[rockingbell]

Heeeeeeelp!

I came home this evening and almost fainted when my futon was all soaked up with water. Upon looking at the roof, I realized water was dripping slowly from the dry wall and the drywall had puffed up. I looked around and found that the entire patch/slab of dry wall had slight wetness around the corners/joints. This leads me to believe that there is a good amount of water on top.


The area above the ceiling is the toilet. We have a glass shower (in that toilet) and I am wondering if that's the probable cause (the drain). We also have wash basins and an unused tub and a toilet bowl (may be the cause?).

I have attached a few pictures of the leak and the bathroom shower.

Will this mean replacement of drywall as well?

What cost are we looking at (I am in the DC/Metro area) ? Does the home/hazard insurance typiclaly cover such issues?

If anyone has any suggestions on what needs to be done to fix this, I truly appreciate it.

Please, please,please do reply ASAP.

Thanks so much,

Mr.Bell

Some Pictures of the leak and the shower -

[massplumber2008]

At this point you clearly have damage!

Some of the sheetrock will need to be replaced/repaired and at a minimum more of the ceiling will need to be painted with a STAINKILL paint and then re-painted.

The leak... start by looking at obvious stuff at upstairs bathroom... look at base of toilet, wiggle toilet.. see if moves at all... may be issue here. Look at the caulking/grout at the shelf inside the shower.. anything obvious there..?

Then want to remove the shower valve handle and chrome face plate and run the shower and see if can see anything behind the wall.

Next.. I would run 1 fixture.. say the shower.. and see if starts dripping downstairs... give it time to see if will show up.

Then, if after say 15 minutes of shower no leak, then start flushing toilet and see if drip starts downstairs...

Idea is to isolate the leak to one fixture if lucky (could be the main drain or main water pipe... hope it is just one.. not mains! ).

Finally, if cannot easily isolate the leak, may need to open a section of damaged ceiling and see what is going on up there.

Take this step at a time... answer will show up soon. (you haven't had lots of rain in your area lately have you? ).

I cannot say if insurance will pay... I think they pay for plumber to fix leak, but won't fix sheetrock/paint damage.. but each policy differs.

Cost is also unknow.. simply don't know what it is at this point.

We certainly wish you luck over there.. please keep us posted as you go along.

Don't hesitate to come back and let us know if we can help more... Mark

.

[rockingbell]

Thanks Mark,

I am S$%T scared, scared to death. I rememebr I wanted to fix a minor leak on a tap and the plumber quoted me $250.

I read on other threads on this forum that this kind of shower system needs careful installtion. I hope it was installed right. I mean we bought this house 3 years back and we never had problems until now. We have a shower every day in there.

There have been few rains but not those heavy ones, more like drizzles.

Right now I see drops at a rate of maybe 1-3 drops per minute. I have a bucket under the big leak area.

I'll go check the toilet and come back in a few minutes...

Thanks again...


Mr. Bell :(

[massplumber2008]

Is this leak a constant leak..

That would suggest that there is a problem with a water pipe. If thinking water pipe.. remove the shower face plate, see what happens behind wall when running shower. Also check other shutoffs in bathroom... look under sink, around toilet shutoff, etc. Then, if nothing obvious... go shut off the main water shutoff at the meter (or shut shutoffs off that go to the 2nd floor bathroom if it was isolated in basement).

See if things dry up a bit from there.. if so, then will need to open ceiling and see what is going on up there (turn water back on... ;) )

Let me know what you find... Mark

[rockingbell]

I just checked...

The toilet bowl, basins are all 100% fine.

The shower I think is the problem. 4 weeks back I had changed the shower spray/hose. This might have made the inner joint behind the wall a little loose?

Also when I sit in the shower, I hear a drop falling "somewhere" inside like every 30 seconds...

This is giving me a shiver down my spine.

So what do we need in this case (sorry for my ignorance) a plumber and painter for the sheetrock? Or will a handman to it all?

:( Thanks for your help.

[massplumber2008]

First thing to do is to remove the shower valve handle and chrome face plate (should only need a screwdriver or an allen wrech)... see what is going on behind the wall.

Also, remove the shower arm chrome plate (slide forward on shower arm)

And again run shower.. look into wall at the threads... any leaks there..?

Start there, get back to me.

[rockingbell]

OK Mark, I'm going for it... will open that up and get back shortly... 10 minutes :)

[rockingbell]

Done. I opened the chrome disc and touched around the pipes/back of valve etc. No trace of water or leak. I opened the tap slightly still no signs.

I think it might be the drain then ?

Mr. Dead Bell

[massplumber2008]

RB:

Is the water leaking all the time.. Even when not using water..

[rockingbell]

There are 2 things...

1) water drop falling from ceiling at 1-3 drops per minute. Affected area is getting wider on ceiling.
2) I hear 1-2 drops per minute inside the glass shower. But I just can't see it anywhere in the eye range. I think noise of drops is coming from under the drain. I opened the drain cap, it's not flooded either.

[massplumber2008]

RB... tell me:

You are not using water at any of the fixtures and water continues to drip.. All night so far..

If so, most likely water pipe issue.

Let me know... please.

[rockingbell]

Yes correct... no taps open in that bathroom... none at all.

I had a shower this morning, maybe it's that clogged up water?

Yes, I haven't opened a tap there since I cam back from work.

[massplumber2008]

OK... shut off the main water shutoff (at meter). Sleep on this tonight. Watch ceiling until go to sleep...

Should see improvement and let you know that leak is stopped for now!

Then call a handyman to open cieling/clean up, expose issue if possible.

Then call in the plumber to repair issue.

Handyman comes back to patch/paint.

Let us know how it goes... Mark

[rockingbell]

OK Mark, God bless you! I will do that right away.

How do I shop for a good handyman and plumber now ? I think the plumber will have to remove the entire shower base right?

I really don't want to get ripped.

Also is it worth calling insurance to file a claim ?

How much "might" this cost me (just to get a feel)?

Thanks so much.

RB

[massplumber2008]

No... not at all.. if lucky:

I saw the photo of the ceiling.. want to start by removing ceiling in that area.

I am a thinking WATER PIPE here... not the shower base!!

Shut off the main water shutoff at the water meter tonight. See if ceiling drys up overnight. If so...leak is in water pipe and may not be too big an issue.

Handyman/plumber.. Call some friends see who they can recommend in your area. If nothing else, can always call the local city/town plumbing/building inspectors and see what recommendations they can make in terms of finding honest/reputable professionals!

Have a good night. Keep us posted. Mark

.

[rockingbell]

Thanks again and again...

Good night , did you say ? You bet :)

Good night Mark... thanks

[rockingbell]

By the way, I might have a good night if you can answer my question of probable $$$ :)

[massplumber2008]

I can't tell you anything in terms of numbers.

I think this is a water pipe... but not sure pipe type in your ceiling.. Not sure if they will be opening walls upstairs to reach this leak... too many unknowns.

Shut off water.. see if dries overnight. Can tell you more when you can tell me more.

I'm offline now. Touch base in early AM if possible.

[rockingbell]

I actually had to open up the taps midnight since my family had to use the toilets. However we did not use this specific bathroom.

Water is still dripping at the same speed for now.

Should I call the handyman to pull the ceiling out?

[rockingbell]

The water finally finally has stopped leaking it likes. But the ceiling material is very soggy at that one corner.

Could not find a single plumber to come in today. Will wait until Monday.