Mysterious Shower Leak

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cbw

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I live in a two-story townhouse, built about 1996. The fiberglass tub/shower combo in the master bath is leaking onto the ceiling below (my kitchen). The plumbers have made various trips out, and haven't found a problem with the pipes. They cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling to see where the leak was coming from. If you're standing in the kitchen looking up at the leak, the water is coming from above the subfloor. It's getting out through a hole in the plywood that is cut for a vent.

The baseboard in the bathroom shows some signs of water damage. My landlord is convinced it's just the sliding shower doors are letting water out and that water is leaking down through the baseboards and then through the ceiling. I put a shower curtain inside the silding glass doors to keep the water from hitting the doors and it's still leaking. Any other suggestions of what it could be?
2884482889_555f5dbc3c.jpg

I added this picture...the leak is coming from above the vent hole in the plywood.
 
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Jimbo

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This will need careful observation to find the leak.


Now,as for water on the floor.....I always like to completly caulk the edge of the tub at the wall edge, and all the way across the front apron. I also like to completely caulk the baseboard-to-floor seam, for just the reason, that water can go under.


The most common leakage from a tub is from the gasket on the back side of the overflow plate. Next most common would be the gasket under the tub on the drain shoe.
 

cbw

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Update

This morning I placed a shower curtain inside the shower doors to block the water from hitting the doors. I took my shower as usual, and the sliding door track remained dry, as did the floor. But the leak was still there, dripping down into the ceiling.

This little experiment leads me to believe that the leak actually has nothing to do with the shower doors. Any hints as to what it could be from?

The landlord had his handyman check out all the valves and gaskets and he said that everything is connected properly. Where do I go from here?
 
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I live in a two-story townhouse, built about 1996. The fiberglass tub/shower combo in the master bath is leaking onto the ceiling below (my kitchen). The plumbers have made various trips out, and haven't found a problem with the pipes. They cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling to see where the leak was coming from. If you're standing in the kitchen looking up at the leak, the water is coming from above the subfloor. It's getting out through a hole in the plywood that is cut for a vent.

The baseboard in the bathroom shows some signs of water damage. My landlord is convinced it's just the sliding shower doors are letting water out and that water is leaking down through the baseboards and then through the ceiling. I put a shower curtain inside the silding glass doors to keep the water from hitting the doors and it's still leaking. Any other suggestions of what it could be?
2884482889_555f5dbc3c.jpg

I added this picture...the leak is coming from above the vent hole in the plywood.

CBW,
If that picture is showing a vent going up through a wall cavity, and the drain in the tub doesn't show any sign of leaking, then it's probably coming from the supply somewhere in the shower control or the shower head nipple.

HE
 

hj

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leak

Neither your picture nor your description gives a good idea of where the leak is occurring. Only an on site inspection and careful evaluation of the leak can give a good diagnosis and possible repair. It can be time consuming because you have to concentrate on one area at a time, until the leak appears, BUT if the leak develops slowly, you may be testing a different area when it does show up.
 
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