Locating leaks between floors
 

I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick L.

Richard and Tracy Lambour wrote:

I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick L.

If you can't get contractors to take it seriously, you may
be better off looking for local "handyman". Check with
a hardware store in town (if any) and ask for references.

Jim

Richard and Tracy Lambour wrote:

I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Start by locating the fixtures upstairs and the supply lines...hopefully
you could then make an educated guess on the most efficient way the
plumbing would have been routed.

Richard and Tracy Lambour wrote:
I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick L.



Hi,
There is a specialist in finding such leaks using ultra high sensitive
microphones. Ask around or look up the yellow page.
Good luck,
Tony

"Richard and Tracy Lambour" wrote in message
...
I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips
out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping.

Whoever finds the leak will almost certain have to make some "inspection"
holes in the ceiling. A high speed cutting tool like the "rotazip" might
reduce the damage. Depending upon what needs to be down, a good sized
portion of the ceiling may have to come down.


Good luck.

You might try turning off supply to each fixture and monitoring leak.
If you don't have time for that, cutting holes in the boards is the
only answer.
A Forensic Engineer or Architect might have equipment needed to look
through a relatively small hole.

Tom Baker

Tony has the idea if you have the $, and you need a pro not an everyday
Hacko

m Ransley wrote:
Tony has the idea if you have the $, and you need a pro not an everyday
Hacko

Hi,
I know they can pin point the leaking spot.
Actually they guarantee their work if they're real pro.
What holes? What cutting?
Tony

Good point. But I think those pertain to water under pressure; i.e., fresh
water.

"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
news:NhbRd.416749$6l.300974@pd7tw2no...
Richard and Tracy Lambour wrote:
I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips
out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling
(35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to
that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and
general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said
something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is
not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just
not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick L.



Hi,
There is a specialist in finding such leaks using ultra high sensitive
microphones. Ask around or look up the yellow page.
Good luck,
Tony

Yeah, now you're talking.
An engineer or plumber with good troubleshooting skills can handle that.
Classic troubleshooting involves "divide and conquer"
Have you ruled out rainwater as your source?
Does the wetness stop if you shut off the water pressure?
How about if you just shut off the HOT water, at the hot water tank?
(Don't forget to alleviate pressure by opening faucets to relieve any valve
leakage.)
Could the wetness be arising from waste water?
Where are you located?

wrote in message
oups.com...
You might try turning off supply to each fixture and monitoring leak.
If you don't have time for that, cutting holes in the boards is the
only answer.
A Forensic Engineer or Architect might have equipment needed to look
through a relatively small hole.

Tom Baker

"John B" wrote in message
...
Yeah, now you're talking.
An engineer or plumber with good troubleshooting skills can handle that.
Classic troubleshooting involves "divide and conquer"
Have you ruled out rainwater as your source?
Does the wetness stop if you shut off the water pressure?
How about if you just shut off the HOT water, at the hot water tank?
(Don't forget to alleviate pressure by opening faucets to relieve any
valve
leakage.)
Could the wetness be arising from waste water?
Where are you located?

wrote in message
oups.com...
You might try turning off supply to each fixture and monitoring leak.
If you don't have time for that, cutting holes in the boards is the
only answer.
A Forensic Engineer or Architect might have equipment needed to look
through a relatively small hole.

Tom Baker





I'm guessing he is from the Boston area by his header....Ross

"Ross Mac" wrote
"John B" wrote

Where are you located?
I'm guessing he is from the Boston area by his header....Ross

I'm clueless. How can you tell?

I've had a similar problem, with 2 plumbers and 1 roofer just passing the
buck between themselves. I ended up opening the wall myself to locate the
leak. It was a bit messy, but I eventually found it, it was a cracked cast
iron pipe that normally carries the flat roof rain water to the sewer. Not a
large crack, but a surpising amount of water ended in the basement,
specially in the springtime.

I don't think it would have been possible to find this without opening the
walls, and I can understand why a plumber won't want to start randomly
putting holes in a wall just to diagnose the problem. If you don't want to
do this yourself, just find an experienced handyman and pay him by the hour
to make holes and find the problem. After the plumber fixes the actual
problem, the handyman can fix the walls/ceilings.

Good luck and let us know how this was resolved.

"Richard and Tracy Lambour" wrote in message
...
I have a leak somewhere between the two floors of my house (water drips
out
of a ceiling fixture hole). Due to a layer of board above my ceiling (35
year old house) I cannot see any of the piping. Who should I talk to that
may have expertise locating this leak? I have tried plumbers and general
contractors, both of whom kind of scratched their heads and said something
useful like "boy you have a problem don't you?" My goal, of course, is
not
to have to destroy large portions of the house to find the leak.

Is there any other type of person I should be talking to, or am I just not
having luck finding the right people? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rick L.

Considering this was a drain, with no pressure, couldn't it have been
discovered:
1) by noticing the leak coincided with rainfall
2) by putting a plumber's camera in the drain pipe?
That's quite the story, though!
"jstp" wrote
I've had a similar problem, with 2 plumbers and 1 roofer just passing the
buck between themselves. I ended up opening the wall myself to locate the
leak. It was a bit messy, but I eventually found it, it was a cracked cast
iron pipe that normally carries the flat roof rain water to the sewer. Not
a
large crack, but a surpising amount of water ended in the basement,
specially in the springtime.

I don't think it would have been possible to find this without opening the
walls, and I can understand why a plumber won't want to start randomly
putting holes in a wall just to diagnose the problem. If you don't want to
do this yourself, just find an experienced handyman and pay him by the
hour
to make holes and find the problem. After the plumber fixes the actual
problem, the handyman can fix the walls/ceilings.

Good luck and let us know how this was resolved.

"John B" wrote in message
...
"Ross Mac" wrote
"John B" wrote

Where are you located?
I'm guessing he is from the Boston area by his header....Ross

I'm clueless. How can you tell?



Ping Plot of IP address from header....Ross