On Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:58:59 -0400, Tekkie®
wrote:

micky posted for all of us...



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.

Didn't you ask this question before? I remember someone did, if not you.

I think the consensus was to rip out the drywall and trace it. Or use an
inspection camera. Check the caulk around the tub... My brain fizzled out...


Had a similar situation 3 weeks ago. Got a call from a buddy who was
going in to have his hiip replacement reworked the next day - he had
water dripping from the corner of his kitchen cupbord and pocket door
frame, and wet marks along the edge of the plaster ceiling. I went
over to check. The upstairs bathroom sink was directly above the leek.
I tore down some of the soaked plaster (this was plaster over gypsum
lathe) and uncovered the plumbing to the upstairs sink. Totally dry.
Followed the water to the left (towards the outside wall) and
eventually came to the copper sewer stack and vent stack. Water was
dripping from a corroded section of the 4 inch copper pipe which ended
up being the vent stack. Knowing there would be no more damage caused
while they were gone to Toronto for his surgery we arranged for the
insurance adjuster and a plumber to come take a look when he returned
home. Ends up some animal had gotten into the vent stack and
deteriorated there - holding water and causing corrosion.

Thw solution was to totally replace the vent stack and all the drain
piping from the upstairs bathroom to the sound copper drainpipe about
3 feet down the wall - which involved removing the rest of the
cupboard above the kitchen island, the pocket door wall, and the rest
of the kitchen ceiling.

Now the insurance cmopany will have a remediation company come in and
replace the kitchen ceiling, the wall that had to be opened in the
spare bedroom to acces the bathroom plumbing, and repaint the entire
kitchen and bedroom - and possibly the dining room - and replace the
cabinets. He had the option of factory built cabinet that would not
match perfectly, or credit towards having the cabinets custom made.

I'll be building the cabinets next month after all the drywall and
paint repair is done.