This is a simple blog, but I had this pretty good photo of a common problem and thought I would post it. When a home inspector checks a tub and/or shower, he or she should take a look where the floor and the tub meet. At the floor, especially if it is vinyl as is so often the case, there should be caulking or water-proof trim of some sort to keep water from getting inside the gap. With vinyl, if water gets underneath, it will become dark in those spots. And, of course, water continually getting under the vinyl is not good for the underlayment or any other materials below. In extreme cases the water can end up in the crawl space. Another pet-peeve that I have is the tub/shower that has a hardwood floor around it. That seems short-sighted on the part of the person who put the two together because wood floors have no tolerance for any leaks or spillage from the tub or shower. They end up damaged most of the time. When I get a chance, I will post a photo from an inspection I did a few days back where the wood floor had rotted at the tub, bad shower curtain! In the photo below, someone had applied caulking on the vinyl and they either did a poor job or it was failing big time.
Thanks for stopping in
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham Home Inspector
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Yup, you gotta love the hard wood in the shower, silly gooses what were they thinking.
Take care!
RJH
Thanks all.
Cathy, that is not such an uncommon problem but I have usually seen it on older homes. The weight of the water and the person are substantial. In one of my rental houses, to resolve this, I put more joist support, blocking, under the tub. The side you got into was between joists and it created the problem you asked about. The blocking resolved it completely. Also, if it is fairly solid, I have had plumbers suggest that one should use a durable, yet very flexible caulking and caulk the tub when it is full of water. That way it gets down in the gap. Your builder should be able to figure this out, if he is a professional. Don't let him skate as this will be an ongoing problem otherwise.