Thread: Hello fellow Inspectors

I have owned a 2 man inspection company in Oklahoma for the past 12 years and we perform an average of about 500 inspections per year. I have been reading various items in this forum for a year or so but his is my first post. I don't remember seeing any discussions about shower pans and if it is common for most inspectors to test them and if tested, what is the most common method used for testing them.

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Welcome Gary,

I fill them with water and let the water stand for a while. I still use TP to plug the drain because I have been too lazy to purchase one of those rubber dealy mabobs that let you fill the pan without overflowing.

I like TP. Thats the best. Cheep. Soft. Fits in your pocket. and there are other things you can do with. I like TP.

Ron

I only run the water. I do not block/cover the drain that is beyond the SOP, and in actual use no one ever covers the drain while showering?

In my opinion I would be inclined to stand in the shower and let the water run, but thats beyond the SOP, nor is it practical to do so.

I have tested showers by only running the water since 1991 and have yet to have a problem or a call back.

cheers,

I use a stopper that is 2 inches tall with a hole in the middle to prevent overflows (most of the time).
One of the recent second floor showers I tested in a recently renovated multi-unit dwelling (no I did not use the "C" word) overflowed due to the drain being plugged. So don't trust the center draining stopper to save you all the time.
I regularly test tiled showers and regularly find substantial leaks, maybe 10% of the time. I cannot imagine NOT testing a shower pan.

L.O.L. Had a guy call me up and stated that his stall shower was leaking on a house i inspected a month back.
When i got to the house i did a standard water test as out lined by the Calif Structural Pest Control Board. plug the drain fill within 1 inch of the damb and let stand for 15 min. No leak. Then as we were standing there in the bathroom the dude removed his pants and shirt, socks underwere and got into the shower after a few min. Yep he had a leak. We split the cost and moved on.

Raymond i forgot completey about that it been some 20 years back.

Now see what you started gary. Everybody is going back in time.

Best

Ron

Well thats a good story. But in reality tubs and shower stalls will not show leakage until someone stands in them. So how relevant is plugging the drain? In that case how relevant is it to run the water only? Hmmmm... catch 22?

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

---a recently renovated multi-unit dwelling (no I did not use the "C" word) --.

If you do Please----

All right, say the liner was poorly installed and only was only run up 1" above the floor properly. During a typical shower slight leakage occurs, but doesn't show all the way through the substructure (say the building materials slowly soak up the water). Unless the pan is filled, it may not be discovered for a long time.

I did my test a while back and went into the crawlspace. There was absolutely no rot or old water stains on the subfloor, but water was dripping out of the subfloor...... I most likely would not have caught any problems had I not filled a pan.

The test may not be required, but...............

But the pan doesn't get filled during the course of a shower. So could it be argued that you as an inspector created a failure? Did it fail under normal testing? I don't think so, filling the pan is not normal testing, is it?

Interesting dilemma.

Cheers,

You never know, I'll keep doing it and let the lawyers decide if it goes that far.
I'll just keep doing the best job I can until I get sued I guess.

Well like I said I don't conduct that type of test and haven't for 17 years. But the question remains for the lawyer to ask if you exceeded the standards in this case with shower pan testing why didn't you exceed the standards for A, B, C, in which major concerns have come to light? Catch 22?

Thanks for all of the comments. I have used all of the methods that have been mentioned and about once every year or so I still get a call back about shower pan leaks. I believe that no mater how they are tested, some pans won't start leaking until some one is standing in the shower.

I got this from a past thread if anyone thought they could use it.

SHOWERS WITHOUT TUBS:
: Metal pan present under the shower stall - monitor for future leaks. Shower stalls showers often have metal or plastic shower pans under them to catch leaking water. These pans are known leak hazards since they crack and rust out. These pans are 95% hidden from home inspectors once they are installed. Monitor stand up showers closely, check for leaks in the grout and caulking regularly.

Gary it looks like you are a stand up guy. your lot in life will be shower leaks.

Invest in TP.

Best

Ron

Im off to the shower!