On Friday, June 29, 2018 at 7:00:52 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
Yesterday, I found water dripping from my dining room chandelier. This
hasnt' happened for 25 years, and when it did, it was after someoen took
a shower in the bathtub. I take showers in the shower and baths in the
bathtub.

The leak will be hard to find. Above the dining room are two bathrooms
side by side, each with a sink and a toilet, one with a shower and one
with a bathtub. Those two things are back to back. No evidence of any
of the leaking, no wetness underneath the sinks, etc. which would put
the leak inside the walls.

I don't think it's a drain pipe because I hadn't used much water prior
to noticing the drip, and I hadn't sloshed any water out of the bathtub
afaicr, certainly not enough to reach the floor below.


How do I find a leak inside the walls? Is there some clever way, like
putting a radio transmitter in the water that will beep when it gets out
of the pipe?

The alternative seems to be to take out the toilet and rip open the wall
behind it and look around. "Exploratory surgery".

I don't want to rip out the dining room ceiling because so far there is
no damage to it. The water exits through the electric box and runs down
the chandelier chain. That's what used to happen 25 years ago when it
dripped then, and there was no damage that showed up later.

Limit usage to as few fixtures as possible, monitor for the leak when
activating one at a time. If it's a supply line leak, then it should be
leaking all the time. I suppose you could put some red food coloring
in the toilet, blue in the tub, etc too. Look for missing caulk in
and around the shower.