Hello-I have read so many of the similar leaking problems, but am having trouble distinguishing if our problem here is the same so I hope you don't mind, but I am asking for help. I apologize in advance if it is the same problem.

We have a 1950's Cape Cod in New England. We have a full bath upstairs and a half bath downstairs. We had (a couple of days ago) a clogged kitchen sink (adjacent to the downstairs half bath) and a recently clogged upstairs bathtub. I poured boiling water down the kitchen sink and it eventually became unclogged. I went upstairs to do the same (poured about the equivalent of 1 dutch oven full) and it seemed to be fine. I didn't realize that my husband had just recently (within the last 24 hours) poured drano down to fix the leak in the upstairs bathtub (only). So then we showered consecutively-first I did, then my son and then my husband. About 1 hour later we came down and noticed that leaking had started into our downstairs bedroom/closet (directly underneath where the tub is). There was a pooling line of water that has dripped slowly for now the last 10 hours. There are small water stains inside the closet (closest to where the drip is) and small leaking from the ceiling on the opposite wall in the half bath-enough leaking to watermark down the whole length of the wall (about 5 inches in width). All of these stains and pooling line of water are brand new. We did take off the access panel (on the side of the faucet to the tub) and did not smell or see anything that was wet whatsoever. Also, last month my father came out and redid a couple of tiles as there was some small water damage behind some of them because they were loose (or at least that's what we thought at the time), but we pressed on those tiles (and everywhere else) and they did not give way at all. There is definitely some regrouting we could do around the faucet heads, etc. but would that be enough for it to make it drip consecutively for this long? It seems to be slightly subsiding, but it's hard to tell since my husband has to keep wiping the ceiling with a cloth and it takes some time for the dripping to start again.

Should we start with regrouting or go right to the cutting a hole into the ceiling? We obviously don't want mold so we're trying to do what is necessary to avoid that.

Whatever help is much appreciated!

Kim

The last thing you want to do is cut the ceiling. It is almost impossible to match the ceiling texture or color. In the access behind the tub, look in there under the tub and under the floor using a mirror and flashlight. Look for leaks while running water.

I am sorry to say you do need to open that ceiling. A onetime splash of water will not cause a big issue but a leak that goes on for a few days will 100% of the time result in mold. You need to remove the drywall and discard it. Once the ceiling is down you can better see where your leak is located. I suspect that the combination of Draino and boiling water may have been just enough to eat at your drain pipes. Regrouting can sometimes stop a leak but not that often. Grout is the last line of sealing out water. Under the grout is a thinset cement which also stops water and then there is the wall material itself. If bad grout caused the leak then the thinset and the walll all had to also fail.

Thanks so much for the wonderful advice. Here's an update. I've been trying to recreate the leak. All of the leaking has stopped and the ceiling is dry again (just water stained.) So is the half bath downstairs wall too. That is completely dry. So my husband wanted me to try and recreate it. First I ran the water in the bathtub only-nothing. Then I plugged up the bathtub to about half full and then let it drain out. Nothing. Then I ran the shower. Nothing and then I took the shower head and turned it to the faucets where it needs to be grouted... and nothing. Should my next course of action to be stand in the tub while the shower is running? I also haven't tried the boiling water down the drain. Should I try that too?

Look on the rim of the tub and outside. See if water is running down the side of the tub as you shower and is leaking at the skirt of the tub at the floor.