How to crack a bathroom tile to check for leak under bath? (with pics)

[united4ever]

See pics -

hall ceiling has signs of water staining/damage underneath bathroom (directly below where water pipes would be). Sadly the bath is tiled in and does not have an easily removed tile for inspection.

I have sealed myself and also had it done by a tiler recently too but there is clearly still damage being done.

I have decided it is worth breaking a tile to have a look to see if there is a leak. In the long run it is better than more damage being done to the ceiling below.

Also, we moved into this house 5 years and most of the taps (kitchen and downstairs loo) have leaked at some point and needed fixing so maybe the plumbing was not great.....which again compels me to think it's not the sealing.

I am not a DIY expert by any means but some questions before I do it:

I don't have any spare tiles - there is no way of doing this without damaging at least one tile is there - I am not so fussed about one replacement not looking exactly the same design....I would also like the replacement tile be easily removed for access in future....could I just silicone one in? Do tiles come in standard sizes?

From the pic - which tile would be best to remove - the one right in the bottom corner is less than half a tile so going to require cutting a tile to that size to replace - but would that tile give best visibility of leakage?

Finally - when doing this - I don't have specialist tool to cut out grout - plan is to put a chisel and hammer to the middle of the tile and crack it. Is there anything I can do to ease the grouting around the tile in advance without buying a special tool.

Thanks in advance...

Have you thought of cutting a hole through the ceiling below to gain access ?

You may also have to go through a floorboard but may not as the waste could be connected under the floor

If possible you are only in for a bit of a repair , you will need a padsaw or similar which will only be a couple of quid from screwfix

There are also companies that will reprint any tile from a scan of an original but not cheap
The whole panel should be removable

I don't know about the tile question, but just to say that I eventually (after about 6 yrs of mysterious ceiling water damage that kept reappearing) tracked the leak to the upright section of the shower screen above bath, which was not siliconed right the way up. Took 15 mins to fix. Check all the shower fittings before removing panel.

We had had the front porch re-roofed, the toilet refitted, two plumbers to inspect the bath, hours of bath panel removal & torch investigation in the spidery hole etc etc etc. Before eventually deciding to look upwards and realising. Aaaaagh.

hmm, Billysboy....how would the hole in the ceiling be fixed then? I would probably prefer to get a trade in to cut through the ceiling - would that be a plumber then?

the bit ( foot square approx ) would go back up if done carefully and then filled and decorated

You can take the bottom course off around the bath tile must be isolated i.e the grout removed you can buy a grout raker from screwfix for around 4 pounds once you have removed the tiles you might find there is no Classic seal around the bath this is a must.. as for retiling, a mosaic that matches the wall tile might be your cheapest option hope this helps.

First, have a look at the silicone seal around the top of the bath, especially if you have an over bath shower.

Check the bath overflow is tight. Check the screw in the middle of the plughole is tight.

Otherwise, the whole bath panel will need to come off because you are going to have to repair the plumbing fault.

Bathroom fitters who fix the panel so it can't be removed are doing their customers a disservice.

Most likely it is a piece of ply or chipboard and the fixing screws will be at the ends, with a batten along the floor.

You can have a go at getting the tiles off.

If you are fond if DIY you might consider getting a multicutter with a diamond coated wheel to cut through the grout lines. After you have got the first tile off they also have a cranked blade that can reach under the adjacent tile, but not far enough for your big tiles.

Assuming the fitters didn't have the sense to leave a spare box of tiles under the bath, you will need a new panel afterwards. Be sure to fix it with a few chrome-headed domed bolts so it is easy to take off next time. The bath panel does not have to be tiled. For example if the bath is white you can have a white one to match.

Have a look at your WC cistern to see if that has also been boxed in to prevent maintenance.

Could you not pull the tiles off and put a bath panel there? If it's a standard size they aren't that expensive and would give you easy access to fix the leak and get back in if there are more issues.