Thread: Shower Pan Leak
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Old 06-15-2011, 04:12 PM   #6
pbahlin
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Sioux Falls
Posts: 617
M.O.C. #9380
I'm sure every rig is a bit different but I had a leak in my shower after 4 months of continuous (full timer) use. Here's what I found.

First, the pan was put in without any support underneath it, at least in the area of the drain. It's not flat, duh! So when you put your weight in the center it flexes (down). Underneath the shower I discovered the plumbing had a very solid pipe hanger right next to the elbow at the drain. This meant that when you stepped near the center you were opening up a gap between the drain and pan. The day I found the leak I happened to be in the basement while the DW was showering. As she moved around I could see the leaking come and go.

I did two things to 'fix' it. First I sprayed in that expanding insulation foam stuff from the basement into the gap between the floor and the pan. I don't remember the name but make sure it's the stuff that cures hard. Don't overdo the spraying as this stuffs expands big time. The goal was to firm up the floor. I wasn't confident that this would totally eliminate the flexing. I just wanted to reduce it.

The second thing I did was to remove the pipe strap to allow the drain to move with the pan. Then I redid the plumbers putty around the drain. So far the fix has worked. When the DW is showering I can still see some (much reduced) movement of the pan but now the pipe moves with it and the putty is not being cracked open.

If you're lucky, you'll find a ginormous hole in the floor to accommodate the itty bitty drain. This will give you plenty of room to do the foam thing. Keystone cuts all their access holes with chain saws to enable customers flexibility in finishing the construction process.
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