Testing A Shower Pan For Leaks

Before you hire a Tennessee plumber to repair your leaking shower pan, why not test it to be sure! It doesn't take much time or effort, but you must do it on a day when you will be home all day. See warning below! Here are the materials you will need;
a) a large bucket
b) duct tape
c) tape measure
d) flashlight

A plumber would use a 2" inflatable test ball for this test, but I don't recommend it for the homeowner since you are probably only going to test once or twice in your lifetime anyway. Duct tape will do the job cheaply and effectively.

WARNING: Do this shower pan test ONLY on a day when you can be there for the entire duration of the test. Otherwise, you risk a discharge of water that could ruin adjacent flooring etc. Stop the test as soon as you see water outside of your shower!

Make sure your shower floor is dry around the drain and place duct tape over the drain. Much larger than the diameter of the drain, about the size of a paper plate. Press it down firmly to make it as watertight as possible. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT use water from your shower faucet for this test. Use water from an adjacent bathtub, a kitchen sink, or another bathroom. We want to exclude the possibility that your shower faucets are the problem or cracks in the shower walls.

Once you have a bucket of water(1/2 to 2/3rds full is best), gently pour it into the bottom of your shower floor until the floor is covered to a water depth of no more than 1 inch. That's right! I said one inch, and that wasn't a misprint. Many people will tell you to fill the water up 1 inch below the top of the curb and this is wrong. The shower pan doesn't come up that high in 99% of the showers. The real height of the pan on the top of the curb is 4.5 inches. That is measured from the floor outside the shower next to the curb up the outside of the curb tile. A standard curb is made from three 2" x 4" studs(3 x 1.5" = 4.5"). The pan is laid over the studs, then a layer of concrete is floated on top of it. So, a finished curb maybe 6- 7 inches tall but the pan height is much lower and you must not fill the water over that level. One inch of water will do fine for this test. Measure the height of the water near the curb where you can easily read it.

What you are going to look for is a discharge of water around the perimeter of your shower. If you are on a pier & beam foundation, you will need to look for the discharge of water under the shower area. Find your access door that leads under your house for those without a basement). Using your flashlight, looks for signs of water dripping under your shower. On a slab foundation the water will spread in the path of least resistance. If you have ceramic tile next to your shower curb, the water may go around to an adjacent closet or room. You may need to pull back any carpet that's next to your shower and look under it for leaks. So, look at all sections of floor next to shower for water leaks.

You will need to test your shower pan for at least 8 hours. Some leaks like nail holes take a long time to show up on a test. Your job is to check for leaks around your shower every now and then. If the water level goes down, and it may, then add more water to the shower floor until you are back to the original water test level of 1 inch.

If you see a water discharge or leak), then pull the duct tape off of the drain. The test is over! Your shower pan is positively leaking! The leak may be in the bottom of the pan, or at the seal between the pan and drain. Either way the pan must be replaced in my opinion.

If you don't see a water leak from this test, it doesn't mean your shower pan isn't leaking. This test ONLY tests the shower pan in the bottom of your shower. It doesn't test your shower pan where it covers your shower curb or seat. It is very common for a shower pan to leak in these areas, especially where the curb meets the wall.

Until a few years ago, curbs were constructed without pan corners at each end. If your shower curb doesn't have pan corners, you will see water damage or water leaks at both ends of the curb. Sheetrock may be wet or stained. Paint on base moulding will turn moldy or discolored. Linoleum floor next to your shower may be discolored near the ends of the shower curb and no where else! So look for these common signs.

The shower pan could be leaking on your shower seat if the pan was installed improperly and your shower pan test proved negative. It may be possible to tear out this area only to repair the leak. In some cases, you may need to replace the whole shower pan.

Some other possibilities as the cause for a shower leak other than your shower pan is your shower door or door system. Shower doors aren't submarine doors. They don't positively keep water from escaping the shower. Check the door seal at the bottom of the door for leaks. Have someone take a shower and direct the water over to your door to see if it is containing the water. Look also underneath your shower door to see if there is an open door track( on a sliding door system) or a closed track. Either one should be caulked at the ends of the track so water doesn't discharge out the ends of the track. Both of these are fairly common sources of shower leaks.

Another possibility for a shower leak is your shower faucet. The faucet could be leaking behind the wall at either a pipe connection or solder joint. This can easily be tested by removing the shower head on the shower neck and screwing on a galvanized 1/2" pipe cap sealed with teflon tape or pipe joint compound. Once this is in place, no water can come out of the shower neck obviously. This puts water pressure on the faucet connections and joints behind the wall. Look for a leak on the floor adjacent to the shower faucet wall. Do the test for at least 30 minutes.

Water can also leak behind your shower faucet handle escutcheons where they meet the wall. Water can hit your body and deflect back against your faucet wall, thus dripping behind the metal handle plate covers. Why not just seal around these covers with clear silicon to remove this possibility of a leak. The out of pocket cost for this repair is hardly anything, so do it!

Another quite common cause of shower stall leaks are cracks in the major corners of your shower, primarily the vertical corners. Caulk these corners with a high grade silicon. I always start the caulk line at the top of the corner and gun the silicon out at a slow but even line, approximately 3/16"-1/4" wide, then stop the caulk halfway. I then move the caulk gun tip to the bottom of the corner and caulk up to the halfway point where I left off. To assure a great seal that also looks nice, I press my middle finger tip against the caulk at an angle of approximately 30 degrees using the same method I used when I gunned the caulk. Top to middle, then bottom to middle. Any mistakes can be corrected with denatured alcohol and a handful of cheesecloth.

Cracks in the corners of shower stalls can allow water to flow through and drip down the backside of your shower pan, so, caulk all major shower corners.

A shower leak of any kind is a serious problem. It's not something you want to put off. Water leaks can cause mildew, wood rot and attract insects like termites. So, the sooner you address the problem the cheaper will be your solution.

Fiberglass shower pan: Some showers are constructed with fiber- glass one-piece floors. These act as both your floor and your shower pan. This type of pan can develope cracks in them over time. Some of which you can see. Test this shower pan exactly the same way with duct tape covering the shower drain and look for a water discharge somewhere around the perimeter of the floor.

Since there are no weep holes on this type of pan you can also measure the height of the water inside the shower pan and look for any changes in depth during the test.

This is a very simple test that almost anyone can do and it will save you some money. Good luck!

If you are looking for a plumber in Tennessee, then please call us today at 1-888-884-6299 or complete our online service request form.