My wife was getting a shower today. I was in the kitchen and I noticed a leak in the ceiling. To describe the leak its as if someone poured a cup of water, stopped, poured it again, stopped and that was it. I yelled up to my wife and she turned the water off. I checed out the drain at the front of the tub and the water supply lines. They are all OK. In the kitchen the leak seems to be near the middle of the tub. (talking to my neighbors, they have told me that there is a trap in the ceiling in the tub drain). Is that type of leak the characteristic of a trap or drum trap? I tub and sink in the bathroom drain fine, and aren't slow. I took a shower today today, and there were no leaks at all. Any thoughts? BTW my house is a dutch colonial and was built in 1925. The bathroom was redone at one point, and the drains for the tub and sink are copper pipe. Could they have just tapped into the lead pipe that was originally there, or the original trap?
Thanks,
Kevin

By chance, is your caulking good around the walls of your tub? I recently had bad caulking cause a leak like you describe.

The caulk seems to be OK. I re caulked about 6 months ago, but would like to do it again. The caulk is on the outside wall of the house though, and the leak is toward the inside of the ceiling in the kitchen, I know the water can travel, but this hasn't ever happened even when my wife once showered when I had the caulk joing out where the tub and tile meet.
Kevin

All right re checked where the leak seems to be coming from and it might be the caulk, as it is toward the side of the tub, where the caulk joint runs(the back wall of the house). What happens, does water leak back into the wall, and then accumulate somewhere, then when it gets too high, it overflows?
Kevin