Check out some similar questions!

qhqk · Apr 15, 2009, 05:24 PM

My bathroom ceiling started leaking last November, I left the shower on for 10 minutes or so with the bathroom door shut.

The leak started with a short thin line dripping on my ceiling at first, then the line grew irregularly long and stretched to almost the two sides of my bathroom.

Later on, I tested to see what's actually going on. Whenever I shower, the ceiling leaks. Also, the leak place is different each time. The ceiling does not look wet if shower is not on.

By the way, the apartment I'm living right now was just built last year.

I checked with upstairs neighbor, and they said they are not doing anything crazy.

I asked for the maintenance crew to come take a look, but nobody cared. I ended up taking shower in my roommate's bathroom.

Could anybody tell me what's going on in my ceiling?

21boat · Apr 15, 2009, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by ;

Could anybody tell me what's going on in my ceiling?

Sounds to me like the condensation from you showering is causing the" Leak in the ceiling"

Try a colder shorter to help confirm that. The shower door helps keep the steam/moisture in the shower.

Do you have an bathroom exhaust fan? If so use it. If not may need one.

Another experiment is shower normally with the bathroom door open ( not the shower door ) and see what changes that may make.

If all the above changes things for the better then it's a moisture/exhaust problem there.

ballengerb1 · Apr 15, 2009, 07:17 PM

I suspect othersources than condensation but nothing is impossible. Isolate the leak by filling a bucket with water friom another source and then dump it into you shower. If this causes a leak its your drain. If not turn the shower on but catch the water in a bucket. If this causes a leak its your mixing valve or showerr arm. Back to you, hey wait you say you are renting?? If maintainenec doesn't care tell them you are turning on the shower and leaving for work in 30 minutes. Tell them you left a message with the building owner too. LOL

Milo Dolezal · Apr 15, 2009, 07:51 PM

Water travels. Usually, it follows path of drywall edges and shows as long wet line on the ceiling. Since the leaks is not active 24/7, it will most likely be drain. Somebody has to inspect the upstairs shower and bathroom in general. If his inspection is inconclusive than you will have to cut a port hole in your ceiling and you will know right away where the leak is coming from...

21boat · Apr 15, 2009, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by ;

Whenever I shower, the ceiling leaks. Also, the leak place is different each time. The ceiling does not look wet if shower is not on.
Isolate the leak by filling a bucket with water friom another source and then dump it into you shower. If this causes a leak its your drain. If not turn the shower on but catch the water in a bucket. If this causes a leak its your mixing valve

Hi bal1 and Milo. Just wandering If I read this wrong which has happened.

How could a mixing valve in his shower cause a leak in HIS shower ceiling? I could see the edge of the ceiling at best or shower head could be peeing but it would have to leak in the earred L or the head hitting the ceiling. The earred L is down from the ceiling and would have to spray hard insdide the wall to make the 90 there to leak in different places in the ceiling... Aside from that it looks dry and doesn't stay wet as he states it...

Also the His drain is below his showers leaking ceiling..

It only shows water when HE uses HIS shower...

Later on, I tested to see what's actually going on. Whenever I shower, the ceiling leaks. Also, the leak place is different each time. The ceiling does not look wet if shower is not on.

Assuming the other tenant shower is up stair (I checked with upstairs neighbor, and they said they are not doing anything crazy.)
Above his ceiling (drain/ water turned) how come his shower only leaks when HE uses his shower??

Just wandering about this... Did I goof on the reading here??

Milo Dolezal · Apr 16, 2009, 02:59 AM

With my respect to the poster and his/her own description of the ongoing problem, Home-Owner usually misidentifies the cause of the problem. You have to listen to them but draw your own conclusions based on your own experiences . Example: I had a customer who claimed that every time it rains her toilet starts flushing by itself - but only at night, and another customer who claimed that her toilet was leaking "smelly yellow water" from its base every morning since the very first day we installed it. As it turned out, her small boy was missing the target...

I think poster's problem has something to do with the neighbor upstairs w/o him realizing it. Also, it could be his shower supply pipe provided that he has ceiling mounted head or that he has valve on one wall and shower head on the opposite wall. (... meaning, shower head supply pipe would travel across ceiling to the other side). Otherwise, all his non-pressurized plumbing is bellow the ceiling. I don't see the connection between him taking shower and leak on the ceiling.

There is also a possibility that he could have waste water pumped up and out from the shower through a discharge that runs through the ceiling. Here, we would need better description of his shower, its location in relation to rest of his house, and, if possible, how it was plumbed.

Yes, I agree, it could be excessive condensation inside the shower stall in combination with no primer and / or wrong paint on the ceiling. But since he is saying that it produces "...leak...", than I think it will not be condensation...

Hope, poster will come back with more info...

speedball1 · Apr 16, 2009, 06:19 AM

Guys! I'm going to assume,(until the Op tells me different) that he means the ceiling under his shower floor is what's getting wet. Doesn't make much sense that that his batroom ceiling would drip as he was showering does it?Let's attempt to nail it down. Since it only happens when he showers you have to go by the process of elimination. Bob started it out with;

Isolate the leak by filling a bucket with water friom another source and then dump it into you shower. If this causes a leak its your drain. If not turn the shower on but catch the water in a bucket. If this causes a leak its your mixing valve or showerr arm.

Let me refine it a bit. After following Bobs checks first then let's check the drain seal . Close off the drain by rermoving the strainer and jamming a large rag or blowing up a balloon in the drain. Fill the base with a inch or so of water and let it set for a while. Check the ceiling. If you see fresh water then your drain seal's ruptured. No fresh water? Let the water out and look again. If you have water now the ceiling will have to be opened up and the trap and raiser looked at.
There's a third possibility. If non of the above has your ceiling wet then take a hard look at where the shower stream hits the tile wall. If the grout has shrunk then water might be allowed to enter above the shower p0an and drip past it onto your ceiling. It's going to be one of the above. It's up to you to find out which one. When you do click on back and we'll walk you through the repair. Good luck, Tom

ballengerb1 · Apr 16, 2009, 08:31 AM

21boat, it very well could be that I misread the post. I did not catch which ceiling he was talking about so you very well could be right.

Flatman · Nov 26, 2010, 01:37 PM

Check the shower tray seal and waste pipes from the tray,your property should be covered by a warrantee from the builder contact them and be firm when you put your case forward as it's a new build water can travel in a ceiling void to odd places and then appear to be not from what you suspect is the problem further invetigation may need ceilings and walls maybe ? To be opened to find the fault keep everyone concerned in the picture and keep contacting people until things start to become resolved