Robert K. Steven

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Leak in shower enclosure. Advice on how to trace, and if tradie made it worse? House is single floor on concrete slab. S...
09/12/2026

Leak in shower enclosure. Advice on how to trace, and if tradie made it worse? House is single floor on concrete slab. Shower is at least 14 years old - was here when be bought. Has been great until last month when water started seeping out the outer bottom corner of the curbing (arrow). Usually takes 10-15 minutes after a shower for it to show up. The top corner (red circle) also gets damp. At its worst, we also saw a damp spot appear independently further down (blue circle).

We got a couple quotes from shower repair places. Both proposed new grout and silicon - it had got in to a poor state so made sense. So the whole pan was re-grouted and the whole shower had silicon re-applied.

Unfortunately the leak remains. Tests I have done:

I did a soak test with 1 inch of water in the pan and no leaks, so their new sealing around the floor is fine but hasn't really addressed the main issue.

I poured water directly in to the small gap where the door jam meets the pillar (3rd pic), and do get it to leak - but this has never been sealed.

They did come back, but apart from replacing the door flap seal, nothing further was done.

I wonder if they have gone overboard with silicon inside the shower. They had originally said they identified a gap in the frame as the source of the leak, so they sealed up a gap between where the shower frame sits on top of the tiling (the tiling has a medal beading/trim sealed with grout, and the shower frame seems to sit on top). You can see the grey silicon smeared in the gap between the frame and the bead/trim in pic 5.

All I can find all over the internet is that NO internal part of a metal frame should be sealed - only the external part. Obviously this hasn't caused the leak, but I feel this will just make the situation worse? Especially as the gap is pretty small, so might be hard to extract it all the silicone mushed in there. Pics 5 & 6 did NOT have silicon before the repair. This frame also has no weep holes.

I have two questions:

Do I need to tell them to come back and sort out the unnecessary sealing on the inside of the metal frame

What else can I do to trace the leak, if the inside of this thing is not supposed to be sealed?

8 Rods of Pu-239 (~6kg), enough for criticality if they touched, taken by Los Alamos workers to ‘show off’ production am...
09/12/2026

8 Rods of Pu-239 (~6kg), enough for criticality if they touched, taken by Los Alamos workers to ‘show off’ production amounts to management

Power Carving: what did I do wrong here? I'm not sure the wisdom of posting here, partly because I may not be able to de...
09/12/2026

Power Carving: what did I do wrong here? I'm not sure the wisdom of posting here, partly because I may not be able to describe the situation sufficiently for constructive feedback and partly because the internet is awash with people looking to call anyone they can an idiot so I'm probably setting my self up for abuse (which is not to say I am not an idiot because I probably was) but let's have at it.I was trying to power carve a relatively small piece of cherry using a generic coarse grinding wheel (see photos). I had the piece clamped in my bench vise, had the side handle on the angle grinder and had both hands on the tool. I don't think I was being to aggressive because the piece was relatively small (3"x4" or so) and I didn't need to take much material off. It was going pretty well until the tool kicked back on me. When it did, it caught my shirt, which spun up into the wheel , snapped the side handle off and stalled the grinder. It was a corded model and the side handle was caught up in the mess so I was able to keep control of the grinder and step on the extension cord with one foot and kick the cord out with the other. I was unharmed but obviously, this was a mildly unnerving situation, not to mention is the end of my angle grinder.

I'm trying to figure out what when wrong. It might be a difficult ask given I can only describe what I think happened without any genuine evidence but maybe those with more experience can give me ideas of what I should do differently. I have three theories any one of which (or even a combination) might be the truth. First, I let the work piece contact the wheel too far to the back of the wheel, causing it to kick off and then catch my clothes. Second, the wheel contacted both the workpiece on one side of the wheel and the vise on the other (wood vise jaw by the way) and this caused the kickback (I was conscious of the possibility of this so I was trying to be careful of how close I got to the vise). Third, I leaned over a bit too much and my shirt caught the wheel (I think this is the least likely because I didn't need to lean over the piece and was consciously keeping my body away but I concede it's still possible).

Again, I don't really expect a detailed evaluation of what happened given the limited information I can provide but I would appreciate thoughts on what I may have done wrong and what I could do better in the future. I have little experience with power carving but I have enjoyed what little I've done. But obviously I also don't want to injure myself and this could have ended up much worse.

Fire pit in progress We are halfway through a new fire pit. Found an old propane tank at a neighbors farm. We used a pro...
09/06/2026

Fire pit in progress We are halfway through a new fire pit. Found an old propane tank at a neighbors farm. We used a projector for the images, then traced and modified the designs. It is being cut it by hand with a plasma cutter. The other side panels are a cabin scene with lake, mountain biker climbing mountains, and a pine tree forest with a Bigfoot hiding and two bear cubs. It has taken about seven hours to complete so far.

Start my TIG weld course next week. Any advice? I’ve been a MIG welder/fabricator for 6 years, looking to level up my we...
09/06/2026

Start my TIG weld course next week. Any advice? I’ve been a MIG welder/fabricator for 6 years, looking to level up my weld skills so got myself on a C&G accredited course at my local college. Any advice? Things I should know ahead of time? Really excited to level up my skills. Pictures has no context whatsoever just mega proud of this Davit arm. Used to make davit systems, best job I’ve ever had. Company shut down 6 months ago unfortunately and I’ve been on miserable production jobs ever since. Gunna level up and get a job at rolls Royce. Leave these wire slingers in my dust.

Made this stainless “minibat” for… recreation.. I have certain hobbies that require certain tools. I can’t use glass bec...
09/06/2026

Made this stainless “minibat” for… recreation.. I have certain hobbies that require certain tools. I can’t use glass because I’m super clumsy. Although paper is preferred, it isn’t always feasible. So I made this stainless bit here. Don’t mind the knurl, I know it’s kind of wack.for information and to reach the character minimum. I used a Southbend 16” model A. Everything was done on the lathe, no milling. I drilled a 1/8 hole through and used a 9/16 carbide ball to shape the side aerodynamic hole.

Latest projects
09/06/2026

Latest projects

C-channel or U-channel? Should this steel be called C-shaped channel steel or U-shaped channel steel? I've always been u...
09/06/2026

C-channel or U-channel? Should this steel be called C-shaped channel steel or U-shaped channel steel? I've always been unclear about the difference between C Channel and U Channel. Are they different, or are they just different names for the same product?

I tried doin the weld 2 cans for the first time
09/06/2026

I tried doin the weld 2 cans for the first time

Floor flanged mace my latest creation. I call it a floor flanged mace. I did the Bowser hammer so this is the Mario mace...
09/06/2026

Floor flanged mace my latest creation. I call it a floor flanged mace. I did the Bowser hammer so this is the Mario mace. Laser engraved as many characters as possible. Mario red handle. Forged the flanges to get a bowl shape. Everything here is homemade from parts you can get at a hardware store but leather. No welding. Have another mace coming soon. I call the "Necromancer". Also working on short how to build video if anybody is interested.

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Chicago, IL

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