Leaking Sterling shower

[BartMi]

Hi,


Last year I had a multi piece Walk-in Sterling shower and shower doors installed. Now i find these problems:

- mold in the seems where the shower walls are attached to the base; especially at the places where there's a small drain hole between base and wall;
- molded, soft and wet drywell on the lower outside corners (left and right) where the drywall and trim meet the shower unit.

Im quite desperate since its all new and costed me quite some money... I'm almost tempted to blame Sterling, but poor construction seems te be the problem.

Any input on this problem and how to fix it? I think i should cut away the drywall and fix that, but thats not curing the problem. I also think of caulking the seem between base and tub wall, preventing water build up - but it should be a witer tight connection... Some do's and dont's?

Thanks!
Bart

[Mikey]

I'd suspect poor installation, not poor construction. If the installer is reputable, he may fix it quite reasonably, but it sounds like a big job.

[master plumber mark]

you simply did not caulk the seams before you installed it

and you might have some large seams that need filling....

the water is finding its way into the framework.....


just use a knife or whatever and rheem out the seams of all mold and

nasty crap and then

get yourself some WHITE DAP caulking about 5 tubes is more than enough....--- its cheap...1.98 per tube



smear that dap into all the seams and press it into the seams with your index finger.....

do this a number of times untill you feel you have crammed enough DAP into the joints.....


wipe it off and beautify the joints and seams with a wet sponge when you are done.....


let it completely dry and then this should work for about 35 years...

[jadnashua]

You might want to use some bleach to kill the mold in those joints prior to rinsing them well, drying them out, then putting in the caulk.

[Verdeboy]

You can buy a mildew-proof caulk for a little extra money. It's also possible that water may be leaking out the shower doors. There might be a few seams there to caulk as well. You really can't use too much caulk, only too little.

Also, How is your ventilation? Poorly ventilated shower areas are prone to produce a lot of mildew.

[BartMi]

Thanks a lot for the fast replies. I feel a lot better knowing that I dont have to reset the whole unit. I will caulk it thouroghly, let is sit for a couple weeks and if everything seems well, cut out some drywall and redo that. An easy fix indeed.

Ventilation is okay, it has a good vent on a 1 hr timer and there's also a window. Dripping water is the only problem. It doesn't come through the doors, I watched that carefully and all the seems are caulked there.

Again, thanks a lot!

[plumber1]

You might also address purging excessive moisture out of the bathroom.