The membrane under the shower tiles has failed and water is going into the wall and floor instead of the drain. It is the most common hidden repair in houses built from 1985 to 2010.
Modern showers rely on a waterproof membrane under the tiles, not the tiles themselves. Membranes installed before AS 3740 tightened in the 2000s, or installed badly since, fail at the corners, the hob and the drain. Water tracks into the frame, rots the bottom plate, lifts the tiles next door and shows up as a stain on the ceiling below or a soft skirting in the hallway. Grout and silicone are cosmetic; they are not the waterproofing.
Strip the shower base and lower wall tiles, remove the failed membrane, treat or replace rotten framing, apply a new membrane to AS 3740 with a certificate, retile. Regrout-and-seal products are a stopgap, not a fix, and they void the argument about who caused the damage if it worsens.
Indicative 2026 ranges, not quotes. All costs
No, but price it in. Walk away if the leak has been running for years and the floor joists or bottom plates are rotten across more than the bathroom, or if the same "fix" has been applied more than once.
Suburbs in our street DNA set whose era mix and soil make the leaking shower a regular. Not a survey; a pattern.
Usually not. Insurers treat failed waterproofing as gradual deterioration or a maintenance issue. Sudden burst pipes are covered; slow leaks are not.
Yes. It is a property defect, and in both SA and Victoria a shower you cannot use is an essential-service failure and an urgent repair.
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