Shower leaking into wall?

[trader4]

.

As others have pointed out, the damaged section is pretty much shot, so you could just open it up and take a look inside. That assumes that with the construction there isn't some framing completely blocking the way. Not likely, but possible. If no water is appearing on the floor, I'd say odds are that it's not a leak, but it might be.

The other option is as suggested to dry it out with a fan and hold off using both the shower and the bath tub for a couple days. Or if you're going to be away for a few days, let it dry out then and when you return, use only the bath part for a week, carefully making sure no chance of water getting their past the curtain, running down the top of the tub, etc. If it's not wet, then do the same using the shower.

[mm]

With my belly on the "floor" at all times

I used to want to learn SCUBA diving, or go some place where they will rent you equipment without trainging. After all, I've watched 50 episodes of Sea Hunt, and I think I know what I need to. Now, after I realize I'll probably never do it anyhow, I realized my claustrophobia would be as big a problem as my fear of the water.

But I do like commerical caves. Been to maybe 10, the only disappointment was Mammoth Cave, which was big but boring. This was the standard tour. They have other tours which are only offered once a day. Upstate NYS, Allentown Pa. 3 or 4 in the Viginia Mountains, others.

Four miles from my house are abandoned chromium mines. My part of Maryland used to be the world's leading producer of chromium, back when no one used it and little was produced. Into the mines are kite strings, used by previous guys to find their way back out. It's parkland now and of course they posted a sign not to enter, and it's also full of water everytime I've been there starting maybe 8 feet from the entrance. And I suppose the water has ruined the timbers holding up the roof of the shaft. OTOH, now with cell phones, I might be able to dictate my last will and testament to someone.

[mm]

Yeah, I gather my shower curtain is considered a liner. I dind't know that for the first 10 years.

[aemeijers]

Chuckle. Me as well. I hate the plastic liner/curtains, so I bought one of the hotel style fabric ones. I wash it 3-4 times a year, when it gets stiff, or the rust stains from my horrid water get too blatant. Never saw any point in a 'show' curtain to put in front of it- it would make the shower too dark, and make the inner curtain stay wet longer. I also raised the rod as high as I could to avoid banging my head, and to keep the curtain from dragging on the bottom of the tub. The things you can get away with without a SWMBO in the house....

[Higgs Boson]

What, you read in there?

and make the inner curtain stay wet longer.

I make sure to pull the whole shebang aside when not in use, and let air and Western sun stream in.

=A0I also > raised the rod as high as I could to avoid banging my head, and to keep

I bought a liner at Bed Bath & Beyond that was marked in HUGE letter "Will not mold". Yeah, sure. Pretty soon the black stuff began to accumulate, giving me the PITA of cleaning it off with bleach, etc. that never really worked. Finally took it back and exchanged for a better liner. Notice that BB&B doesn't carry the former liner any more!

HB

[aemeijers]

Unless you are right under the tower, cell phones don't work too well underground...

[mm]

Dang. Thanks for the warning. Now I know to write my will in advance. And I'll have to count on Lassie to get help when I'm stuck under one of the mine timbers that collapsed on me.

[aemeijers]

it is a classic cleaning conundrum- do you close the shower curtain after use, or leave it wide open so the tub and walls dry faster? I've found that almost closing the curtain (with an air gap on both ends so it doesn't stick to walls) slows down how fast mold appears on the curtain. If curtain is all bunched up, it never gets dry. I have same issue with towels- damn bathroom is too small for full length towel bars anywhere, so they don't dry fast enough to retard the funky smell.

[DD_BobK]

HB- (aka OP)

Having read all the entire thread & looked at all the photos you posted.....my best guess is that leak is from inside the shower stall.

My buddy's ex-wife's house has the exact same shower stall / bath tub arrangement and the exact same water damage (~2009). Her house in in SoCal & was built in the early 50's. The shower stall tile & tube are original.

He & I determined that the source of the leak was failed grout on the floor of shower stall, cracked grout at the wall / floor corners and most likely a cracked / deteriorated shower pan.

We took a look from the crawl space and saw that the subfloor had evidence of water leakage. We ran the shower to confirm an active leak.

She didn't want to bear the cost to redo the shower stall (it was a rental that she wanted to get new tenants into) Since damage was already done, we caulked the corners & re-grouted floor and re-checked the leak behavior. The leaking was reduced by 90% but the dry rot is slowly continuing the destruction even in the relatively dry SoCal environment.

I would suggest you get a look at the underside of the shower stall (from the crawl space) after the shower has been unused for a couple weeks and then run the shower and see the effect on the subfloor.

It that leak has been active for any length of time, I'd bet you're in for a shower stall rebuild. :(

cheers Bob

[Higgs Boson]

...

, use only the

No chance of that happening. Not in proximity.

If it's not wet, then do the same using the shower.

Using shower first.

UPDATE: Attached pic of grisly site.

I scraped away icky wet stuff down to the wood.

As recommended, we are not using that shower; monitoring if it dries on its own.

Note that wet ick does not seem to extend higher into the area covered by white surface coat (to permit wallpaper).

What might that say about WHERE exactly the moisture enters the wall?

TIA

HP

[Higgs Boson]

...

Two persons in the household. One uses stall shower, the other uses tub shower.

HB

[Higgs Boson]

Thanks! I didn't know about cement board. Looked it up and found beaucoup info at . Very helpful!

HB

[Higgs Boson]

Thanks, Bob. I'm reassured that you're going to be by my side, pointing a very strong flashlight and holding a stun gun for the Black Widows. Plus a boombox emitting soothing meditation music for claustrophobia. So equipped, I am (almost) ready to tackle the new challenge, after shower has been on leave for a few weeks.

or ashowerstall rebuild. =A0:(

OMG!

HB

[krw]

I had a similar situation in my last house. It was in the 1/2 bath in the second (was my son's) bedroom. I found the problem while ripping up the flooring to tile it. The entire subfloor had been doubled up, with the first layer almost gone and the second on its way. I thought it odd that the bathroom had rubber molding that had been sealed with silicone. Evidently the previous owners thought their kid was splashing water. Nope, the copper HW supply line in the wall behind the vanity had a pinhole leak that had (mostly) crusted over. There wasn't enough water to leak through to the kitchen ceiling below but there was enough to vaporize the subflooring under the vinyl floor.

[Higgs Boson]

OMG I hope it won't come to that. I, too, was wondering why I need to go into the (yeccch!) crawl space, when there doesn't seem to be any effect on the vinyl tile at the bottom of the narrow wall between stall shower and tub shower

Update: I have been monitoring the area since, on advice of NG, we stopped using the stall shower. It has dried out enough to suggest strongly that the leak is coming from the stall shower. Now I have to bring in the plumber to advise where the leak might be. I have notes of all suggestions from this NG. Frustratingly, nothing seems to be visibly wrong. My initial suspicion is that the leak is inside the wall. (Reminder: the pipe holding the shower head just comes right out of the wall; no way to get access, AFAIK, w/o removing individual tiles and opening up wall.)

Interesting side-note: When the bathroom was redone, over 30 years ago !!!! the great old lathe & plaster was replaced by greenboard. But the problem area still has lathe & plaster -- as revealed when I chopped away all the brownish wet gunk, back to the wood. Wonder why they left that?

[Higgs Boson]

Thanks, you're right. I had that creepy sensation in the back of my mind, but didn't take the time to look it up. 10 lashes w/a wet noodle.

HB