The other night my little girl was showering upstairs when I heard water dripping DOWNSTAIRS. I looked into the downstairs bathroom and saw the light fixture half full of water and pouring everywhere + running down the walls. I shut off the light and ran upstairs to get her out of the STEEL tub.

Today I just sucked it up and started knocking out the downstairs ceiling under the tub that is upstairs. Everything was soaked.

I then ran the faucet for 10 minutes or more and checked for leaks downstairs while looking at all of the pipes with a flashlight - nothing.

Then I had my wife hit the button to turn on the shower and water came pouring down on my head.

So at least I know how to replicate the problem. But now I have bigger problems - there is no access panel. I have two bathrooms upstairs that are back to back and share the same piping - which is all copper by the way.

I removed the rings around my tub faucet - but the screw is stripped on the knob - tomorrow I guess I will drill it out so I can get a better look in there.

It's an old delta single control faucet with a push button type diverter - says "push for shower" on the trim ring.

Looking in the wall looks pretty scary - no water shutoffs and lots of sweated pipe. I turned the shower on once again while peeking inside the wall as best I could and couldn't see any dripping water. I don't know what's going on.

As for the spout itself - it should just twist off right? It seems to be pretty stuck.

Any idea what exactly I should be looking at? Is it possible this old faucet or diverter valve is somehow causing this - or will I have to rip out the wall looking for a leak someone on the pipe going up to my shower head?

Thanks.

Pull escutcheon around shower arm away from wall. Look in hole in wall with flash light for signs of water. If hole around arm is not large enough to see, enlarge it but not so big that the escutcheon will not cover it. Turn on shower to see if shower is leaking around drop ell (fitting it is screwed into).

Some tub spouts screw on and off, others simply slip on and are secured by a screw in the slot in the underside.

Hi there! Thanks for the reply.

I did pick enough of the sheetrock away to see the front of the fitting that the shower head screws into. I can't see any moisture at this point.

I cannot however see the back of this fitting. Tonight I guess my next step is to knock enough out to see the back of this fitting.

I assume the fitting is some sort of elbow? Maybe it's leaking at the back of that. My kids have one of those giant "rainfall" sort of shower heads in there with a long arm on it - and I'm sure the aren't gentle with it.

Again this is all copper pipe. Assuming I do find a break in the line I'm not sure what to do at that point. I have a torch and some solder - but I've never sweated pipe before. Is this something I could cut and then use a slip joint to solder it all back together?

Thanks.

First, locate the source of the leak. Soldering with a open flame in closed walls is always dangerous even for a experienced plumber. If a fire starts between the walls it can clime up and become a major problem and burn down your house. If you find that replacing any soldered connection is necessary we will advise you on using Sharkbite Fittings that require no solder. Let us know what's leaking and we'll walk you through the repair. Tom

First, locate the source of the leak. Soldering with a open flame in closed walls is always dangerous even for a experienced plumber. If a fire starts between the walls it can clime up and become a major problem and burn down your house. If you find that replacing any soldered connection is necessary we will advise you on using Sharkbite Fittings that require no solder. Let us know what's leaking and we'll walk you through the repair. Tom

Will do. I'm going to go home tonight - cut the opening around the shower head fitting larger - if I see nothing then I'm going to drill out the STRIPPED screw holding the faucet knob on and start pulling down the piece of the shower surround on the faucet wall.

I'll cut open the wall to expose the pipe and see if I can find the leak.

Sharkbite fittings pretty reliable? I sure don't want to end up doing this again - hah!

Thanks

You said that when wife turned shower on you got water coming through the ceiling. Later you said you turned shower on but could not see any water in the wall. Certainly seems to be shower related. Question now seems to be, is it a leaking pipe or is it where the water coming out of the shower head is going.
Pick up a 1/2 X 6" pipe nipple, a cap and some pipe dope. Put cap on nipple. Remove shower arm and screw in pipe nipple.

Turn shower on, if you have a leak anywhere in the piping you should get water down through the ceiling. Otherwise, you will have to start looking at where water out of the shower head is going and possible leaks through tile or around tub.

You can test to see if it's a leaking waste pipe, or drain connection by making a seal on the drain long enough to rule that out.

Tub/shower combo or just shower?