Water dumping on floor - Uneven Tub?

I have a horrible old house 80 years old that is a rental. The downstairs tenants were complaining of water coming from the ceiling in bedroom. I looked upstairs and couldn't find leak. After investigating for about 3 weeks and tearing out the wall, replacting the handles, etc, I realized what the problem is. When the shower water hits the walls, it is flowing along the top sides of the bathtub and pouring onto the floor on either side of the bathtub edge, where the shower curtain goes into the bathtub.

I can't understand why. It doesn't LOOK crooked. Doesn't the law of gravity say it should flow down into the tub? The shower pressure doesn't seem too high. There is a tub in the downstairs unit too that is not in use, but it seems to have the same problem.

What can I do about the tub? Also, why does every drop of water that falls on the floor leak thru? It is a tile floor with no obvious cracks in the grout. Can I seal it somehow?
Thanks for any advice,

Heather

Buy a level if you don't have one and check the tub. the sides should be level left to right and in to out. Probably isn't, and that is why water is leaking out. Water pooling on the floor, even tile, will leak through (mostly through the grout). ANy cracks make the problem worse. You probably have some cracks in the walls or old leaking caulk at the tile/tub junction. Per the tile council, changes in plane (i.e., corners) and changes in materials (tub to tile) transition should be caulked. Water could be leaking through there, and leaking through the floor, ratherthan that the is outside on the floor visible. If this has been going on for awhile, you could have some structural problems, too. My unprofessional opinion.

Make a dam by beading 100% silicone caulk from the tile to the inner tub. It should divert the water. Doesn't look pretty but works for me.

Well, building a dam might work -- but you're right -- it will look ugly!!

anybody have any suggestions for the floor? is there some way to seal the grout or something?

Tub

Heather, if the tub is out of level (tipping down into the room) the water will flow into the room. You can buy a triangular plastic dam that may divert most of this water back into the tub. HD or Lowes will have these. It's about 8" on the horizontal that fastens to the tub and 8" on the vertical that fastens to the wall. They come with double sided tape to install. If you install this and then caulk the edges with a good silicon caulk, you should be OK. This will probably look better than a silicon dam and while not the optimal solution, might be OK for a 'horrible 80 yr old rental' .

Also, like Jim said, you need to put a good bead of silicone between the floor and tub and between the wall and tub.

You should also instruct the users of the shower to tuck the curtain in carefully before taking a shower.

triangualr plastic dams

get those triangles like the last guy said to do..

silicone them in and buy the person a better shower curtain,,,,,


it is rental property and that could be half the problem

they just dont care to close the curtain...

you can silicone the tile too....but it probably wont help
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another thiing that might be in your future,
if you keep this rental for a long time,
someday you might have to consider just living with the leak...

One rental I had , we eventually had to install aa drop ceiling in the downstairs bathroom to hide the ceiling above that was totally damaged.
and leaking every so often .....

every year or so, we had to change out the white panels with new ones...
usually we only had to change out one or two that got wet...

it was easier to just drop the ceiling than constantly hearing complaints and having to repair the drywall.

you wont win.

triangualr plastic dams

get those triangles like the last guy said to do..

silicone them in and buy the person a better shower curtain,,,,,

OR INSTALL A SHOWER DOOR ON THE UPSTAIRS TUB
and silicone the hell out of the bottom track.


it is rental property and that could be half the problem

they just dont care to close the curtain...so put in a DOOR.

you can silicone the tile too....but it probably wont help
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another thiing that might be in your future,
especially if you keep this rental for a long time,
someday you might have to consider just living with the leak...

One rental I had , we eventually had to install a drop ceiling in the downstairs bathroom to hide the ceiling above that was totally damaged.
and leaking every so often .

like ....when some dumb ass renter either let the toilet overflow or thier kids splashed too much in the tub.



So every year or so, we had to change out the white panels with new ones... and usually we only had to change out one or two that got wet...

it was easier to just drop the ceiling than constantly hearing complaints and having to repair the drywall. Those panels are very cheap and easy to change too.

you wont win with renters or leaks like this, so its best to just find a compromise

Thanks for the advice

Thanks for the advice. I will try the triangle corners.

I think you're right about the tenants not closing the shower curtain. I bought them a new shower curtain and rod, but I just can't see how that much water could dump on the floor with the curtain closed. I couldn't replicate the problem myself with the shower curtain closed.

I thought about installing a door, but if they won't close the curtain, why would they close the door?

I think I'm going to find new tenants for that unit.

Thanks,

Heather