Fix bathroom leak - through the floor or ceiling?

Dear Brownstoners, We moved into a 1910’s single family in Queens in February. We are renovating as our time and money allows. However, we have one wet and one damp spots in the ceiling of our living room directly under our bathroom on the 2nd floor. We had the toilet re-seated in July which revealed some installation problems and the wet spot seemed to dry out but didn’t solve the leak because it’s back. We called two plumbers. The one we have used for kitchen work and reseating wants to go through the ceiling. Another wants to take the toilet off and tear up the floor. We want to make sure that we only fix the plumbing once. If we go through the ceiling we will need to get someone to re-plaster the ceiling (part of the damp spot is on the curved part where the wall and ceiling come together). If we go through the floor, we are considering replacing the tiles and sink and doing a partial cosmetic renovation of the bathroom (we’ll replace the tub at a later date). Advice? The main objective is to fix the leak and not have to tear up the ceiling or floor again. Thanks, Christine

cbzee

in Plumbing 11 years ago

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cbzee | 11 years ago

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Thanks again. I’m going to re-caulk a spot in the tub and check the whole tub area. Good advice everyone!

grrlfire | 11 years ago

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Did you check the caulk line at the tub/shower. This did us in- in Bedstuy last year- I went through the ceiling. Oddly enough I used food coloring to pour down each possible location to figure out what was the leak.

cate | 11 years ago

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The only other reason I have heard to go through the floor rather than the ceiling is if you have a small space and you need to solder something, such as a copper water supply line. Then going through the ceiling could potentially cause a fire risk — or at least several different licensed plumbers have told me so. Are they right? Obviously if the leaking pipe is PVC, a lead bend, no-hub, etc., this is not going to be an issue.

bedstuytownhouse | 11 years ago

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We had the same thing happen…two bathrooms at once and on Thanksgiving morning. Go through the ceiling, 100%. Easy fix, like everyone minus the one licensed “pro” told you.

no-permits | 11 years ago

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you should delete the guys number who said to rip up the floor in the bathroom right away.

cbzee | 11 years ago

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Thanks! This feedback is helping a lot. Our in-laws suggested that we have the toilet reseated to see if that would fix our problem. Weird thing is that it seemed to as the ceiling seemed to be drying up. There were problems with the way the toilet was installed by the previous owner so we thought that we may have cheaply solved the problem. I think we do just want to fix the leak and wait on the bathroom renovation. The plumbing is probably old and all in the walls (except in the basement). Our inspector advised that when we renovate, we should replace the plumbing as we go which we did in the kitchen. The bathroom had been renovated at some point and cheaply and sloppily. There are tiles on the floor and walls and the tub was covered in vinyl. The sink is cheap. We can live with it. We will redo sink, tub, and tile probably in a couple years. So – It seems like ceiling is the way to go. My husband will feel vindicated. 🙂

cate | 11 years ago

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Good question! If you just want to fix the leaking toilet and nothing else, go through the ceiling. Fixing the plaster, even the curved part, is not that difficult or expensive. (A plaster expert, not a general contractor or drywall person, can handle the curve.) Once you open the ceiling, I suggest you tape up plastic over the hole. Any leak and its location will be immediately revealed! As to the rest of it: Is the plumbing old and could it use a re-do anyway? Is it all in the walls? Is it the original lead? What is the floor and how is the condition? What’s the aesthetic of the whole thing and do you want to change it? (Sounds like yes.) Also, I’d advise changing the tub at the same time. Will be cheaper in the long run and, depending on what you are doing, better. Also, I don’t understand what is causing the toilet leak: You reseated it, meaning the seal had cracked? That shouldn’t cause a leak.

cbzee | 11 years ago

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Thanks! Yes, pretty sure it’s not the tub and since we’ve stopped using the toilet (and not the sink or tub) for over a week (we have a second bath). We had the toilet re-seated in July and that seemed to solve it but maybe it slipped?

Rick | 11 years ago

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Be sure the leak is not coming from the bad grout or caulk line in your tub. If you are using a shower curtain be sure it is closed and not making the floor wet. Is your toilet seated correct? Wax ring with flange? If all of that is fine open up the ceiling so that you can see the plumbing. Go upstairs an run the water to find the leak. Take it from there. It’s easier to trace a leak from the ceiling and repair it than tearing out the whole floor and appliances. good luck!