Leak Help

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sharonfrank

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I have a tub / shower combo installed aobut 5-6 yrs ago. Just this Sunday a leak was discovered on the ceiling below.

I had a plumber come today and he charged me 100.00 just to tell me to silicone the faucet area that water got in there. Otherwise he could start cutting into walls to find the leak. He did no diagnostics. After several hours tonight of diagnostics I concluded that it is the drain that is leaking- (I think). All fixtures are dry behind them, I checked. It only leakes - which I can here dripping from the celing below- when the water is in the tub and the drain is stopped.

I am pretty sure it's the drain plug ? I removed the metal cover just for detail and i siliconed around it however after even that I put in an inch of water or so, flicked the switch for the drain and went down stairs and started to hear the slow drip. one drop every 5 seconds or so.

My questions are should i resilicone - maybe it didn't work because i only let it dry an hour. i know i know. Or should i buy the dumbell wrench and buy a new drain and remove and replace. Your help would be deeply appreciated as well as my daughters college fund since i was told today the next step would be to start cutting into walls to find the leak or 800.00 to replace the drain.

- thank you

ps - it is an Aquaglass one pice shower tub combo.
 

Jimbo

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If the drain shoe is leaking, then pretty much no amount of silicone on top is going to fix that. The drain seal is made by a rubber gasket which is between the shoe and the bottom of the tub. That gasket can be replaced from topside by removing the drain flange. Given the leakage you have had, you may need to cut out some damaged ceiling down below anywhere, which would give you an opportunity to inspect. But again, if necessary, the gasket can be replaced with access only from the top.
 

Cass

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If you inspected the valve area and there is no leak there and it is not the overflow leaking then the only thing left is the shoe. Like jimbo said the silicone will not stop the leak. If you have access to the rear of the tub most times the ceiling below will not have to be cut to do the replacement. It is a fairly straight forward job. 2 people will make the job easier.
 
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sharonfrank

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regarding leak

THank you for your input - i do not have access to the tub beloe, so the only option would be to cut the celing below which is not the end of the world. THe shoe- could some one explain what that is and are there any pics out there?

THanks
 

Jimbo

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By shoe I am referring to an elbow on the underside of the tub. Your topside drain flange and stopper screw into this shoe. A pipe leads from the elbow to the overflow tee and system drain piping. The shoe is sealed by a gasket between it and the underside of the tub. Putty or silicone under the topside flange is simply cosmetic and will not stop a leak.
 

Coach606

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Tough one...

I had a similar problem not long ago. My plumbing is 80 year old cast iron. The drain in the tub was original. The overflow always leaked. I unscrewed it to rout out a clog one time and the bolts sheared off.

I think the hard part for you is gaining access and then possibly removing the old tub drain with the gasket. If it's old, it may need to be sawed off. I left that to a pro. I had access from below and it cost me about $500 to have a guy do it. But it was worth it, with sludge squirting in his eye while he sawed. Guy did a great job and the new drain is hardcore. No thin flanges, all solid brass.

If you have a wall behind the tub (in both my houses the back wall was a closet) you might be better off accessing it from there. Then you can cover it with an access panel or unfinished drywall in case you need to get to it again.

Good luck. Sounds like you may have to bite the bullet and get a pro. But don't be afraid to saw a little drywall to get access. It can always be repaired later. Get a drywall saw, plan what you will do and go to it.

Good luck.
 
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