Before you do anything, check the date.
If that bathroom was built or renovated in the last six years, stop and read the warranty section below. Waterproofing is a major element under NSW law, and it carries a six-year warranty, which can make this the builder’s bill rather than yours.
Not sure what is leaking? Call R&G on 0461 330 531. $0 call-out fee.
A leaking shower rarely leaks from a pipe. It leaks because the water that is supposed to stay inside the shower is getting out through the floor, the wall or the joint between them.
That matters, because the fix, the cost and who pays are all different depending on which one it is.
Where the Damp Shows Up First
Hardly ever inside the shower. Almost always on the other side of something.
The usual places are the hallway or bedroom wall backing onto the shower, the skirting board on that wall, the edge of the floorboards just outside the bathroom door, and the ceiling of the room below in a two-storey house or a unit.
What you see is paint bubbling, a skirting board swelling or lifting, timber flooring cupping along one edge, a chalky white bloom on brickwork, or a tide mark that gets darker after someone showers and fades between times.
That last detail is the giveaway. Damp that tracks showering is a shower leak. Damp that stays constant regardless is more likely a pipe, and leak detection is the way to separate the two.
Three Tests That Tell You Which It Is
Do these over two or three days and you will narrow it down more than any amount of looking at tiles.
| Test | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Do not use the shower for two days. Use another bathroom | If the damp dries out, it is the shower. If it does not, it is a pipe or something else |
| Run the shower taps with the water going straight down the waste, nothing hitting the walls or floor | Damp returns: it is the tap body or pipework in the wall. Stays dry, it is the floor, walls or waste |
| Block the floor waste, add 20mm of water, leave an hour | If the water level drops or damp appears, the floor membrane or the waste connection has failed |
The useful way to tell us is the “but”. The wall is wet, but the shower looks perfect. Or it only happens when someone uses that shower but not the one upstairs. Those sentences save a visit.
One more check that costs nothing. Watch the meter with every tap in the house off, because if it moves, you have a pipe leak somewhere as well, which is a different job. The meter test is worth doing before anyone opens a wall.
What Is Usually Failing
Five candidates, and they are not equally likely.
- The waterproofing membrane under the tiles. The big one. A hidden layer that is supposed to contain any water that gets past the tiles and send it to the waste. When it fails, or was never installed properly, water goes into the floor structure and the wall frame instead
- Grout and silicone. Grout is not waterproof; it is porous, and the membrane underneath is what actually holds water back. But cracked grout and perished silicone in the floor-to-wall joint let far more water reach the membrane than it was designed for
- The floor waste connection. Where the membrane meets the drain is the single most common failure point in a shower, because it is the hardest detail to get right and every litre passes over it.
- The shower screen seal. Water escaping at the screen base or the hinge side, running out across the bathroom floor and under the skirting. Cheapest of the lot to fix
- The tap body or mixer in the wall. The only genuine plumbing leak on this list, and the one the second test above identifies. Less common than people assume
Older bathrooms are more likely to have no membrane at all, because it was not always standard practice. That is one of the recurring patterns in plumbing problems in older Sydney homes, and it is why a 1970s bathroom often cannot be repaired without being rebuilt.
If the Bathroom Was Done in the Last Six Years
This is the section that can save you thousands, and almost nobody in the trade will volunteer it.
Under the Home Building Act 1989, residential building work carries statutory warranties. The period is six years for a breach causing a major defect and two years for anything else, running from completion of the work.
The crucial part is what counts as a major element. The Act names waterproofing specifically, alongside things like foundations, walls and roofs. Building Commission NSW also lists waterproofing as an example of a major defect.
So a failed shower membrane in a bathroom completed within the last six years is not automatically your problem. It may be a statutory warranty claim against whoever did the work.
What to do with that. Find the paperwork, the contract, the invoices and the completion date, because the clock runs from completion. Raise it with the builder in writing first. If that gets nowhere, Building Commission NSW runs a free complaint service and a building inspector can issue a Rectification Order, and NCAT is the next step after that.
