Slow shower and tub leaks, found and fixed
Shower and tub leak damage repair in New York, NY
Stain under the bathroom that won't go away? Most shower leaks are slow and hidden. We find the layer that failed, dry the floor and joists and rebuild only what has to come out.
- Answering 24/7
- Pans, grout and drains
- Ceiling below repaired
Quick answer
A leaking shower in a New York, NY bathroom usually fails at the pan, the grout or the drain rather than the valve, and the first sign is often a stain on the ceiling below. Published guides put a full cleanup and repair of a 120-square-foot bathroom at as much as $3,000. We find the failed layer before anything is torn out.
Why shower leaks show up somewhere else
A shower sheds water off the tile and into the drain, and the waterproof layer underneath catches what gets past the grout. When that layer cracks, or the drain gasket lets go, water soaks into the subfloor a little every day. Nothing drips until the wood or mortar is saturated, which can take months.
By then the damage is usually below and around the shower: a ceiling stain in the room underneath, loose floor tile outside the curb, a soft spot in the hall. We test the shower in stages, walls then floor then drain, so the repair targets the part that actually failed.
What shower and tub leak repair costs
The layer that failed and how long it leaked set most of the price.
| Job | Typical range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full bathroom cleanup and repair, about 120 square feet | as much as $3,000 | HomeAdvisor |
| Plaster repair below, per square foot | $6 to $19 | HomeAdvisor |
| Drywall replacement after water, per square foot | $1.50 to $3 | HomeAdvisor |
These are planning ranges from published national cost guides, not a quote and not our price. We give you a written scope after we have measured the damage.
Which layer failed
Grout and sealant repairs cost far less than a new pan.
How long it leaked
Months of slow leaking means more rotted subfloor and joist to repair.
Mortar-bed floors
Thick mortar beds are heavier and slower to remove than thin-set tile.
Tile matching
Discontinued tile can mean retiling a whole wall or floor.
The ceiling below
Repairs in the unit below add plaster work and paint.
Access
Tight prewar bathrooms and building work hours slow the job.
Fixtures
Valves and drains replaced during the repair add to the total.
Targeted repair or a shower rebuild
| Targeted repair | Full shower rebuild | |
|---|---|---|
| When it fits | One failed joint, gasket or small tile area | A failed pan or widespread rot under the floor |
| What comes out | The failed grout, tile or drain parts | The shower floor, pan and lower walls |
| Drying | Local drying through a small opening | Full drying of subfloor and joists |
| Trade-off | Faster, but older tile may not match | Longer, but everything under the tile is new |
We tell you which one the readings support before any tile comes up.
Shower pan failures
The pan is the waterproof layer under the shower floor. Older mortar-bed pans and liners crack, or were never sloped to the drain, and the water they hold rots the subfloor slowly. A failed pan can't be patched from above, so the floor comes up, the subfloor dries or is replaced and a new pan goes in before tile.
Failed grout and tile joints
Grout is not waterproof on its own. Once it cracks, water gets behind the tile at the corners, the niche and the joint where the wall meets the tub. Caught early, cutting out the joint, drying behind it and resealing the corners is enough. Left for years, the backer board behind the tile softens and the wall has to be opened.
Tub overflow and drain leaks
The overflow plate and the drain shoe under a tub leak when their gaskets dry out, and only when the tub is full or draining, which makes them hard to catch. The water goes straight down into the ceiling below. We confirm it with a controlled fill test, then open the ceiling below instead of the tub surround. See ceiling leaks from above for that side of the job.
Shower leaks in older city bathrooms
Many New York bathrooms still have tile set in a thick mortar bed over wood subfloor, often with a newer shower fitted on top of an old pan. That combination holds water for a long time before anything shows below, and it's heavy to remove. In buildings where bathrooms stack, the stain usually appears in the ceiling of the bathroom downstairs first, so the repair often starts in two apartments, not one.
How we track down and repair a shower leak
Read the damage
Meters and thermal imaging map moisture around the shower and in the ceiling below.
Test in stages
We run water on the walls, then the floor, then fill the drain, to isolate the failed part.
Open the right side
We open from below or through the failed section, whichever removes less.
Dry
Subfloor and joists dry to their reference readings before anything is closed.
Rebuild
New pan, backer, tile or ceiling goes in, and we retest before handing it back.
How long a shower leak repair takes
A grout and sealant repair with local drying can wrap up in a few visits. A pan replacement takes longer because the subfloor has to test dry before the new pan goes in, and tile and grout need time to cure before the shower is used.
We give you the sequence up front, including how long the bathroom will be out of use, so you can plan around it.
The leak is rarely the fixture. We open walls behind Kohler and Moen valves and around Bradford White and Rheem water heater closets, and most of the time it's the pan, the grout or the drain that failed.
- Whirlpool
- Samsung
- LG
- Bosch
- GE Appliances
- Frigidaire
- Maytag
- Miele
- Sub-Zero
- Rheem
- Bradford White
- A. O. Smith
- Kohler
- Moen
Shower and tub leak questions
Answers for slow leaks that are hard to pin down.
Probably. Pan and drain leaks show up when the shower is used heavily and fade in between, which is why a stain comes and goes.
Sometimes. Grout, sealant and some drain leaks can be fixed from above or below. A failed pan needs the floor to come up.
Only if the grout was the problem. Regrouting over a failed pan or drain hides the leak for a while and then it returns.
A staged water test tells us: water on the walls, then on the floor with the drain plugged, then down the drain.
Slow leaks over time are often excluded, while sudden failures are more often covered. Ask your insurer; we document what we find either way.
Use another bathroom if you can. Every shower adds water to the subfloor until the failed part is fixed.
Related bathroom and leak services
Ceiling Leak Water Damage
Ceilings, walls and floors soaked by a leak from the unit or roof above.
Leak Detection
Thermal imaging and moisture mapping to find where the water actually went.
Toilet Overflow Cleanup
Bathroom and unit-below cleanup after a toilet overflows.
Appliance Leak Cleanup
Washer hoses, dishwasher and fridge lines, water heaters and AC overflows.
Water & Fire Damage Reconstruction
Kitchens, baths and basements rebuilt once the structure is dry.
Stain under the shower that keeps coming back?
Call and describe where it shows up and when. We'll tell you what the likely culprit is and how we'd test it.
Updated September 2026