|
Posted by Norminn on December 4, 2007, 8:01 am
Norminn wrote:
> Nick Danger wrote:
>
>> This should be a no-brainer, but like so many home repair tasks, it's
>> turning into an exercise in futility. A few weeks ago a dark spot
>> started appearing on the kitchen ceiling. It continued to get darker,
>> larger and turning black. It wasn't hard to figure out the problem.
>> There's a shower stall directly overhead. Fortunately it was right
>> over some cabinets, so I ripped out the sheetrock at that spot and
>> put a bucket right under the drainpipe. I still don't know exactly
>> what's leaking. I can run the shower for 20 minutes and I don't see
>> any water dripping. But the bucket always has water in it, and
>> clearly water was dripping onto the ceiling. The shower stall is
>> tiled - walls and floor. I called a plumber and he said he only does
>> plumbing, not tile work. I called a tile guy and he said he only does
>> tiles, not plumbing. Neither of them will deal with the sheetrock,
>> but I'm willing to do that job myself. I swore off doing my own
>> plumbing work years ago, when I found that even the simplest job
>> often results in something breaking that leaves the entire house
>> without water until the supply shop opens two days later. Now I don't
>> do anything more complex than replacing a washer.
>>
>> Now the question is: How can I get this simple leak fixed as a
>> one-stop-shopping operation? I don't want to call one person (plumber
>> or tile guy), have him to ten minutes work and then tell me the other
>> guy needs to take it from there, then call him and have him do ten
>> minutes work and tell me it's the first guy's job now, and keep
>> bouncing back and forth. I've tried a couple well-recommended
>> handymen, but when they hear the words tiles and plumbing, they don't
>> return my calls. Soon, all the plumbers around here will be fully
>> booked with fixing frozen pipes, so I'd like to get this taken care
>> of this month. Anyone have any suggestions?
>
>
> Wow! A real mystery! I would start at the top, look at roof and
> attic to see if there is a leak that could follow plumbing or a vent
> stack. Vents are pretty notorious for leaking, I believe. How is the
> tile? Any little holes from deteriorated grout? Since you have the
> ceiling open, perhaps you can lay newspaper under the shower and see
> if you can localize the water source a little better as the wet spot
> would be easier to see.. Shower floor is tile? Fiberglass? Tape
> some plastic over the shower drain and see if that stops leaks. If
> not, then it almost has to be the faucets, it would seem. Access
> panel to the faucets? If not, can an opening be made on other side of
> the wall? Good luck. Let us know.
Just to clarify, I would inspect the entire roof, inside and out, as
leaks can traverse a rafter or a beam and find an outlet far from where
they enter.
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap