A hidden leak (involves tiles!)

I think I already know the answer to this, but thought I would ask in case someone had an idea I hadn't thought of...

We have a leak somewhere under our bath. I suspect that it is either the plughole gasket or (more likely) the gasket around the overflow hole, but I need to get in under the bath to find out.

When the bath was installed, some very bright person has put on a bath panel that appears to consist of a bit of plywood screwed/nailed onto a framework and then they have tiled over the entire thing, so the net result is that I cannot see any screws/nails etc to be able to work out how to get the thing off. Levering at the sides would see me levering against the tiled walls which would obviously be a bad idea, so it seems my only angle of attack is to lever at the bottom (not much room to do so) - is there any way that you can think of to get the tiles off without knackering them?

 

Nope

Some installers do the panel in two sections, the hard fixed but and another panel secured with matching colour silicone. You just slice through the silicone and the panel can be removed.
Might be worth having a prod just in case.

 

Unless you can find a weak spot, possibly some siliconed in as Loofah say, I doubt you can get the tiles off without breaking at least one. Then finding a match will be very difficult. I'd not worry about damage to the tiles/panel, just replace with a removeable ply panel painted gloss white. I think you are in a rented property and may be concerned about damage, but really there should be access to the waste pipes and other plumbing, there may be greater damage being caused by a leak rotting the floorboards so a way has to be made in.

 

Nah, it was a semi-DIY job I think - looks to be tiles mounted on a flat board, with the board presumably nailed to the framing

 

Yes, they are ceramic - the same ones that are on the walls; they have to be around 15 years old and if I had to take a punt, I would say that they came from Focus DIY (as a lot of stuff in this house appears to have done!)

Screwfix do a replacement panel (admittedly plastic) for £25.99 - a white plastic panel as opposed to this tiled one doesn't bother me in the least as long as it is tidy.

In fairness to them, they probably would do it - but, knowing my landlady it would turn into a replacement bathroom. The subsequent rent hike, however, would not be up my street especially given that I can do it myself for not a lot of cash.

No skirting on this one - there is a gap both sides and bottom and a bead of silicone at the top but it is all tiles.

I was going to tackle this today, but having been ill all week, it looked like a really bad idea as soon as I had the hammer in my hand. Next weekend, we will have to though.

 

Feel quite a bit more human today thanks - think it was a dose of gastroenteritis... certainly made me familiar with the room where this leak stems from!

 

Believe me, I would much rather have had a summary view! Don't think I will be listening to Johnny Cash for a while either.

 

Operation Bathtub went ahead today...

As you can see, no way in..



I did have a go at taking the grout out to see if I could release the tiles whole, but as I was working on one end, a tile at the other end fell off and broke as it did so (I think it hit the pedestal of the sink), but that put paid to any thoughts of putting them back.




Didn't take too long with the hitty-stick and then we got to the problem child...



Water had been running down the outside of the overflow pipe, making its way through to the kitchen ceiling, so I replaced the waste trap, overflow and plug (all of a tenner from Wickes) and then once tested fitted a new panel....