Replacing bath with shower

[DJ85]

Basically has anyone done this before and is it easy enough to do yourself.
At the moment I have a bath in and I've had nothing but trouble with water running down the back when the shower is on. I've tried everything to fix it. Had the insurance company try as well. Even a new bath.
So we have decided to rip out the bath altogether, tile the rest of the way down, fit a double shower tray and doors.

 

[jpaul]

some older relatives are doing this for the convenience of access to a shower, versus, a little used bath ... so different motive;
but are getting a contractor in, pipework will need chasing in at a higher level, they would also like to graft into the existing tile-work, rather than ripping it all out,
so need to rip the grout at an appropriate level.
they couldn't match the footprint of the bath by a shower tray which is some foot shorter and wider too;
they don't want a wet room.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Are you sure it’s not leaning through the tiles that are already there? Makes sense if you have gone as far as replacing the bath (meaning you have re-siliconed it at least once). If the silicone around the bath is good there are only 4 other places it can leak:

• Through the splash backs
• Through the screen or curtain
• From the waste trap.
• Any plumbing going to the shower head

By not re-tiling the whole thing is going to look naff. Most would say it’s very much a bodge. The chances of getting matching tiles and grout anytime after the original install is going to be slim. The existing stuff will have aged somewhat too.

As others have the plumbing will also need to be changed. Pipes running to a bath normally come up the floor where as showers normally come out the wall. The drain trap will also need to be reworked. Another reason the lot will need to be re done.

To do it properly you’ll also need to ‘tank’ the walls behind the tiles in the shower to make sure it doesn’t leak which means taking all the tiles off anyway.

TLDR: Yes and no, if you are proficient at DIY then yes it can be done but most people’s tiling isn’t great, it takes practice to get it right.

 

[paintguy]

Similar to jpaul, my mum is having this done at the moment. She's over 70 and only ever used the shower over her bath, so it made sense to replace it with a cubicle.

Since I recently fitted her kitchen I'm taking a rest and leaving it to a builder though! The room has been stripped back to bare brick so that new pipework can be installed and the walls boarded/tanked with a suitable material before tiles.

 

[200sols]

So we have decided to rip out the bath altogether, tile the rest of the way down, fit a double shower tray and doors.

You cant just tile all the way down or you will have issues in the future, the area behind the shower needs to be tanked which means all the tiles behind the proposed shower will need to be removed and tanking applied. I think its easily DIYable but probably involves more work than you expect. Moving water pipes and waste pipes could be messy jobs which probably requires more of the existing tiling to be removed in order to get the pipes in the wall to the shower.

 

[jpaul]

... so you need tanking (up to, say 2m height) irrespective of structure of house,
previous shower I had on 2nd floor in modern wooden frame house , I can see why;
but relatives are in a decent bungerlow, built of brick, with breeze block interior, I seriously doubt it moves much, ... it'll be there long after brexit.

 

[DJ85]

I shouldn't maybe have explained a little bit more I was maybe a bit vague. So maybe start altogether would he the best plan?
I've took some pictures to save so much explaining. Basically my tilling was quite dear when fitted so was hoping to keep the top half and work down. I never really thought of the fading difference to newer ones. I have had the tiling for 5 years and the builders for the scheme are still finishing the scheme so I could have tried to get the extra 30 ordered I needed from them.


So everytime the shower is on water appears to appear down the side of the bath and soak into the skirtings and start to spread from there I've had everything on and off so many times to try find the source. The top of the bath behind the door is always dry so cant be from there. I've silicone all along and in the corner. I've even silicone the corner where the bath touches the wall but that seems to be dry as well. I'm not really wanting to replace anything until I work out what were doi g as so far I've replaced skirtings twice,a new floor and a new bath. @200sols what do you mean by will need tanked?
Was thinking along the route of something like below.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Your shower screen is likely leaking but the grout on the bottom right tile next to the shower screen also looks like it’s compromised (dark line). This could leak water behind too. It might just be the picture but the silicone on the edge of the bath in the middle under the shower doesn’t look like it’s sealed (dark edges may indicate a gap).

