Leaking Shower Help

[wannabeplumber]

Hi all, I have a leak in my shower and not sure why!

It is a tile shower....what happens is when finished with a shower the wall to the back of the shower (on either side of the door) toward the floor will be wet...the woodwork will be wet as well...I tried caulking some of the grout lines but that did not help. I am not sure if the shower is some how leaking or if it is the pipes in the...any input is so very much apprecaited...thanks

[Redwood]

It could be any number of things all of which could only be checked out on-site.

Is this a single handle valve that you have in the shower?

[wannabeplumber]

I was afraid of that...yes it is a single handle and shower head. It is a oversize shower...only gets wall wet when running if that helps....
I appreciate your thoughts on it.

[Redwood]

I would take off the handle and escutchion.
Take a look inside the hole while it is running, and see if any thing can be seen leaking from above or, at the valve itself...

Sure beats getting destructive right off the bat.

Do you know the brand and model of the valve?

A small mirror and a light may be helpfull to see more inside the wall.

[hj]

If you do not want to remove the valve's plate, try unscrewing the shower arm from the wall. If it falls out into your hand, that is where the leak was.

[wannabeplumber]

good idea!

im thinking too the more i talk is that it might be the actual base. because the water runs up the wall not down...if that makes sense?

[jadnashua]

Soldered connections, done right, don't typically come apart! But, on many valve assemblies, they give you the option of either screwing in the pipe or soldering it in, some use the threaded connection. This could be the source of a leak. No easy way to fix it except if it is the shower arm, since one end is free to disconnect it. All other connections usually require cutting, then putting back together.

If the shower arm is loose, that's a good leak potential site. If they didn't use tape or pipe dope, it will leak as it will if it isn't tight enough. It's hard to crack a metal fitting, but if there's any plastic in there, tightening it too much could cause it to fail.