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 Leaking Shower
Author: Russianrat (MD)

Our condo is on the first floor of our building, partially on slab and partially over an area with storage closets and a carport. The master bedroom/bath area is on the slab and the bathroom has a travertine tiled shower. A while ago, when the shower was being used, and I was leaving, I noted that water was actively dripping/running from the ceiling of the carport area, 8-10 or more feet from the shower. I cut a hole in the ceiling drywall and looked in, but could only see that water was running from the direction of the shower's location.

We are trying to get the condo ready to sell, and want to repair the shower. The couple of contractors that I have talked to want to tear everything out and start from scratch, but this is not an option that we can afford. I realized that without seeing things it is hard to diagnose, but I am planning to have the line camera'ed to make sure there is nothing obvious, but can anyone advise if it would make sense to re-do the drain and shower pan if nothing obvious is found with the camera? Can anyone make any recommendations on what else to check or what to do?

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: m & m (MD)

If you have positively verified that the shower is the fixture that is leaking, then you basically have three areas of possibility: the faucet and associated plumbing behind the tile wall, the shower drain and panning material, or the tile wall itself (least likely). The faucet is easiest to check; have you checked it?

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: North Carolina Plumber (NC)

Plug the drain and fill the base with water. That will confirm whether the pan will need to be removed or not.

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: Russianrat (MD)

Wouldn't the faucet continue to leak even if the shower is turned off? There is no access to the back of the faucet/water line. I was thinking about pouring a couple of buckets down the drain to check that side. THoughts?

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: North Carolina Plumber (NC)

OK, to check the faucet and piping remove the shower head, cap the arm and turn the faucet on. That will tell you if that section is leaking.
Plug the drain, fill the pan with water and check for leaks, that will tell you if that part is leaking.
Take a bottle of water and saturate the area around the faucet plate then check for water underneath.

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: hj (AZ)

You do NOT know if it is a drain, and even if it were a camera INSIDE the pipe would likely NOT show anything. Using the camera inside the floor under the shower would be more sensible.

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 Re: Leaking Shower
Author: srloren (CA)

Maybe an easy way to check the valve is to get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it up and not allow any water to enter the drain. Then check if the water is leaking. You may have to do this two or three times pouring the water down the the toilet drain each time. It may take some time for the water to start leaking, so take your time and see if it is the valve. Shower pans can be problematic due the the way that the drain is sealed to the shower pan drain hole. Some pan drains are metal and some are Plastic. Google shower drain rubber seals. When you install these seals you must have smooth pipe to seal against. (Sometimes the plumber gets wild with the ABS glue and you get a run down the pipe. This can make it difficult to seal.) Good luck

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