I need some help determining where a leak might be coming from, and I've tried everything I know. I'm hoping some of you can help.

Our house is right at 30 years old, and we've lived here for about 2 years.
A year ago I decided to remove the wallpaper in the hall bathroom that was original to the house, and when I did, there was a small section of drywall missing near the bottom of the wall where the wall meets the tub.

I cut a bit of a larger hole to make a better patch for the wall.

Several months went by, and I noticed that there was mildew on the wall at the bottom of the patch I'd done. Initially I thought it was because I hadn't used green board, but after cutting out that piece and finding the sheet rock soaked from the inside out, and the wood on the "floor" of the wall wet, I knew I had an "internal" problem.

I have a metal tub with "plastic shower" surround. My understanding is that these tubs have a "channel" that runs all the way around them. After using a flashlight to investigate and a shish kabob skewer in the channel, I have determined that the only water that is visible is what is dripping off at the end of the "channel" and hitting the wood below. The rest of what I can see inside the wall is dry.

There is no leaking when the tub is filled up. The only leaking occurs when the shower is run. It runs out of the channel surrounding the tub, onto the wood on the "floor" of the wall, and it makes a puddle on the bathroom floor since we have left the hole in the wall. I imagine that when there was sheet rock there, that's why the sheet rock was getting wet.

I had some areas that weren't caulked properly around the tub, so I pulled off the old caulk and re-caulked around the entire bottom where the shower surround meets the tub.

I also took off the spout and put plumbers putty around the opening. I also used clear caulk around the spout. We haven't replace anything in that shower since we've lived here, so I didn't think the spout would have all of a sudden become a problem, but I did it anyway.

After weeks of dealing with this and investigating and doing the things I mentioned above, we had no water yesterday! I was excited and thought the problem was solved.

Today there was water again, but it was a very small amount compared to what was there before.

What else can we do that we haven't already done? Any ideas on where this water might be coming from?

When I made the patch, I didn't come anywhere near pipes, so I am positive I didn't screw my drywall piece into a water line.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

****Please pardon the first picture. I took it before I cleaned up the mess from cutting out the hole you see here.

Water Puddled on Floor

Caulked Around Spout

Caulk was Missing from Aggressive Scrubbing

Picture of part Cut Out of Wall

 

Besides leakage at the spout, you can get leakage around the perimeter of the shower trim, the part where you turn on the water. And also on the inside perimeter (center) of the shower trim, where the handle projects through. When thry are brand new, that trim has gaskets that seal up both of those penetrations.

These solutions assume that the water is coming from water splashing onto the interior of the shower while in use. They do not rule out an actual plumbing leak... the only way to really rule that out is to open up the back side of the wall and inspect while the water / shower is running... so that you can pinpoint the leak.

One idea might be to put a large piece of plastic up the next time you take a shower, to keep that front wall completely dry. That way if it's still wet... you would know that the water is not coming from any splashing on the front wall during your showers.

 

XSleeper, you said:
Besides leakage at the spout, you can get leakage around the perimeter of the shower trim, the part where you turn on the water. And also on the inside perimeter (center) of the shower trim, where the handle projects through.

I mentioned this in my original post:
There is no leaking when the tub is filled up. The only leaking occurs when the shower is run.

Would your comment still stand in light of this problem not happening when the tub is filled up for a bath? This is only happening when we run the shower.

I should have mentioned that in the course of our trial and error, we did put plastic over the wall while showering, and the water was underneath.

I also put a magnet on the shower surround and one on the shower curtain liner to be sure no water was coming out that way. I've been in the bathroom on numerous occasions watching (with the curtain closed!) while other family members are showering to see if I can tell what's going on.

If there is a leak behind the wall, do you have thoughts on what could be leaking so that it is going down into the channel of the tub and coming out through there? Could the shower head do that? I'm asking since running a tub full of water is not an issue. Leaking is only present when the shower is run.

Thank you.

 

Water splashes on the front wall when you are taking a shower. The shower valve trim is on the front wall. So yes. It would only leak around the shower trim when you are taking a shower.

If you already put plastic all across the front of the shower, then you ruled out any possible leak from water leaking from the shower side of the wall while taking a shower. I would do it one last time to male sure. Put plastic all around you 360 degrees, tape it to the walls, let it drape down over the tub edges. That is the only way to rule out splashing or tile or any other thing that isn't related to your pipes.

This means there is some sort of leak, and IMO you would need to open up the back side of that wall to find where it is, and to repair it.

 

Okay, I misunderstood what you meant by "front wall". I haven't done that, but will give it a try to rule out any splashing from inside the shower. Thanks.

We thought our next move might be to replace the shower valve, spout, and shower head since they are original to the house, but we'll give this a go first.

 

Do you have access to the wall behind the tub/show? If you do then that will be an easy way to access the plumbing and to determine if you have a pipe or valve leak. Send us a picture of the area behind the shower if possible. Don't be too concerned about opening the wall behind the tub/shower. Wall board patch is relatively easy and making an access panel (if one is not already there) will be a good idea.

 

Norm, We are only going to open the wall behind the shower as a last resort. If we do, I will send you a picture.

We're going to try XSleeper's suggestion about the plastic and any other good ones that are less invasive before we open a wall.

What are the chances that a leak on the back side of the wall could be draining so perfectly into the chanel that goes around the tub?

 

Water has a funny way of traveling. Typical roof leaks for instance will seldom be where you see the water in the house. The water will travel down a rafter or a pipe or whatever it hits.
But Yes I agree follow x's suggestions first.

 

Okay, we did the experiment with the whole shower surrounded in plastic drop cloth.

Two separate showers were taken, and everything stayed bone dry, so we know that the leak is coming from inside the shower.

Any recommendations on what we should try next? Replacing the shower head? Caulking around the plate behind the faucet handle even though there is no visible opening?

For what it's worth, one person who uses that shower is 5'7" and the other is 6'1". When the 6'1" person showers, the water leaking has been more significant.

Thank you.

 

I believe you have already identified one of the major sources of the leak(s) in the image labeled "Caulk Around Spout".

Note that the caulk there is flat out gone. That's a leak! If I were you I'd redo all the caulk where the tub meets the walls.

This is not as likely a source of a leak for you, but perhaps your shower curtain is bleeding through. This happens if the shower curtain has a waterproofing that decays or washes away after years of use and cleaning. Think similar to camping in a tent in the rain and the sleeping bag touches the walls. The water tends to bleed through if something is touching the walls. Similarly this happens with old curtains when the inside layer and outside layer touch. Water runs down to the floor then and pools enough to travel. If you have bad grout or no floor drain then it has a chance to find an exit through into the wall(s).

If you have the wall still open you can explore for the source of the leak with this endoscope (~$20) https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-Ins.../dp/B09TGRHTLK and some free camera software such as VLC or YAWCAM.

 

Thanks Sneak Pete, but we found it in the corner of the shower wall. We'd fixed the one in the picture you reposted, so we knew it was something else. I didn't have a picture of the one in the corner. We couldn't tell that the caulk was missing until we got our nose right down on it.

Everything is now dry - thank the Lord!!