sink and shower

[Debra Whiteway]

Whenever I run the water in my bathroom sink, then the shower stall starts to drip. Don’t know why this is…anyone got an idea?

[Bruce TParticipant]

If you are saying that the shower SPOUT only drips when you run the sink, then you probably have a DELTA or similar shower valve.
These will tend to drip if they are older or the bonnet is not tight when the pressure is greatly reduced.
Check to see what brand of shower it is and I can help you more.

[themarcy19731Participant]

I checked and it is a DELTA. And yes, it is the spout that drips when i run the bathroom sink. In addition, the shower stall leaks all over the floor in front of it whenever water goes down the drain. I tested this by pouring a glass of water directly down the drain, and the carpet in front of the stall became immediately wet. Thanks for the help!

[Bruce TParticipant]

This problem is common with the Delta brand faucets that use the ball,spring and seat set ups.
In most cases this can be remedied by removing the handle and tightening the little plastic ring you can see just on the inside rim of the bonnet with a screwdriver.
(they actually make a tool to tighten this that comes with the inexpensive repair kit)
this little plastic ring just applies more tension on the rotating ball to the small rubber seats which will stop the leaking under low water pressure conditions.(check the tension of your handle while tightening! If you overtighten the ring, it will make your handle too stiff to operate…you want just good smooth action!)
If your up to the task you should just rebuild the whole inside of the thing!
costs only a couple bucks for the kit, and it will have the handy dandy little tool I spoke of included and even some instructions!

The drain problem your having is a MUCH bigger concern!
Is your shower fiberglass or tile?

If its fiberglass and you dont see any obvious cracks, you may just need a new rubber compression gasket.
Look for a manufacturer name on the stall…florestone is one of the larger manufacturers of fiberglass shower enclosers and the rubber compression drain gaskets are easy to obtain and install.
Hopefully thats all it is!
Good luck!
Bruce.

[themarcy19731Participant]

thank you so much for the information. It is a fiberglass shower stall. I could not find a brand. I just bought the house from HUD and they would not let me test the water until I bought it. But, I will look into that shower gasket think.

Again, Thank You. I am going to see if i cant tighten that thing you said.
Marcy

[themarcy19731Participant]

One more question…what is a compression gasket? Is it the drain, or does it have something to do with the drain. When we bought the house, the drain cover was off, so we just caulked it back on.

[Bruce TParticipant]

When doing rough plumbing “before the cement slab is poured…”
the plumber will rough in a trap and waste arm to the center of where the shower drain is supposed to go and box out or make several wraps with styrofoam wrap so that a small void area around the trap riser is created so that the poured concrete does not get too close to the trap riser to accomodate the bell shape of the fiberglass shower drain on finish.
After the slab is poured and the plumber comes to set finish, he can remove the dirt or styrofoam easily from the finished concrete to expose the trap riser.
The fiberglass shower pan is then placed over this riser and a rubber gasket is then packed down around the trap riser from the top of the fiberglass pan creating a watertight seal around the pipe and the fiberglass shower.
Any excess of pipe sticking above the actuall rubber gasket is then removed with an inside wheel cutter(ABS installations)to avoid any fouling areas.
Hopefully your gasket is just damaged or for some reason missing,,,if its your trap that is rusted out or cracked, then your basically screwed! Youll have to remove the whole shower pan and replace the trap!
You can look to see if your trap is holding water by removing the cover your husband caulked in place and shining a flashlight down the drain.
If you dont see the reflection of any water in the trap then you have problems!
I recommend you spend a couple bucks and just have a competant plumber come over and check this out for you.
Also check your policy to see what is covered and what is not…if you just bought the place you shouldnt have to worry about such things yourself!

[themarcy19731Participant]

Thanks…
I bought the house from HUD, so it came as is, yet I did purchase a warranty for 450 bucks…actually i got HUD to pay for it. Anyway, someone did not do their paperwork and it does not go into affect until July 1. I am kinda impatient and was hoping it was something simple i could fix or try to fix myself. But, it sounds like a fairly difficult problem, so I guess I will have to wait.

Do you happen to know where I can get the repair kit for the shower faucet/spout?

Thanks again so much,
Marcy

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