Causes Behind Leaky Showers & Baths

Do you have a leaky shower or bathtub? If so, you don’t want to ignore it, especially if you have a room or basement below the bathroom. When a shower or bathtub has a leak, it can cause water damage to the ceiling in the room directly below the bathroom. There could be damage from the leak, even if you can’t see it with the naked eye in the bathroom.

Shower and bathtub leaks can occur at the drain, or from the water supply plumbing behind the walls. A plumbing faucet or valve can leak as well; however, they don’t usually cause water damage. Instead, they can waste gallons and gallons of water every day.

These are the common causes of shower and bathtub leaks:

1. Leaky Shower and Tub Drains

P-traps can leak just like sink drains and they’re connected to shower and tub drains. If a strainer isn’t correctly connected to the drain, water can seep past the strainer. There can also be a crack in the tub, and if water leaks from either of these sources, water will leak onto the bathroom floor or in the room beneath the bathroom, buckling the ceiling’s drywall.

But remember, water doesn’t have to originate from the drain. A rusted-out water supply connection can become loose and cause a leak.

2. Leaks in the Water Supply

If the solder connections in a tub or shower are old or improperly installed, they can leak water. Usually, a valve’s screw-on connection hasn’t been tightened properly. We often see this where the tub spout and valve are connected or in the connection between the shower arm and threaded elbow that’s located behind the wall.

Even a tight connection can start to leak as it ages. This is because when they start to rust, pinhole leaks can develop at the joints. While it’s easy to replace a shower arm, it gets more complicated if you can’t access the plumbing without going through an access panel, or if there isn’t one, through the wall. These jobs are better left to professional plumbers.

3. Leaky Faucets

Is the shower in the master bathroom dripping and is it keeping you awake at night? If all you have is a non-stop, but annoying drip, it can probably be fixed by replacing a washer, an O-ring, or a rubber gasket, but the repair strategy differs depending on whether your faucet has one or two handles.

Contact Excalibur Plumbing to schedule a service call with a Round Rock plumber if you have a shower or bathtub leak!