Plumbers or water leak savy people

[MustISO]

House is 7 years old.

This afternoon I noticed three water spots on the ceiling of our family room. It looks like water has leaked from below our water closet in the master bath to the dry wall of the room below.

There is no water damage or indication of water anywhere near the toilet so I assume it's from a pipe under the floor above the ceiling of the room below.

Do I just call a plumber or is there a specialist for this? Will they just pull up the floor near the toilet and look for a leak?

 

[smack Down]

They would be more likely to ripe up the ceiling where it is leaking. It is alot cheaper to throw some new dry wall up then to put down a new floor.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: smack Down
They would be more likely to ripe up the ceiling where it is leaking. It is alot cheaper to throw some new dry wall up then to put down a new floor.

Yep, just cut out the damaged area and look to find the leak. Drywall it pretty easy to fix.

 

[MustISO]

Thanks for the comments.

I've done some drywalling before and to me, pulling up the floor in the water closet seems to be a lot less work/mess.

Dry wall repair can be VERY messy as would cutting the hole in the ceiling. I guess if we covered everything in the room that couldn't be moved easily it might be okay.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: MustISO
Thanks for the comments.

I've done some drywalling before and to me, pulling up the floor in the water closet seems to be a lot less work/mess.

Dry wall repair can be VERY messy as would cutting the hole in the ceiling. I guess if we covered everything in the room that couldn't be moved easily it might be okay.

But if the water leaked through it's already damaged, right?If you didn't want to cover everything you could make a plastic dust zone just around the area to work on.

 

[feralkid]

You could pull the toilet, verify if the leak is at the wax ring (bottom seal).

Replace it either way; see if it still leaks.

If it stops, you can save a lot of money by using kilz and repainting the ceiling.

If it still leaks, you can go ahead and rip out the ceiling or floor, but you haven't added much more labor...worth a try.

Good luck!

 

[olds]

It could be from the tub drain too.
As mentioned, open up the ceiling and look to see where leak is coming from
Fix leak
Run water to check repair
Patch ceiling

 

[MustISO]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
It could be from the tub drain too.
As mentioned, open up the ceiling and look to see where leak is coming from
Fix leak
Run water to check repair
Patch ceiling

The tub is really far away from the toilet and the area where the leak is.

Our bathroom is like this:
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/MustISO/Bath.JPG

It may also be a very slow leak because it's not actively leaking, we just noticed the water spots today.

 

[olds]

Water (and electricity) is like a Lifer, it always takes the path of least resistance. It can run for a while before it manifests itself.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: feralkid
You could pull the toilet, verify if the leak is at the wax ring (bottom seal).

Replace it either way; see if it still leaks.

If it stops, you can save a lot of money by using kilz and repainting the ceiling.

If it still leaks, you can go ahead and rip out the ceiling or floor, but you haven't added much more labor...worth a try.

Good luck!

This is the most likely the problem, not necessarily the problem, just the most likely.

Lay down on the floor near the toilet and see if you can rock it, even a little. Also gently try to rock the tank on the toilet basin and see if there is a leak.

From that layout the shower looks like it's glass enclosed. Is that shower tile or made from plastic? Either way check all the caulk.

 

[MustISO]

This is the most likely the problem, not necessarily the problem, just the most likely.

Lay down on the floor near the toilet and see if you can rock it, even a little. Also gently try to rock the tank on the toilet basin and see if there is a leak.

From that layout the shower looks like it's glass enclosed. Is that shower tile or made from plastic? Either way check all the caulk.

The shower is tile, glass enclosed. I'll check around the shower, I'm much more suspicious of the shower than the toilet. Either way, we've never had any water above the floor. Where ever the leak is, it must be below.

Once again, thanks for all the comments.

 

[MustISO]

Okay, I removed the caulk from the base of the shower (where the floor meets the shower) and it's a mess. I pulled the floor back a little and the subfloor or whatever that is called is all black.

Looks like I have to replace the flooring in the bathroom and have them determine what to do about the floor under the linoleum.

 

[AlienCraft]

You've got water coming down around the grout and "wicking" it's way to the floor. That black stuff is mold and will remain unless removed. It can exacerbate asthma and other breathing ailments.

You'll need to determine where the water is coming from, repair that before replacing that sub-floor, lest it re-damage itself .

 

[Squisher]

Best interior mold cleaner and preventer.

If it gets to this point.

 

[MustISO]

Thanks for the info guys. I've pulled back more of the floor and the wet spot is only about 6" x 6". Doesn't look like there's any mold, I'm still not exactly sure what is leaking.

 

[ManyBeers]

The leak doesn't necessarily have to be directly above the water spots. Water can travel along joists,rafters.pipe,and conduit to finally show itself several feet from the actual leak