Is it normal for a shower leak to take four visits and still not be fixed?

The fact that he's changing mixing valves and showerheads without actualy seeing water move is a massive red flag. In plumbing, we follow the water, we don't just throw parts at the wall and hope for the best. If the leak only happens when you are actually using the shower, it's almost never the showerhead or the mixing valve unless there’s a visible spray hitting a hole in the wall. Those parts are pressurized; if they were the culprit, they’d usally leak wheather you were standing in there or not. Nine times out of ten, these phantom leaks are caused by a failing **drain seal** or a crack in the shower pan that only opens up when a human's weight is actually pressing down on it. A handyman just running the water while standing outside the tub won't see that. You need someone to stand in there, shift thier weight, and specifically spray water around the trim and the drain flange. The 'waiting for it to dry' line is a classic stall tactic used by guys who are out of their depth and hoping the problem just disappears on its own.

And honestly, the wife calling you is beyond unprofessional. It sounds like your landlord is trying to save a buck by using a friend or a cheap jack-of-all-trades instead of a licensed pro. A real plumber brings a pressure gauge and performs a **static test** on the drain by plugging it and filling the base with water. If the water level drops, the pan or the drain connection is shot. Don't let them keep cutting holes in your house based on a guess. Tell the landlord you want a licensed plumber who will perform a proper flood test. If the handyman hasn't even looked at the **P-trap** or the drain assembly from the hole he already cut in the ceiling, he's just wasting everyone's time while your subfloor continues to rot.

I had this exact nightmare last year. My guy kept swapping parts too, but the leak only stopped when I checked the overflow gasket. If that rubber ring is dry-rotted or seated wrong, water just pours behind the tub every time you splash. Try this: duct tape a piece of plastic over the drain and fill the base with an inch of water. If it doesn't leak, it’s the drain assembly or the connection underneath. If it still leaks, it’s the pan. I wasted three weekends on a "dry out" period that did nothing but rot my subfloor. Stop letting him guess.

Absolutely, this guy is just throwing parts at it and hoping for a miracle. One thing often missed is the shower arm connection itself. If he’s been cranking on that shower head, there’s a high chance he cracked the threads or loosened the pipe nipple where it meets the elbow inside the wall. You get a high-pressure spray behind the tile that only happens when the water is acutally running. If the insulation or the top of the hole in your kitchen ceiling is wet, it’s likely spraying from up high behind the wall, not the drain. Get a pro with a borescope to look behind that escutcheon plate.

While the previous suggestions regarding the drain are technically sound, I find it highly suspect that nobody has mentioned a failure in the transition joint where the tile meets the receptor, as even a hairline fracture in the sealant can allow substantial volumes of water to migrate via capillary action behind the tile substrate. Furthermore, if this individual didn't specifically inspect the caulking around the valve's escutcheon plate, he is likely ignoring a primary ingress point where overspray hits the wall and trickles directly into the unsealed cavity behind the trim, a classic oversight for those who lack a fundamental understanding of gravity-fed moisture migration.

Quick update—I ended up checking that overflow gasket like someone suggested and that was exactly it. The rubber was completley dry-rotted. Once I showed the landlord, he finally sent a real plumber to fix it properly. It's such a relief to have a dry kitchen ceiling again. Thanks for the reality check, I knew that handyman was just guessing!