Shower leak - bathroom renovation

Hi,

I have a 1980's home with a leaky shower. The shower base leaks into the subfloor probably because of movement/failure in the waterproofing membrane.
I haven't been using the shower so I assume the moister would dry out. I will be getting the whole bathroom renovated to fix this issue, and to update the dated 1980's style.

Since I'm told most 80's houses still used asbestos in the walls for wet area rooms, it was proposed to roughen up, water-proof and re-tile over the existing tiles. Is this a good option or asking for trouble later down the line? The shower floor will be taken out and repaired for any damage or is the floor likely to contain asbestos too?

I want to get any asbestos material removed by a professional if it needs to be. I'm not sure if it's safer to just leave and re-tile over or better to have the whole room gutted.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I think up to 10 sq metres you can DIY on residential properties.

 

Get rid of it so you can make sure the walls are nice and square/plumb.

Sometimes it's easier and cheaper to start again .

 

Do the whole lot.

Much better to start again fix any water damage that may be present and as mentioned re square the walls. You could even move things around to end up with a better layout.

 

But my backyard is concrete, so where do I bury it ?

 

Think outside the box. Is your neighbour's backyard all concrete as well? lol.

Seriously, it wouldn't cost much to dispose of it properly.

 

Hide it in the roof

 

It would be better to just strip everything out back too the wall frame and bare floor ,and as the 80 style sometimes the shower tray was copper that tray would be at the end of it's life..Have a lic plumber lic elec's seal the water off -then make the elec,s safe then replan the layout ..With the blue death have a professional strip the walls ceiling and bag it and take it away..below is what to happens to 80's copper trays ...imho..

 

Top idea
(I've seen small amounts placed in peoples rubbish bins also)

FYI, disposal last time I did was some $900 per tonne
With a min charge of $330
I did all the right things, double wrapped in my trailer, got to the disposal center and they wanted it put into a 20mt skip with sides 6ft high (I had 1.1T in a single bag)
So "if" you are game enough to remove it yourself (or have done the course ) be prepared, contact your nearest facility to confirm how and where they dispose/store it
I say "store" because that is what happens, asbestos is naturally occurring and it doesn't break down over time (only the cement component does).

Agree with others here, do it once, do it right

 

Hey all,

I just signed up as we are in a similar situation. We have a number of things we need to fix (including legal action against a tradie who breached building regulations with work he did to our property), but we just discovered cracks in one of our showers. I've googled and found a company called ShowerCare, who says he can fix the cracks for $1500 + GST, so this is Option A, though we don't know if it's worth going down that track or not. The other option is replace the base (which appears to be 1370x900) , which we can buy for $600, but it seems the cost to install it properly would be around $7000+. From what we understand, waterproofing wouldn't have been done on this house, as it was built in 1988.

What are your thoughts? What is the most cost-effective, yet reliable, option?

 

I'm not sure why it would cost $7K just to do the shower base - for that sort of money you could probably do the whole bathroom? It looks quite dated.

 

Do you have someone you can recommend who could do it for that price? The $7000 is to replace the base, including waterproofing, tiling, etc.

 

To replace the base properly, it requires removal of tiles and wall cladding (the bottom row at least), add in a new shower frame and cost starts to run away...

 

Is there any of it we can do ourselves to save costs?

 

Do the removal yourselves, get in a plumber and tiler. Don't move any of the plumbing.

 

That's what we were thinking. We have a lot of things we need to pay for atm (car repairs, legal costs, and now this) so any money we can save would be great!

If we get the tiles and base ourselves, would that save money? Or would the tradies be able to get it at a lower price, making it cheaper to go through them?

 

Thanks everyone. As I was thinking it seems pretty clear cut that gutting the room is better. Tile over tile doesn't sit well with me but I wasn't sure if this was a legitimate or common thing.
I've had the room inspected and samples taken to test for asbestos today.

Verucaboi: I think tradies will usually add a percentage to the cost of the tiles if you go through them. Perhaps look for clearance stock if you're not redoing the whole bathroom that will save some money.

 

Although it's obviously bet to remove and start again, tiling over GOOD tiles is a legitimate option.

 

Where is your property

Where's your property? In Sydney? I've just gone through this for much less than $7K.

 

If the shower screens are reasonably new, you can carefully remove them, scrape off ALL the old silicone and other filler, and store them carefully in a spare room until the rest of the shower work is completed. It is a big job. You can cut the old sheeting way from the walls with all the tiles still attached and chuck the lot into your trailer or skip. O hang on - asbestos in the old wall sheeting? If you know what you are doing. How competent are you at DIY wall sheeting and glass? This works best when the sheeting is already wet.

Just get a Tradie.