Shower Pan Repair!

Shower floor pans leak for several reasons. In many cases the only real way to repair the problem is to tear out the old pan and install a new pan and liner. Get the tips you need to do this at our tile shower article. But there are at least two other approaches you can take to fix a leaky tile shower.

A repair procedure is available that uses epoxy injected through the floor of the shower. The injected epoxy forms a waterproof barrier under the shower floor. I have no experience with this method, but I could see that injecting epoxy evenly under the shower floor could stop a leak. But I wonder how you know where the epoxy actually is going. If epoxy runs toward the shower drain under the floor, the pan may not drain properly. Any structural problems caused by the leak are still there too.

Seems to me that the epoxy injection method may have a place but any savings over actually rebuilding the shower pan may disappear over time. It's just postponing the real shower repair.

Another approach short of rebuilding a shower pan is doing spot repairs. I recently had a shower leak and called our local tile expert. He suggested looking for grout problems and sealing any grout breaks with silicone. I eventually had the shower pan torn out and replaced, but that may have really been unnecessary. Here's why.

Grout in shower floors is not waterproof, unless an epoxy grout, like Spectralock is used. Water leaks through the grout to the shower pan liner beneath and then moves down the liner to the shower drain. That's by design. But over a long period of time, the water moving through the grout causes deterioration of the grout. The grout may crumble, crack and fail.

One obvious step you should take is to periodically use sealer on your shower floor grout to help repel water. This can prolong the life of the grout. This is normal maintenance that is often overlooked.

If you do have cracked grout causing a leak, you should evaluate the damage. If you have a crawl space below the shower pan, it's fairly easy to see what's happened. Is there mold and rot? How much? Minor problems will look a lot better if you stop that leak and let everything dry out. Maybe you need some expert advice to help you decide what to do. But if the subfloor is still solid underneath, you may not need a complete replacement.

Many times the grout failures are in the corner of the shower and the water is leaking over the existing shower pan liner so the pan hasn't failed. The water is running outside the shower pan liner. If the shower pan is still good, fixing the leak may be all that's required.

First, let the shower dry completely. Then you can regrout or seal the cracks with silicon caulk.

If you choose to regrout, get a tile grout saw and remove the damaged grout as much as you can. Then work in new grout with a rubber grout trowel. This is a good time to go over all the grout in the corners and the floor to make sure it's all sound. Clean the tile and seal after it's dry and you're ready to try your shower pan liner repair.

If you choose to just seal with silicone, make very sure the area is dry and work in plenty of silicone. That's the challenge, getting the caulk down in the grout grooves.

Carefully watch for shower leaks after your repair and you should soon know whether your shower pan repair worked.

Want to know more about shower pans and shower pan installation? Get the tricks at our tile shower article. Understanding how shower pans work can help you even if you're just making a shower repair!