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MDF next to shower getting water damage. Is it a leak?

Sharjil & Sania Ali

5 years ago

Hello, I noticed about a month ago that my mdf baseboard right outside my master shower door has these brown spots on it (I know it's due to water/moisture but I'm not sure what caused the issue. I'm hoping it's not a leak. Any advise. Please see attached images. In the one month since I noticed it, the damage hasn't changed and remained the same. Any thoughts or advise will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Featured Answer

PRO

Creative Tile Eastern CT

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I have seen this scenario before. Water was passing through the hinge itself. Yours appears to be the same type of hinge.

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Comments (19)

Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
could it be this crack in the grout in the shower??

Here is the baseboard and door trim right outside the shower

Another angle

And it seems to have traveled to the other side of the door and into the closet a bit
southofsa
5 years ago
Definitely water damage. Sorry not an expert on where it might be coming from, but had similar damage in a linen closet next to a shower in our house after we moved in. Turns out that likely the area had likely been patched and repainted when it was sold then showed up over the next few months after we moved in.. When we got to that bathroom for a full gut remodel we found the 1" or so of standing water at the base of the shower. I can't even begin to describe how the shower was constructed, but it was pure Bubba style.

Sorry I can't be more help, but some of the experts will probably have thoughts.

Lisa
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Put a thick bathmat or throw rug under the door and touching the edge of the shower. After she is all dried off, she needs to put the mat somewhere to dry, and then be sure to use it the next time. Teach her to towel off in the shower before opening the door too. You could also use both--keep a throw rug on the area, and then put a bathmat over it for each shower use, being sure the bathmat touches the edge of the shower and absorbs all the water. Hopefully, the rug underneath will stay bone dry. Otherwise, it will mold too.
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Old galvanized pipes have a finite lifespan. If you repair this leak, you have a good chance of it developing another leak in another location. The only good solution is a complete pipe replacement. The major expense of a pipe replacement will involve the digging of the trench from the meter to the house. This is an area where a DIYer can save some money. Have the utilities companies come out and mark the location of the pipe and any other utilities going to the home. Then you can choose a route parallel to the current pipe but just far enough away from it that you aren't disturbing it. You can rent a trencher (Maybe $200) and hand dig the larger access points at the meter and house. Then you can call a plumber to lay the pipe and make the connections. If you are not physically capable of doing this, then do you have any family or friends that would be? Church group? Scout troop? There are usually community resources that can help you to figure out what you can do here. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the leak.
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Seriously?? Ungrouted tiles around shower causing water leak????
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You should be able to shower with the pan liner in, cement board up(actual cement board), and shower curtain. Build curb, floor mud preslope, install liner(no fasteners), and another 1“ minimum floor mud on top, float curb. Cement board walls, silicon the edges, tape the seams, thinset level, and red guard the curb and walls. There won’t be any leaks at this stage. The tile provides merely aesthetics in the grand scheme of it all. They help shed water but offer very little to the game of waterproofing. It’s an illusion! Red guard is completely unnecessary and I don’t recommend it on every surface. Don’t use it on the bottom 6” or liner height of wall, or the top 3ft of wall, or on the pan floor, and never on drywall. The cement board will be submerged in the pan tile deep so it needs some breathing room. You’re just asking for moisture to accumulate in the wall but wait there’s a moisture barrier behind the cement board. That barrier got screwed up from the durarock install but you siliconed each stud, right? That’s called a hole in the plan. Welcome to the shower install conflict. For the love of grout don’t seal it! A 1/16th square. That’s impressive. The line of a dull carpenters pencil. You’d be lucky to buy board that’s within a 1/16”. I’ve worked with all kinds of framing types and they’d throw you off the deck if you were fussing over a 1/16”. Finish guys now that’s a different story. A 1/2“ square per 12ft, 1/4“ plumb average per 8ft, and a 1/16” level per 4ft in all reality is the best workmanship you‘re going to find in any home. Any thing else is an empty promise or a rubber square.
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Water damage near shower
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it's prob been leaking around the door. I don't know if that caulking was intact between the shower curb and tile he's pulled up, but it's gone now. the caulking keeps water from seeping under the vinyl. caulking also needs to be done vertically against the metal and tile on the outside, and the inside. water gets in those cracks, falls downward and onto the floor if you have MDF sub floor, once it's wet it gets swollen and will never shrink back. if it's been wet for awhile you may have mildew or mold. if it's gotten wicked up into the drywall, that's another issue. honestly your best bet is to have your shower and flooring redone. call in someone now because it will prob be months before anyone can start. that will give you some time to look for ideas and save up some money.
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GreenDesigns
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
A properly waterproofed shower doesn’t even need tile. Your water issue is to the bone. Plan a redo.
millworkman
5 years ago
How is the silicone where the glass meets the wall? Since that is so close in my opinion the first place to look and the first thing to eliminate from the equation.
PRO
None
5 years ago
Hinge side millwork man?
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
The part where glass meets wall has a clear flap they installed to keep water in the shower except right at the corner near the floor. However I checked to see if water comes out from there and it doesn't. Only thing I can think of right now is the crack in the grout which is pretty long. I'm thinking moisture and water is getting in slowly. This may explain why it's happening at a snail's pace. I'm thinking I'm gonna regrout that area, seal it. Then I'll strip the paint off the baseboards, Kilz prime it and repaint. Give it a month or two and see if it re-occurs before diving into getting a pro to rip tiles out and re do it
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
i know it's hard to see but this was the shower prior to it being tiled.
PRO
None
5 years ago
Quality of the tile job looks questionable. I would look into the pitch of the curb and correct waterproofing.
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
So an update. Now we're seeing water damage on the baseboards on the other side of the wall that's next to the shower. My guess now is it's a shower pan or liner issue. What do you guys think?
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
so directly behind this wall is the shower.
GreenDesigns
5 years ago
Yup. To the bone. Time for a complete redo.
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
4 years ago
So an accredited plumbing company came out and they are saying they don't think it's the liner/pan however decided to run a pan leak test. Currently it's been about 6 hrs after they filled up the shower base with water and plugged the drain. So far the water level is right where it started. I'm not sure what the issue can be. They informed me in the mean time I need to get the long grout crack fixed as well as re-caulk the bottom of the shower bench, edges of the shower and shower floor.

I'm still confused what's causing this.
jslazart
4 years ago
Under the theory of "it's just drywall," I'd cut an inspection hole and take a look inside the wall.
Sharjil & Sania Ali
Original Author
3 years ago
Long story short, the builder agreed to send the original plumbing company and they ran another pan leak test. No pan leak found. Sealed up the cracks in the grout. Used anti mold Kilz or whatever, repainted where needed. Issue resolved. Haven't had any water marks so I guess those small cracks in the grout were the culprit.
recordaras
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
We have a pretty much identical situation and in our case it’s the curb. After recaulking the grout (curb is stone tile) water seeping seems to have stopped, but that’s obviously a temporary solution. Planning a redo next year and I’m a little terrified of all the waterproofing research one has to do to get a shower that doesn’t leak!
millworkman
3 years ago
Grout is not waterproof and if it ls leaking thru the grout joints that means the waterproofing behind the tile is not doing it's job. As GreenDesign said a year ago, prepare for a gut demo. The original plumber is putting lipstick on a pig. It is only a matter of time before it leaks again and by then there will be a real mess behind it.
Sheryl R
last year
Are water damaged baseboard (per your pictures) indicative of signs of mold?
millworkman
last year
No 100% answer to that. It may be superficial surface water damage or it may be leaking for the back. Post up pictures of your situation and possibly we can help answer the question.

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