[Jennifer288]

Hi,

Leak 1.
Last week I noticed a water stain in my ceiling below my shower. The stain is about 1 foot to the left of where the drain would be. The stain on my ceiling is in the shape of an "L" .

Leak 2.
I hope this is unrealated to Leak 1. There is a stain on my ceiling which I noticed tonight. It is right were the toilet should be, although I don't know if it's the water pipe going into the toilet or the base of the toilet. What are toilet leaks from. The floor is dry, the toilet has not overflowed. I did notice two days ago that it runs, so I shut off the water valve 2 days ago, but noticed the leak tonight. What is my first course of action with this toilet.

PS: Leak 1 and Leak 2 are on the second floor of my 11 year old home. The are in different bathrooms which are approx 40 ft apart.

I appeciate any advise. Thanks. Jennifer288

[ballengerb1]

Jennifer, we need to take these isue one at a time because they probably aren't related, I hope. Are both ceilings made of drywall? We may need to know this depending on what you find when we take apart the shower mixing valve. No need to shut the water off in the basement for this. Remove the handle on the shower valve and then the escutcheon plate, usually two screws. If you don't know how to remove the handle a brand name or pic would help us. Get the plate off and use you nad, flashlight and a small mirror to look and fell the pipes that feed the shower. Look and feel everything and use the mirror to see the floor inside the wall cavity. Come back when you are done.

[hkstroud]

Leak #1, the shower.

The most common place for a leak to occur in a shower is where the shower head arm screws into the pipe in the wall. This is especially true if you have one of those pulsating shower heads. Pull the escutcheon (that ring around the pipe), away form the wall and with a flashlight look in the hole to see if there is any signs of water.
Next remove any knobs or handles and other trim around the valve and look there for water. Is this a shower only or a tub and shower? What type of shower walls do you have, tile, fiberglass surround or one piece tub and shower? If tile walls, look for loose or missing grout. Do these things and get back to us. We have to first determine if the leak is in the supply or the drain.

Leak #2 the toilet.

Since the floor is dry and the toilet has not overflowed the most likely reason for a leak is a deteriorated wax ring. Does the toilet sit flat on the floor and not move? Replacing a wax ring is fairly easy but requires removing the toilet. If your toilet runs constantly you have a defective fill valve. If it comes on and goes off every few minutes you have a defective flush valve or flapper.

Two leaks 40' apart are not likely related

[Jennifer288]

Since I haven't used the shower since this morning, do I need to run the water first before removing the plate, so that if that's were the leak is, I will feel/see it. Thanks Jennifer288

[ballengerb1]

Good observation, this tells us it is not the supply pipe to the mixer. It could be the drain or the pipe from the mixer to the shower head. Lets try the drain first. Take a screw driver or pencil and poke a few holes about 2" apart whereverthe ceiling got wet, you need to patch anyway. Fill 3-4 buckets with water and dump them into the shower one at a time and then wait to see if the ceiling gets wet again. Come back with your results. I'll be up for a while longer.

[ballengerb1]

Jennifer, from your PM I see that the buckets of water did not wet your ceiling so the drain is probably not the issue. Now you should remove the handle and the escutcheon plate, turn on the shower and look/feel inside around the mixing valve to see if you can find any wetness. Check periodically to see that the ceiling is dripping via the holes you poked. Harold gave you the same idea. We are trying to find the leak by process of elimination. Lets keep all exchanges here on you original post so Harold can see what's happening too.