Two timing points matter. You generally need to start proceedings inside the warranty period, and if you discover the problem in the last six months of it,t you get an extra six months. If your period is nearly up, lodging with NCAT protects your position while everything else plays out.
In a strata building, ng the owners corporation usually makes the complaint, though an individual lot owner can if the defect only affects their lot or the owners corporation has not acted.
None of that stops you getting the leak diagnosed now. A written diagnosis is evidence, and you will want it either way.
Your Insurance Probably Does Not Cover It
Most people assume a leak is what home insurance is for. On this one, usually not.
Escape of liquid cover pays for sudden water damage. CHOICE’s review of burst pipe and leak cover notes that leaking showers are generally excluded from it, and that escape of liquid does not cover “fixing or replacing the item that leaked” in any case.
The reasoning insurers apply is that a shower leak is gradual and a maintenance matter rather than a sudden event. Whether you agree or not, it means the repair and most of the resulting damage usually sit with the owner, so check your own product disclosure statement rather than assuming.
Which is the real argument for acting early. A shower leak that runs for two years does its damage to wall frames, floor structure and the ceiling below, and none of that is covered either. It is the same slow pattern as the hidden damage minor plumbing leaks cause, just behind tiles.
Renting, or in a Unit
If you rent, report it in writing as soon as you notice it and keep the message, with photos.
Be aware that a leaking shower is not named on the NSW urgent repairs list, so it is generally a normal repair request rather than an urgent one. That is not a reason to wait. The damage compounds, and a written report dated early is what protects you if anyone later suggests the damage was yours.
In a unit, the question is whether the waterproofing is common property or part of your lot, and that depends on the building and its strata plan. Start with the strata manager rather than a trade, because the owners corporation may be responsible for both the investigation and the repair.
If water is coming through the ceiling of the apartment below, that is different, and it is urgent. Stop using the shower, tell strata immediately, and if water is actively running, emergency plumbing is the right call.
What to have ready when you call
Whether the damp dries up when the shower goes unused, roughly when the bathroom was last done, and whether anything shows on the ceiling below. Those three answers decide whether this is a reseal, a waterproofing job or a warranty claim. Call R&G on 0461 330 531. $0 call-out fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the wall outside my bathroom wet when the shower looks fine?
Because the leak is behind the tiles rather than through them. Water passes through porous grout or a failed joint, reaches the waterproofing membrane, and if that membrane or its connection to the floor waste has failed, it goes into the wall frame and floor structure instead of the drain. The tiles can look perfect throughout.
Is a leaking shower covered by home insurance?
Generally not. Leaking showers are usually excluded from escape of liquid cover, which is aimed at sudden water damage rather than gradual leaks, and escape of liquid does not cover repairing the item that leaked in any case. Check your own product disclosure statement, and do not delay the repair on the assumption you are covered.
Can I claim a failed shower waterproofing against the builder in NSW?
Possibly, if the work was completed within the last six years. The Home Building Act 1989 names waterproofing as a major element, which carries a six-year statutory warranty rather than two, and Building Commission NSW lists waterproofing as an example of a major defect. Find your completion date and paperwork, raise it with the builder in writing, and use Building Commission NSW’s free complaint service if that fails.
Can a leaking shower be fixed without removing the tiles?
Sometimes. A perished silicone joint, a shower screen seal or a tap issue can all be fixed without touching the tiling. A failed membrane or a failed waste connection usually cannot, because the membrane sits under the tiles and the bed. Which one you have is what the three tests in this post are for, and it is worth establishing before anyone quotes a strip-out.
Is a leaking shower an urgent repair in a NSW rental?
It is not named on the urgent repairs list, so it is generally a normal repair request rather than an urgent one. Report it in writing as soon as you notice it, with photos, and keep the message. The damage compounds behind the wall, and an early dated report is what protects you if the cause is ever disputed.
Find out what is leaking before you demolish anything
We diagnose shower leaks, reseal joints and screens, repair waste connections and re-waterproof where it is needed, across the Upper North Shore, the Hills District and the Parramatta and Ryde corridor. Fixed price before anything starts, no call-out fee, and a written diagnosis you can use if this turns into a warranty claim. See leaking shower repairs.
