After having to deal with a badly installed and leaking shower for several years we finally decided to replace it.
A raised tray, flexible upstand strip around the tray (just in case...), good quality 8mm corner rectangular enclosure with sliding doors, and wetwall panels on the walls.
I removed the old shower, tray, enclosure, and the plasterboards from the walls behind, so the installer was left with stud walls into which to screw new plasterboards, and fit everything.
The instructions for the installer were simple: do a tidy job, but most importantly, make sure that the new shower would not leak!
Unfortunately I was away the day that he was here last month, so nobody really kept an eye on him, and surprise, surprise, the new shower is leaking...
I had a close look at the leak and noticed that it does not look as if he fitted it properly:
I expected the plasterboard to be cut just above the sealing strip, as per the instructions, to allow the tray and the strip to be pushed under it and leaving the wetwall panels resting on the tray. Alternatively, if the corner is 100% square (it is not - a few mm off), then push the tray and strip against the plasterboard, still leaving room for the wetwall to overlap the tray. He decided to run the plasterboard to the floor.
Photo of the way (I believe) that it should have been fitted:
and this is what he did:
So you can see that because of his bad planning:
- he had to force/rip the sealing upstand to get the wetwall panel into place, deeming it useless.
- the wetwall is completely in the air with no overlap at all between it and the tray, leaving a minimal point of contact between them to try and keep the water in (silicon)
The water, I believe is leaking because he did not put any/enough silicon at the point where the enclosure profile meets the tray and the wetwall at the bottom. Water the run along the track at the bottom collects there, and with no upstand to keep it inside the enclosure it drips on the floor outside.
When we asked him to come and see/repair this, he simply stopped communicating altogether...
My questions:
- Am I correct that it was not fitted properly? i.e. that any professional in the field will agree that this is unacceptable (you get where I am going... ;-)
- Is there an acceptable solution to the leak? i.e. something that will keep the water in for, say, 10 years? We bought quality materials, left the "professional" to do his job in peace, and paid him fairly, so we are not looking for a bodge job...
Alternatively, if no acceptable solution exists, then we intend to pursue him to recover all our costs (inc materials) so that we can pay someone else do to the job properly, so this is my sanity call to make sure that you pros agree.
PS: I know, I should have done it all myself - it would have taken much longer, but it would have been done right. I was too busy at the time, and we had a herd of them coming to stay over Christmas and New Year a few days later...