Tanking is applying a waterproof membrane to the surface behind the tiles to stop any water getting through to the walls behind. If moisture gets through it will ruin the walls behind very quickly.

 

[200sols]

It looks like the shower screen is leaking as said above, but without being there in person pinpointing the leaks will be hard. It should be a small job for a a proper bathroom plumber to find and fix that leak.

 

[jpaul]

... but presumably you've had the bath panel off too - if its dry everywhere on the outside of the door and its hinge - that must reveal the source. ?
putting silicon on the skirting board would just be helping water projection on the wall above as well ?

 

[norm]

I think water is getting behind the tiles somehow and tracking its way over to the white edging strip and finding its way out there.

If your tiles have been incorrectly 'dot & dabbed' to the wall this would allow the above to happen as there will be voids between the tile and wall the water can track along.

Roger Bisby on Skillbuilder would be able to advise you best he has a lot of experience in this sort of thing - https://skill-builder.uk/ask-skill-builder

 

[jpaul]

Did you check ingress possibility where the shower mixer tap is attached through tiles ?

like you said, my folks also want to re-use existing tiles ... you'd need tiles between the current edge and door jam too, as well as lower down ... how is that wall constructed ?

 

[ANDARIAL]

Mastic seal from tiles to bath looks naff
Mastic should also be applied to INSIDE bottom of wall rail/upright BEFORE the door is fitted up to a height of about 6 inches.

 

[Derek W]

I've a similar set up as you have (the bath with screen). I found the same issue and it was from where water was getting into the side of the screen where it butts up against the wall. If you fully silicone this along with the small horizontal section before the opening part this should solve it. Maybe take a photo of the water after the shower has been used with and without the bath side panel on to see if its apparent where the water is coming from?

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

looks like the vertical corner at shower end of bath hasn't been grouted correctly?
Along with a horizontal grout line just above the bath where the screen meets the wall too?
Assuming the tiles were spaced?
As too tight together does not allow enough grout to get between them
But can definitely see black lines in that photo and the vertical corner is terrible not just black line at bottom but looks like holes in grout most of the way up?
As if they just butted the tiles together and didn't use an inside corner trim not allowing more than the smallest amount of grout to get there
Needless to say bad grouting let's water in even if not immediately since the showers not aimed directly at the tiles it will in time with splashes and steam/condensation as well as looks bad too
and silicone around bath doesnt look great
and as said silicone vertical and horizontal where the screen meets the wall and bath~not the glass obviously just silver bit
do both sides inside and outside too
Bad tiling in the corner and bad grouting would explain why replacing Bath didn't help though

And if its a relatively new build surely waterproof board was used
Avoiding the need to tank?

 

[DJ85]

Did you check ingress possibility where the shower mixer tap is attached through tiles ?

like you said, my folks also want to re-use existing tiles ... you'd need tiles between the current edge and door jam too, as well as lower down ... how is that wall constructed ?

Yeah I've had a look everything seems dry it seems to be below shower height but I do t know where. Yeah I'd have a few tiles to add in I think I'd get a tile in for that though, was a joiner for 10 years so hoping everything else is simple enough. I'm sure its plasterboard.

I've a similar set up as you have (the bath with screen). I found the same issue and it was from where water was getting into the side of the screen where it butts up against the wall. If you fully silicone this along with the small horizontal section before the opening part this should solve it. Maybe take a photo of the water after the shower has been used with and without the bath side panel on to see if its apparent where the water is coming from?

I'm away working till saturday but I'll be having more investigations when I'm home. Think I'll take the bath panels off and leave the water running a bit and get pictures see what I can see.

 

[jpaul]

about tanking - afaik combi baths don't have it on the tiles ... so in the OP(+my) case, so if you converted, just have tanking on the new lower tiles should be OK ?
especially with brick walls