Slow leak in master bathroom - what are the steps to proceed?

[Anonymous]

We have had tiny spots on our family room ceiling (under the master bathroom) which have very slowly gotten larger - it has been literally years and we've bascially ignored it because there is no obvious leak in the bathroom. When we do finally address it, how do we proceed? Do we start with insurance? With a contractor? We don't even know whats wrong. There are no unusual drips or water areas in the bathroom so we are assuming this leak is coming from a pipe we can't see? If it is a pipe leak, will insurance cover it? Do we need to wait for it to get worse for that to happen?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We had this issue a couple of months ago and fixed it ourselves. No plumber was needed. It was coming from the toilet seal, but it wasn't leaking on the floor. It had rotted. When we pulled the toilet off, I could see where the water had been dripping down into the kitchen ceiling below. That is where I would first check. You can find a video on YouTube.

Here is one that shows the kind of rubber seal we used (instead of a wax ring):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUy2F6_F8qQ

It's totally worth trying this first as it would save a lot of money. We're not super handy around the house, and this was not difficult. Took less than 30 minutes to do.

[Anonymous]

Find a handyman to fix. Fyi, you probably have mold inside the walls because you've let it go for so long.

You really shouldn't ignore these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had tiny spots on our family room ceiling (under the master bathroom) which have very slowly gotten larger - it has been literally years and we've bascially ignored it because there is no obvious leak in the bathroom. When we do finally address it, how do we proceed? Do we start with insurance? With a contractor? We don't even know whats wrong. There are no unusual drips or water areas in the bathroom so we are assuming this leak is coming from a pipe we can't see? If it is a pipe leak, will insurance cover it? Do we need to wait for it to get worse for that to happen?

Thanks.

Don't wait. There's a lot of possibilities - leak from the bath overflow preventer, cracked drain pipe, worn out toilet seal, etc. Start with a plumber - - they can open up the ceiling to figure out where the leak is. Then you'll just need a drywall repair person to close up the holes, and someone to paint the ceiling.

[Anonymous]

Why do people jump to insurance? You basically never want to have to use insurance. You'll have to have someone come in and cut up the family room ceiling to find the leak. Water flows downhill, so it's not necessarlty from the bathroom. It could be a leaking window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had this issue a couple of months ago and fixed it ourselves. No plumber was needed. It was coming from the toilet seal, but it wasn't leaking on the floor. It had rotted. When we pulled the toilet off, I could see where the water had been dripping down into the kitchen ceiling below. That is where I would first check. You can find a video on YouTube.

Here is one that shows the kind of rubber seal we used (instead of a wax ring):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUy2F6_F8qQ

It's totally worth trying this first as it would save a lot of money. We're not super handy around the house, and this was not difficult. Took less than 30 minutes to do.

OP here. Interested. The spots are nowhere near the toilet - they are near, but not underneath, the tub/shower. There is no way to lift these up or check anything without breaking/sawing tile, or alternatively cutting the drywall from below. These are both way beyond our skill level. I guess I will just call insurance since pipe leaks are theoretically covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people jump to insurance? You basically never want to have to use insurance. You'll have to have someone come in and cut up the family room ceiling to find the leak. Water flows downhill, so it's not necessarlty from the bathroom. It could be a leaking window.

I've never understood why people don't use insurance. We've used ours several times and its not affected our coverage or our rates.

[Anonymous]

We had this - water was getting behind the tile in the shower and soaking in by the shower door. The source of the problem was obvious. We were planning to demo and update bathroom anyway but when they removed the tile, the extent of the water damage was fairly significant (had small spots for 2-3 years on living room ceiling). We also had to replace pieces of wood framing that had rotted and ultimately replace drywall in the family room ceiling.

