seeking shower leak help!

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bigV603

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I'm writing this for my husband so please pardon me if I'm not being super clear on the details. He's not home and I got the idea to post this for help.

As you can see from the pictures, we have had a very slow leak from SOMEWHERE on the inside front right-hand side corner of this shower. Noticed on the wall, the paint was becoming discolored. As you can see from the picture of that wall, we ripped off the paint/some drywall where the wetness was. It was several inches up from the floor.

Where the leak is actually visible, is in picture #2, you can see the small vertical crevice between the wall and the back wall (faucet) panel of the shower. You can see the water residue down at the bottom right of the opening. That area is where we have kept a washcloth right under for several months and it gets slightly wet after each shower use.

My husband has re-caulked the interior of this shower several times since we moved here in 2012. He is the kind of person who goes overboard and so I guess he "caulked the h*ll out of it" in order to keep water IN the shower. We've never had a shower like this one, with the the clear door/partial walls and solid side/back walls placed on top of the drywall. We are used to tile showers with no door, you just walk in.

Yesterday, he spent HOURS removing most all of the old caulk, so that he can put NEW in. But, are we going about this right?

-Why is the leak on the drywall so much higher than where it is coming OUT of the wall/channel? Is it absorbing UP?

-I read one thread where it said that you can actually caulk TOO much?! Therefore, creating a leak? So, more is not better?

One more thing, hub says there that is NO apparent water damage down in the basement BELOW where this is occurring in our bathroom.

We'd really appreciate some help here....;). Any questions, clarifications or further pictures needed, just ask.

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Sorry, our plumbers are all working overtime so they can spend the holidays at home instead of under a sink.

As a layman, I'm gunna guess your problem is either in the door seal, under the shower, or the water is coming through the 1/2" of clear silicone in that door corner. My best advice is to turn on the shower, close the door and try to watch wear the water is coming from.

Also, I just noticed your valve is also on that wall. Have you caulked around the escutcheon that surrounds your valve? Have you confirmed whether your flexible shower sprayer is spraying back into the shower head escutcheon?
 
Sorry, our plumbers are all working overtime so they can spend the holidays at home instead of under a sink.

As a layman, I'm gunna guess your problem is either in the door seal, under the shower, or the water is coming through the 1/2" of clear silicone in that door corner. My best advice is to turn on the shower, close the door and try to watch wear the water is coming from.

Also, I just noticed your valve is also on that wall. Have you caulked around the escutcheon that surrounds your valve? Have you confirmed whether your flexible shower sprayer is spraying back into the shower head escutcheon?

Spent 2 days removing all of the old caulking. Inside shower and out. Today I re-caulked and I feel like I did a great job. Hopefully better than last time.

I removed the shower handle and looked inside wall, bone dry. Leak has to be somewhere down in that corner or somewhere in the door.

IF it re-leaks, I will have a shower door guy come in and diagnose, fix. Meantime, for now, I will keep that hole in the wall opened the way it is so that I can see if it remains dry (meaning my caulking job was good) or continues to leak.
 
You may have to remove the door frame to properly seal that.
Use a water base mildew resistant caulk.

Inside where the door frame's wall rail and bottom rail meet in the corner, is a high potential place for water to leak back under that wall panel.
the only way to seal it is to remove it
 

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