Is this a weep hole?

[SpannyJoe]

Hi

Just moved into a house and in process of renewing sealant around the shower cubicle. Feel free to skip to the bottom to get the question!

There’s a gap (20mm in length & 3mm height) at the bottom of the frame (where it meets the shower tray) closest to the wall that appears to have been sealed up by the previous occupant (as has the identical gap on the frame attached to the other wall) - I suspect that its a weep hole, but ultimately I have no idea if the gaps were sealed up accidentally (not knowing that they were weep holes) or deliberately as per the installation guidance (which I don’t have).

I’m having problems with the phone’s camera, so I’ll describe it as best as i can...

Its a corner cubicle and looks to be at least 20 years old due to the shower unit installed and because most modern showers appear to have a rim at the bottom (between the tray and the glass) whereas this one doesn't - it just has sealant where the glass panels meet the tray.

The part of the frame that meets the wall is only about 6-7cm wide and comprises of 2 parts: a bracket (a channel?) the height of the shower which is screwed into the wall and into that slots in a squarish pacman-shaped structure - the ‘mouth’ is a tight c-shape into which the glass panel has been glued in. The perimeter of the pacman-shaped piece is all continuous, so even if water does get to the edge of the glass, it can’t get into that particular part of the frame.

Pacman frame fits very snugly into the channel with no visible gap, however obviously its possible that water could find a tiny gap and build up and then trickle out of the screw holes in the wall if the hole is a weep hole.

To get to the point: is it possible that these 2 holes should genuinely have been sealed up, or are they actually weep holes which should remain open?

Thanks

S

 

[Knappers]

Almost all instructions say Not to silicone inside of profile atall for this reason.
I've lost count tho of the number of screens I've had to re-fit because the tray wasn't sealed before the screen went in (leaving a gap behind profile at the base between tile and tray).
Then when signs of damp appear the first thing your DIY plumber does is seal up the inside - making it much worse!
Soooo very comon especially on new builds, it's beyond a joke!

 

[SpannyJoe]

Cheers Knappers, thought as much. Now that my phone's fixed, I've added a closup of the hole in question, just in case it changes the general opinion. Unlikely, but I'd rather not f*** anything up.

 

[Knappers]

Looking at it, I wouldn't be surprised if you have the issue with no seal behind profile that I explained above

 

[SpannyJoe]

So I removed most of the profile, with the exception of the wall bracket, and could see that the inside of the channel has had sealant applied quite roughly, so suspect you're right. That said, whilst it was obvious that water had got into it (so at one point the weep hole wasn't sealed up), I removed some of the sealant and couldn't see any gaps, though it was thin in some places. There's no evidence of water damage anywhere, so I'll probably just apply an extra layer, just in case, and put the c-section of the profile and glass back. The absence of any water seepage makes me think 'if it aint broke, don't fix it', so I wont remove the chanel part of the profile attached to the wall, just in case something gets messed up.

 

[murraymint]

Just echoing the comments of the previous very knowledgeable geezer .. during a typical shower enclosure install we tend to work in 'phases' .. right, i'll just get this shower tray down .. right, i'll just get the tiles thrown up .. right, its time to silicone between the tray and the tile .. lovely .. and so it goes. By the time we get to sticking the vertical channels (usually 2 of them) on the wall we have EITHER siliconed right around the tray which means the channel kicks out slightly at the bottom (not ideal) or maybe we haven't siliconed the tray yet and we end up placing the channels on the wall with (possibly) some silicone drizzled on the back of the channel, but likely NO SILICONE at the base of the channels. What happens .. customer stands in shower with water bouncing off them and toward the channels .. it goes behind the channels .. eventually trickles down to base of channel .. and BOOM .. its going to go straight between the tray and the tiled wall at that very point because there's no silicone there!

I personally do not silicone the tray till late in the install. Just before I screw the vertical channels in place I put a bead of silicone 2 inch long between tray and tile right where the channel will sit. And when I press the channel to the wall it presses right into this soft fresh silicone and makes a good seal. Of course you need to try to take care and not allow the channel to dance about while fixing it or it will disturb the fresh bead (an extra pair of hands helps). (By the way I also drizzle a long thin bead of silicone in a lovely zig zag right along the backs of the channels which helps channels get a grip and stay in place.) And lastly, after tightening the (usually 3) screws with my drill driver I wipe away the excess silicone either side of the channel with a cloth (or one of them 'wipes'). The result is that I get a good bead of silicone into position in the exact place that usually gets forgotten about. When I'm ready, later in the build I put a full bead of silicone neatly right along the tray where tray meets wall, all the way from the left side channel to the right side channel.

And we all know .. do it right .. do it once. Splurging silicone around after the fact because a leak has occurred will NEVER work as a long term fix. Got to get it right during install, no excuses .. lol.. good luck y'all !