Leak behind shower

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deadendstreet

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I noticed my daughters shower is leaking, to the point that it was getting her carpet and wall wet in her room. I tested it without her in it and ran it for 10 minutes and noticed that it was even leaking through the wall and getting the floor in the bathroom wet.

It's on the opposite end of the shower head.

We had the shower (tile and shower pan ) replaced one year ago. Could it be something else? I'm curious what are the possibilities that could be causing this? I'm going to call a plumber, but we're financially strapped right now as in the past 6 months we've had to replace the alternator in my car, get emergency dental coverage for the wife, the cat stitches after cut herself open, and the garage door replaced after some issues.

Should I cut out some drywall to get a better idea?

Thanks.
 

Gary Swart

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The drywall will have to be removed anyway. Once it gets wet, it is ruined. Is the valve on that end of the shower? Seems like a strange place for it to be, but whatever it is, you will have to open the wall to determine how serious the leak is and what will have to be done to fix it.
 

deadendstreet

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The drywall will have to be removed anyway. Once it gets wet, it is ruined. Is the valve on that end of the shower? Seems like a strange place for it to be, but whatever it is, you will have to open the wall to determine how serious the leak is and what will have to be done to fix it.

Thanks. The valve is on the other end (same as the showerhead), which is why this is so confusing to me...not that I'm an expert by any means. But the wall on the side of the shower head and valve are dry, so that's why I'm thinking/assuming it's something else.
 

Reach4

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You could block the drain put some water in the pan without wetting the walls. Does that leak out onto the floor?

If not, maybe the leak is higher.

Just wondering. No experience.
 

Jadnashua

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Is the pan tiled, or pre-made? If pre-made, if you put a level on it, does it sit level? If not, water will just go downhill rather than flow into the shower pan. If the whole shower is tiled, there are just too many ways to do this wrong, and only so many ways to do it right. Without more information, ideally of during construction, it's just impossible to say what's going on, or how to fix it. One industry report I saw said 70-80% of tiled showers are not built to one of the approved methods. So, what you're seeing is more common than you probably thought. It's unfair, but that's the way it is. IF it is less than a year, the installer should fix it as part of his warranty. Some of the shower systems companies have a 10-year or longer warranty, but that requires it to be built per their instructions. Some people just think they know better than all of the engineers and years of testing when readying a product for sale.

Some pictures might help.
 
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