Movement in bath problem

[boongywoongy]

Guys, I need some advice here.

I've spent close to £1000 pound on two 'plumbing' companies to fix a problem whereby the bath to wall silicone seal lets water down the side of the bath causing water leakage into the flat below. The problem lies with the fact that when the bath is stepped in for a shower, the bath flexes and hence the movement overtime just erodes the silicon seal until water is eventually able to seep through the tiniest of gaps.

Failed solutiont attempted so far:

1. The last plumber built a wooden frame to support the bath.
2. Some overlapping bath to wall seal mechanism which allows for movement bought from B&Q.

Both the above solutions didn't work and water is coming down again. Any suggestions on what else to try? Should I just have a new bath installed instead or is there some other solution?

Thanks.

 

[unguided1]

is it the bath flexing or is it the floor flexing, how old is you house when the bath was first installed was it chopped into the wall

 

[stevetheplumber]

is it the bath flexing or is it the floor flexing, how old is you house when the bath was first installed was it chopped into the wall

most baths are no longer cut into the wall plastic baths especially
i find the best way to stop movement is to put a batten under the rim and some three by 2s under the feet

 

[unguided1]

hi steve I was just trying to ascertain how the bath was installed, and also what type of property.
regards
Mike

 

[newbie1]

have to say i cut my plastic one into the wall to be on safe side then it cant leak with a good silicon seal..left a gap between where i made good with cement/plaster and the bath and then siliconed inbetween
sounds like ur bath is only butted up to the wall and then siliconed

 

[w1nxn]

close to £1000 to seal round bath??? wow!!!

fill bath half full with water then seal to give bath lowest point. once silicone has set, no problems.

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

£1000 to seal a bath!!!!

I wonder if its square to the wall, and not being square, leaves gaps where there is no support for the silicon and it falls through?

I know many acrylic baths don't seem to seal very well at all. Perhaps a neutral cure, low modulus silicon may work better?

But even then, if the wall tiles only lap the bath edge by a small amount I doubt it would last for long. I know they once sold bath edge lap that went under the first course of tiles and lapped over the bath edge by about 3/4" (22mm) for that purpose. But people seemed to complain because it got dirty and started to smell.

I tend to use a mixed approach and put battens along the wall, as well as joist ends and 3" x 4" prop's under the bath sometimes even cutting it into the wall to give more depth of lap. Depends how bad it moves.

The problem of course is not so much stopping plastic baths from moving, they will do that anyway. Its controlling their movement in a controlled way.

 

[PLUMB111]

Was bath siliconed prior to any tile`s being fitted.
We fill bath with water make a good mastic seal around bath, let this go off.
Then tile down on to bath, fill bath again and mastic joint between tiles & bath.
Never had any problems doing it like this.
If you have wooden floor make sure you have 4x2 under legs.

Peter

 

[boongywoongy]

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

I do recall that when I attempted to the seal around the bath many years ago (before I called in the plumbers) that there is quite a large gap between the bath and the wall which made putting the sealant on quite troublesome (gap was as over 1cm at some places).

The message that I'm hearing on here is to somehow reduce the gap by make the bath flush or with some battens?

Can anyone recommend me a decent tradesman to fix this once and for all?

 

[andrew.rogerson]

Where do you live?

 

[REDSAW]

you could also be over-looking that water is going through the grout to the back of the tiles and down behind the plaster. had this before and very hard to spot.
worth concidering.
for £500 i would guarantee it not to leak for years if i do it....

 

[dick999]

Fill the gaps as much with silicone then get a bath tape and seal it round the whole bath, I know bath tapes looks ugly, but considering there are 1cm gaps at some places it would be a ideal solution.

 

[boongywoongy]

The problem is at a flat in east London.

 

[newbie1]

here is the bad news
remove bath channel wall refit seal and tile and it wont leak
whoever fitted it must be a numpty and the 2 herberts since dont sound a lot better
without looking based on 2 days max to get it right 400.00 plus any bits and pieces prob is it allways costs more to put right someone elses bodge and a lot of people dont want to mess around with someone elses cock up

 

[stevetheplumber]

The problem is at a flat in east London.

im in east london if you want a quote

 

[mark6266]

Two lengths of 2x2 under the four legs , screw down timber , then screw down bath legs , make sure bath is level , raise bath about 1" above the old bath seal , fill bath to the brim , apply HIGH MOD silicone . now go to a plastics company and buy some plastic trim and glue (this works well ) . fix said trim to bottom of bath panel . after silicone gone off empty bath .job done 3/4 of a day apx. Think I might move to London .