).jpg

Feeling so down after a $2.8K gutter replacement and $2.7K of floor sanding, plus cleaning fees of $2K (as bond now held until tribunal).
 
Yep, plumber first. Fingers crossed it is a leaking join or something like that as opposed to a membrane failure.
Is it still leaking, or is it old damage?
 
Hi En710,

It might be a waterproofing issue from the shower?

You'll probably need a plumber to assess first then advise as Marg has suggested.


With regards to feeling down etc I know the feeling...I once had to repair something 3 times, and because of my lack of knowledge it costed me a lot!. 15k to be exact.... I felt pretty down..

Then I reminded myself why most of us do this..the benefits waaaaay outweigh the 'sorry for myself' feelings we have at times. Usually when I remember WHY im doing all this, the negative feelings disappear quite fast. :)

Being forced to work till 70 years of age, not because you want to, but have to, is a much harsher, more depressing reality ;)

chin up:)

Leo
 
Hi En710,

It might be a waterproofing issue from the shower?

You'll probably need a plumber to assess first then advise as Marg has suggested.


With regards to feeling down etc I know the feeling...I once had to repair something 3 times, and because of my lack of knowledge it costed me a lot!. 15k to be exact.... I felt pretty down..

Then I reminded myself why most of us do this..the benefits waaaaay outweigh the 'sorry for myself' feelings we have at times. Usually when I remember WHY im doing all this, the negative feelings disappear quite fast. :)

Being forced to work till 70 years of age, not because you want to, but have to, is a much harsher, more depressing reality ;)

chin up:)

Leo

I think it doesn't have a waterproof... a 1970 original bathroom! I wonder if it might be cheaper in the long run if I just do full reno on it :eek:
Oh dear, $15K? :(
 
I think it doesn't have a waterproof... a 1970 original bathroom!
I think you'll find that even in 1970, they did waterproof bathrooms and wet areas :)

I wonder if it might be cheaper in the long run if I just do full reno on it :eek: Oh dear, $15K? :(
$7-8K for a full bathroom reno if project managed by yourself, but how about you wait for the plumber's assessment before making this call.
 
I have a never ending fix for this Rutherford house it seems.
Floor sander came and said there are leak from bathroom shower that damage the floorboard, it will cost additional $350 to fix the board.

Now, I also need to fix this leak. Which trades can do this properly? :(

View attachment 13421

View attachment 13422

Feeling so down after a $2.8K gutter replacement and $2.7K of floor sanding, plus cleaning fees of $2K (as bond now held until tribunal).

I think you may well find ,,that the problem will be in the waste connections from the bath tub from the bottom waste drain that joins into the drains, and by looking at the water damage and over time these things happen, to fix the problem as there is no picture of the set-up and access then the bath-tub may have to come out and reset the connections..imho..I was a lic Plumber..
 
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I think you may well find ,,that the problem will be in the waste connections from the bath tub from the bottom waste drain that joins into the drains, and by looking at the water damage and over time these things happen, to fix the problem as there is no picture of the set-up and access then the bath-tum may have to come out and reset the connections..imho..I was a lic Plumber..
:eek: sounds very expensive
I'll contact the PM to find out if they have a plumber available soon to check it
 
I think you'll find that even in 1970, they did waterproof bathrooms and wet areas :)
ll.

Our house was built in 1978. Water proofing appeared to be limited to trays in the shower area. Ours rusted out and leaked after about 20 years at which time we renovated both bathrooms.
Marg
 
So these pic's are the results after lifting up the carpet for the first time ???
Does look like some rot to some of those boards so does tend to suggest long term leak.
Would be interested to see the end results of the sanding , Im not sure without
replacing the floorboards your going to get a good matching result even with new
boards the match will be hard to get unless you can use boards from another
part of the house.
Its also going to look a bit odd with the difference in the gaps , where the water has
damaged them they have opened up.

Might be best to recarpet again.

