Are you seeing yellowish stains or flaky paintworks on your ceiling that is directly beneath your toilet or a wall that is adjacent to a toilet? Are you seeing water dripping from your ceiling or water ponding at the base of your wall that is next to your bathroom? These are symptoms of water bathroom leakage which requires repair from a professional waterproofing contractor or specialist. Let us go through some symptoms of water leakages, what cause leakages to happen and go through some commonly used waterproofing techniques that can solve your problems.

Symptoms of Water Leakages

A fault-free ceiling or wall should be smooth and clean. If you see the following symptoms, it could mean that you’re experiencing a water seepage problem:

1. a. Yellow or off-white stains
2. b. Flaky plastering that peels off easily
3. c. Efflorescence (white crystal looking substance)
4. d. Moulding on surfaces
5. e. And of course, physical dripping of water

It is not difficult to identify whether your wall or ceiling is affected by water ingress, simply do a visual inspection around your house, and check for any of the above-mentioned symptoms.

 

Causes of Water Bathroom Leakage & Ways to Repair

Some common factors that cause water leakages in bathrooms are:

a. Worn-off or damaged waterproofing membrane

Waterproofing membrane undergoes wear and tear and it is common for these membranes to wear off or lose its waterproofing ability over time. The general lifespan of waterproofing systems is approximately 10 years, workmanship of the applicator plays an important role in ensuring waterproofing systems do not fail prematurely. If improperly installed, waterproofing systems can start to fail and bathroom leakages can occur within 1-2 years of application.

There are a couple of available ways to repair a waterproofing failure: Polyurethane Injection Grouting, application of a transparent coat of waterproofing solution on top of the existing finishing, and/or hacking the entire toilet and re-applying a new waterproofing membrane.

b. Crack or fault lines in the concrete substrate

Concrete substrates go through expansion and contraction throughout the day, it expands when its warm and contracts at night when it is cool. A constant exposure to such weather conditions may cause concrete structures to crack. When there is a fault line in the concrete, it provides a passageway for water to seep through. This is especially common in older properties.

Waterproofing specialist contractors like SWC Construction usually repair concrete defects by Polyurethane Injection Grouting because it is the most cost-effective and hack-free method of rectification.

c. Leaking water supply pipes

Water supply pipes are sometimes concealed in toilet and kitchen walls for aesthetical purposes. When a concealed water supply pipe leaks, depending on the extent of leak, it can result in simply stains or it can cause puddling or dripping of water. More often than not, for a leakage that is consistent regardless of usage of the corresponding toilet, the culprit is the concealed water supply pipes.

 

There are two ways to repair a leaking concealed water supply pipe:

• Hack the walls and repair the bathroom leaking pipe
• Re-routing new exposed water supply pipes and bypass the existing bathroom leaking concealed pipes

 

d.  Leaking discharge/drain pipes

Discharge and drainpipes can also cause water leakages in your toilet. Leakages usually happen around the pipes’ joints and leakage is always associated with usage of the toilet fitting. For example, if the leaking discharge or drain pipe serves the basin in your toilet, the leak will always happen during usage of the basin. The same applies for the toilet bowl and shower.

If your leakage problem is from the drainpipe, fret not, this is one of the simplest leakage problem to repair. Simply replace the leaking portion of the discharge pipe and the leakage will be resolved.

Uncertain of what is causing the water seepage problem in your house? Consult us to enquire on our LeakDetectTM consultation framework which can accurately pinpoint the source of water leakage through the usage of our professional framework and state of the art instruments for bathroom leakage.