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Posted by Pat on December 4, 2007, 12:41 am
> 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?
You call a general contractor. He will then hire the trades people he
needs. Expensive.
I would take the cover off over the valve and examine the valve closely for
leaks. Chances are you will find the problem here.
Next I would pull the shower head and pipe and make sure all was well there.
Last I would remove more sheet rock and expose the drain to check for leaks.
If you can identify the problem then you can hire the trade person that you
need.
I suspect your valve is leaking down the wall onto your ceiling. The water
may travel several feet before it exits your hole.
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