Might also be wise to get under the house and check out the bearers.
I have just finished bathroom reno and had to replace some floor bearers and lower
wall studs.
 
So these pic's are the results after lifting up the carpet for the first time ???
Yes

Does look like some rot to some of those boards so does tend to suggest long term leak.
Would be interested to see the end results of the sanding , Im not sure without replacing the floorboards your going to get a good matching result even with new
boards the match will be hard to get unless you can use boards from another
part of the house.
It'll be replaced with Cypress Pine Boards (the house is Alpine Pine Boards). Might look a bit different but will still be better that that damaged floor. Not going to recarpet I think. It's not a high-end property, so some differences here and there should be ok.


Might also be wise to get under the house and check out the bearers.
I have just finished bathroom reno and had to replace some floor bearers and lower
wall studs.
:( can plumber do this? I have got one to look for the leak tomorrow morning. I won't be able to travel up there for a while.
*sigh* might need to go up there again
 
Usually a plumber pressure tests the water pipes to see if it is leaking in the wall piping, if they are OK you could then get a quote to seal it from people who do that.

After they have been to seal it and given you a guarantee that it won't leak anymore then you fix the damage.

Personally, I prefer lino and carpet in rentals, a polished floor looks nice for the first tenant then all the "fair wear and tear" causes it to lose the shiny look for future tenants IMO.
 
Usually a plumber pressure tests the water pipes to see if it is leaking in the wall piping, if they are OK you could then get a quote to seal it from people who do that.

After they have been to seal it and given you a guarantee that it won't leak anymore then you fix the damage.

Personally, I prefer lino and carpet in rentals, a polished floor looks nice for the first tenant then all the "fair wear and tear" causes it to lose the shiny look for future tenants IMO.
Would prefer lino, though installation for the entire property will cost me about the same. The property had carpet before, soiled and smell like urine so for now, no more carpet.

2.7K for floor sanding!?!

How much area did you have to be sanded?

Well, it's including GST.
The sanding and polishing itself is about $2K - about 59sqm ($33 per sqm), then add carpet and masonite removal on top, 400 dollars, then remove damaged floorboards 2sqm $350
 
sounds awful. flooring choice can be challenging. tempting to consider back to dirt floors for some. just rake it over. or bare concrete just hose it down.

sometimes you wonder if we are housing people or farming animals.
 
sounds awful. flooring choice can be challenging. tempting to consider back to dirt floors for some. just rake it over. or bare concrete just hose it down.

sometimes you wonder if we are housing people or farming animals.

I'm from Asia, I like... Tiles! Easy to care for, just wipe and last forever :D
Too cold for oz winter though. Hubby who grow up with carpet said tiles are too sterile, he prefers carpet. I said carpet feel gross overtime. Haha
 
Our house was built in 1978. Water proofing appeared to be limited to trays in the shower area. Ours rusted out and leaked after about 20 years at which time we renovated both bathrooms.
Marg

Yep, that's all they did. they then depended on the grout between the wall tiles to shed the water into the tray.

I remember going to a reno course in the mid 80's and they were revolutionary and proposed sheets of builders plastic behind the vila board terminating in the tray to help shed any water that got through the grout.

I actually have a shower that I did this way:eek: Still going strong.:D

Hard to say what the cause of the leak is. My suspecion based on the amount of rot is a total failure of the grout and/or shower tray (in the case that there or was a shower behind that wall.) If there is a bath only then as willair indicated the connection to the bath drain.

It is unlikely to be the high pressure plumbing as that would mean lots of water still pouring out. However, it can be the low pressure connection which only leaks when you are having a shower or filling the bath. The low pressure connection are the pipes between the taps and the shower head and bath spout.

You can figure it out yourself but will be quicker to get a plumber to asses.

Cheers
 
got any pics of the actual shower? and set up...

i look at leaking showers quite a bit and may be able to point u in right direction.
 
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