Do It Yourself Methods to Repair a Leaky Shower

A Leaky shower continuously wastes a large amount of water and makes the bathroom extremely damp making the task of maintaining the bathroom floor in a clean and dry condition challenging. There are many reasons which cause shower waterproofing products such as leaky faucet, cracked or fatigued movement joints, cracked or missing grout, leaking pipes and cracked tiles.

Bathroom Waterproofing

Simple Methods to Fix a Leaky Faucet

The first step in repairing a leaky faucet is to get all the essential plumbing tools required for the job such as a set of screwdrivers, pocket knife, adjustable wrench, couple of pliers, cartridge, washers, O-rings and sealant. After that, the water supply to the shower needs to be cut off. In the event of inability to locate the knob of that particular pipe, the main water supply can also be cut off.

Now you need to remove the shower faucet and allow the water to drain from the shower head. The next step is to remove the handle of the faucet. This is done by eliminating both the screws by using an adjustable wrench. Faucet handles can either have concealed or exposed fastener s. A duct tape is used to cover the tip of the wrench to prevent scratch marks on the faucet handle. The faucet handle should be wiped with a dry cloth to remove any dirt and grime. Now examine the handle thoroughly and look for anomalies. The most common causes of a leaky shower faucet are loose valves and worn out O-rings, rubber washers, threading, etc.  You need to determine the exact cause and then fix it. For example, if loose valve is the reason then it must be tightened using the pliers followed by reattachment of the faucet. Test the faucet after reattachment.

If leakage continues even after tightening the valves, you need to check the rubber washer. If the rubber washer appears worn out, you must replace it with a new one. The new washer must be of the same thickness and size as the original one. In case, the leakage is being caused by a worn out threading; it needs to be replaced with a new one. Care should be taken to wrap the original plumbing thread around the stem tightly to prevent it from getting entangled with the inner structures of the shower. If the problem of leakage persists, then you need to examine the O-ring.

Bathroom Waterproofing

Sealant must be applied on the valve’s threads before attaching them back to their place. Faucet handle’s threads must be treated with grease or petroleum jelly before screwing them in. After this, you need to wait for about an hour before starting the shower. In case the leakage persists, contact a professional plumber.

Resolving Other Causes of Leaky Shower

Movement joints often get fatigued or cracked leading to leaky shower. Movement joins refers to the joins present at the corners between walls and the walls and floor. The joins are made of silicone strip in many showers to enable their movement. Grout is also used in many showers. The silicone joins may crack with age. However, the propensity to crack is more in grout joints. The movement joints are repaired by removing the grout or silicone followed by cleaning, drying and anti-mold treatment of the area. After that, a new silicone strip or grout is installed. If the grout shows minor cracks, it should be resealed. The sealer needs to be applied exactly along the grout lines.

Cracked tiles also cause bathroom waterproofing because a pathway for water is created behind them. To replace the cracked tiles, first of all, the surrounding grout must be removed followed by removing the cracked tiles and fixing the new ones using adhesive. Finally, the surrounding grout is then replaced and sealed.