Shower pan leak

[Bill1374]

I am afraid I have a leak below the shower pan in my 3400rl. I do get some water from the bottom of the door but the floor alongside the shower gets wet right in the hall at the laundry opening. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to access the area under the shower. My guess right now is that the pan fitting is leaking.

Bill

 

[cookie]

Bill, the way I read you your problem, it sounds like the caulk on the inside is leaking. Have you checked to see if it is leaking where the aluminum frame meets the shower enclosure? I see that you have a 2006 model and if you have not recaulked the enclosure as of yet, it may not be a bad idea to get it done now.
If you need to access the bottom of the shower, you will need to remove the bulkhead in the basement and you will be able to get at the drain plumbing, but that's about all you will see.
Let us know wht you find.

Peace
Dave

 

[ralphpam]

We recently had a shower leak that we also thought was coming from under the shower pan. In our case it seemed like it was coming out of the wall adjacent to the shower and was also following the water lines and leaking in the basement. It took the tech some time to pinpoint the causes - 1. Where the glass shower enclosure meets the side wall of the shower, not the bottom- needed caulked. 2. The access panel in the shower had never been caulked. 3. The top of the shower where the shower meets the wall had also never been caulked (we are tall and sometimes water would hit the wall). Once those were caulked no more flooded bath and basement! There is virtually no access to the shower in the basement of ours. I could see that the drain pipe was dry and that the water was coming down the water lines and flooding the furnace - that is it!

I would try the side panels first, especially the one right above your water puddle! Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

[slmayor]

Also check the top of the faucet fittings, where the shoer hose comes out. I found ours was leaking there and coming out at the side of the shopwer after washing off some spilled shampoo. Caulked the top of the faucet panel and the access panel as well. No more leak.

 

[JohnDar]

From the description, it does sound like the surround is leaking, not the pan fitting. Even if you did caulk it before, check it again to be sure it's still sealed. Next time your floor is wet, as you describe, run your fingers or a paper towel on the outside surface of the shower pan, towards the laundry chute, but not on the floor. If it comes back wet, you've found your leak.

The space behind the shower walls in the corner is open to the basement, so any water leaking back there will end up in the basement, not on the bedroom floor. Same for the shower drain.

 

[Bill1374]

I have a reasonably fresh bead of silicone on the surround at the pan but I'll recheck it today. I had set a towel against the pan and the upper part of the towel was dry while the part against the floor was wet, but only if you waited several minutes after the shower. Thats what made me think under the pan. I'll have to empty a buch of stuff and get behind the bulkhead later. Even then, I'm not sure I can get to the shower pan.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[branson4020]

When I had these same symptoms - carpet in hall getting wet, water coming ount onto linoleum from under shower pan, it was caused by leaking connections at the shower valve behind the back wall of the shower. Easy to remove access panel and tighten.

 

[JohnDar]

I have a reasonably fresh bead of silicone on the surround at the pan but I'll recheck it today. I had set a towel against the pan and the upper part of the towel was dry while the part against the floor was wet, but only if you waited several minutes after the shower. Thats what made me think under the pan. I'll have to empty a buch of stuff and get behind the bulkhead later. Even then, I'm not sure I can get to the shower pan.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill, if you only applied a bead around the base area, you may have missed the leak. When I did mine, I ran it from the top of the shower walls all the way around to the other side. The other thing we do after taking a shower is to use a silicone squeegee on the glass and walls to get rid of the excess water so it doesn't collect on the top of the pan and find a way to weep out later.

When I was poking around in my basement last summer, once I got the wall out of the way, the shower drain was easily accessible. That's another fitting that needs to be checked for tightness every now and then. Especially if you move your rig a lot.

 

[BozRazor]

I had the same problem with my Razor, caulked the entire shower, if there was a seam it got caulked...still leaked. Finally found a pin hole next to a screw on the lower area of entry way that was letting the water through. The water was coming out from under the shower so like you I thought it was the drain. Water leaks are a real pain, especially when you tryin to keep it where you don't want it!

 

[sdgirl]

All, I am having a similar problem with my 2008 BC 3300RL. Thanks soo much for your posts. I will have DH check the areas mentioned. I have a feeling it's the caulking but will have to check the other areas mentioned..... Especially the shower drain. Found a similar issue with one of the kitchen sinks.

 

[LookN4Ward]

Agree that you should recaulk the shower enclosure inside and outside. I also caulked where the shower panels meet the shower base. Where I found the problem was the screws that hold the shower enclosure to the shower stall and base. I removed each screw from the frame, filled each hole with caulk and replaced the screw. I capped each screw head with caulk. I've only had one unexplainable water on the floor incident since. we used the shower daily for the last 2.5 months.