So I come downstairs today and the wife is like, "Why is the ceiling in the kitchen dripping?"

Anyway, long story short, the shower in my bathroom is leaking. The shower is nothing fancy, tile wall and fiberglass floor. I suspect there may have been a problem here before because it looks like someone tried to paint the shower floor with something in the past. The floor looks like it has chips all over it so I guess it was just a matter of time before this happened. At this point I'm not positive if its the floor or the drain. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to cut a hole in my kitchen ceiling and see where the water is leaking from.

But anyway, since the floor is screwed up, I might as well replace it or get a plumber to do it.

Can anyone tell me what's involved in getting the old floor out and installing a new one?

 

sledge hammer FTW

 

Post some pics.

Replacing a shower isn't all that bad. Getting the plumbing set right so the fawker doesn't leak is the bitch.

 

and then just replace it with tiles.

 

Be prepared to replace a significant part of your kitchen ceiling. It would not be out of the ordinary to have a 4'x4' area that is water damaged on the other side of the drywall. If left to be you are looking at mold, etc.

As far as ripping up the floor. The sledgehammer is fun, but is kinda like bringing a keg to a wine and cheese party... you can rent a heavy floor scraper from HD. That should be fine for pulling up a ?fibreglass? floor.

Check out this link for installation It is for one of those corner showers so it may not specifically apply, but the basic idea is there. My recommendation is to go with the cement board underlay...

 

Get the October edition of Handyman Magazine. If you can't find it. let me know and I can copy the pages for you. It shows how to replace a fiberglass shower base.

 

This might help

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/l...hower_leak.htm

 

I found an article at thisoldhouse about how to identify where the leak is coming from. They suggest stuffing the drain with an old rag and fill the base of the shower with water and leave it for a couple hours. If the water doesn't go down then the drain has a leak and the floor is okay. Does that make sense?

NSXNEXT, I'll try to find that magazine.

 

Make sence to me. If the water gets out and not through the drain, then the floor has a leak.

Although if your floor looks like crap, and you're going to be working on the plumbing anyways, you may as well change the shower floor. They are not too expensive.

 

I am not so sure how easy this would be...cause the shower tray/pan (not having seen your shower of course) has a lip on it that the wall tiles extend over. So you may need to rip off your bottom course of tiles. Then I guess from below (via kitchen ceiling?) you need to cut the drain pipe somehow.

Definitely worth to take a look to find source of leak before you start.