Mysterious Leak

Recently discovered a leak in our 2 story 100 year old brownstone (surprise). The leak appeared in the cieling on the first floor  and I since cut the ceiling to try and discover where the leak is coming from. It’s directly below the upstairs bathroom so naturally I thought it was coming from there. Nothing leaking since opening the ceiling. I ran the tub, shower, sink & toliet to see if it was drainage from the bathroom. So far nothing. Next I thought it was the waste exhasut pipe which passes thoruhg that same area. Poured a gallon of water from the roof and again nothing. I keep a bucket close to ceiling in case any water comes out and I noticed yesterday a tiny bit of water in there. This was 2 days after we have a woman clean for us. The bathroom has an open shower with all tile. There a few cracks in the grou, and one 1/2″  spot where the grout has come out completely. Now i”m thinking the cleaning woman may have applied so much water directly to the area where grout is cracked when cleaning and it came from there. Is this possible from some grout issues? I tried running the showere for 1 minute on the cracked grout, and still nothing. I will try some more and see……. Any suggestions or guesses? This is not a rain/leaky roof issue as it hasn’t rained in several days and some water came through this weekend. I want to fix the ceiling but not before solving this mysterious leak. Of course I will repair grout, but I want to find the leak! Thanks!

xistent

in Plumbers and Plumbing 13 years and 5 months ago

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xistent | 13 years and 5 months ago

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I just spent some time spraying water in all of the cracked grout areas, and it seems that one of the out of the way areas where the floor meets the wall, was the culprit. The reason it didnt show regularly in these days, is requires a fair bit of water in the area which is usually a result of cleaning the bathroom. Now I assume that I have to remove the cracked grout areas and regrout them. Would I need to let it dry out for long after removing the grout? It’s still open downstairs in the ceiling so there is air getting there. Should I put silicone over the areas where the floor meets the wall? Does sealer help prevent the grout from cracking? How long does new grout need to set w/o getting wet again? Thanks

greenmountain | 13 years and 5 months ago

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What did you mean to tell us here “The bathroom has an open shower with all tile.”  Do you have a tiled shower stall seperate from your baathtub?  Are you missing some grout on the floor of your shower stall?

BobMarvin | 13 years and 5 months ago

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You have to look very carefully and may need the help of an experienced plumber. When I first bought my house there was a mysterious leak underneath the top floor bathroom whenever we filled the bathtub, but not when we took a shower (in the same bathtub). My plumber father in law opened up the ceiling on the floor below to look. It turned out that a lead vent pipe was leaking. When we opened up thw wall in a top floor closet, through which the vent pipe ran, we found that a finishing nail in the baseboard had been driven into the pipe. Fixing that hole solved the problem which must have existed since the house was built in 1899\. Draining a full bathtub backed up enough water into the vent to leak out through the nail hole; I guess water from a shower wasn’t enough to leak there. This incident gave me new respect for the forensic ability of plumbers. Would that my late father in law, who HATED working on old houses,  had been willing to do more plumbing work in my house.   Your problem is probably different from mine, but if the source of the leak isn’t obvious you’d be well advised to have an experienced person look for it.

rjm | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Could be from a leak from a radiator ( hot water/steam system ) that would account for the low volume of water.

elbow | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Upstairs from me are two bathrooms. I take on water when either someone has a visitor who uses the shower curtain badly or when someone gets drunk and leaves water on. I’ve asked both parties to caulk the area around their tubs. It’s amazing what a little caulk can do.