[Anonymous]

Save receipts for fixing so you can get a water adjustment in your bill

[Anonymous]

Oh and I will say that the spots didn’t correlate perfectly below where the water was coming in - the water travelled and found the lowest point to leak out of so it wasn’t clear in that the source was directly above the leak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had this issue a couple of months ago and fixed it ourselves. No plumber was needed. It was coming from the toilet seal, but it wasn't leaking on the floor. It had rotted. When we pulled the toilet off, I could see where the water had been dripping down into the kitchen ceiling below. That is where I would first check. You can find a video on YouTube.

Here is one that shows the kind of rubber seal we used (instead of a wax ring):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUy2F6_F8qQ

It's totally worth trying this first as it would save a lot of money. We're not super handy around the house, and this was not difficult. Took less than 30 minutes to do.

OP here. Interested. The spots are nowhere near the toilet - they are near, but not underneath, the tub/shower. There is no way to lift these up or check anything without breaking/sawing tile, or alternatively cutting the drywall from below. These are both way beyond our skill level. I guess I will just call insurance since pipe leaks are theoretically covered.

Cutting the drywall requires no skill. It’s a good idea to cut a hole big enough for your head and a flashlight and see what you can see before you call anyone.

[Anonymous]

Exact same thing happened to my brother's place. They let it go and then the ceiling fell in. Apparently when they had a new toilet installed in the master it was not sealed properly. TINY leak that ran along the floor and migrated 8 feet over to then to the family room.

They bathroom had to be ripped out. The floor and ceiling, etc. It was so much. There was also mold remediation. Insurance claim that took a while to fix.

Don't wait. Water can travel in odd ways and so destructive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people jump to insurance? You basically never want to have to use insurance. You'll have to have someone come in and cut up the family room ceiling to find the leak. Water flows downhill, so it's not necessarlty from the bathroom. It could be a leaking window.

I've never understood why people don't use insurance. We've used ours several times and its not affected our coverage or our rates.

Because it might prohibit you from getting insurance the next time you want it? The insurance company doesn't want you calling for every single thing. So you have a $1000 repair and a $250 deductible. Not worth going through insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had this issue a couple of months ago and fixed it ourselves. No plumber was needed. It was coming from the toilet seal, but it wasn't leaking on the floor. It had rotted. When we pulled the toilet off, I could see where the water had been dripping down into the kitchen ceiling below. That is where I would first check. You can find a video on YouTube.

Here is one that shows the kind of rubber seal we used (instead of a wax ring):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUy2F6_F8qQ

It's totally worth trying this first as it would save a lot of money. We're not super handy around the house, and this was not difficult. Took less than 30 minutes to do.

OP here. Interested. The spots are nowhere near the toilet - they are near, but not underneath, the tub/shower. There is no way to lift these up or check anything without breaking/sawing tile, or alternatively cutting the drywall from below. These are both way beyond our skill level. I guess I will just call insurance since pipe leaks are theoretically covered.

Cutting the drywall requires no skill. It’s a good idea to cut a hole big enough for your head and a flashlight and see what you can see before you call anyone.

You are going to have to do this. No other way to see where the leak is coming from. If you have a ladder, I'd check caulk on windows outside too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had this issue a couple of months ago and fixed it ourselves. No plumber was needed. It was coming from the toilet seal, but it wasn't leaking on the floor. It had rotted. When we pulled the toilet off, I could see where the water had been dripping down into the kitchen ceiling below. That is where I would first check. You can find a video on YouTube.

Here is one that shows the kind of rubber seal we used (instead of a wax ring):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUy2F6_F8qQ

It's totally worth trying this first as it would save a lot of money. We're not super handy around the house, and this was not difficult. Took less than 30 minutes to do.

OP here. Interested. The spots are nowhere near the toilet - they are near, but not underneath, the tub/shower. There is no way to lift these up or check anything without breaking/sawing tile, or alternatively cutting the drywall from below. These are both way beyond our skill level. I guess I will just call insurance since pipe leaks are theoretically covered.

Cutting the drywall requires no skill. It’s a good idea to cut a hole big enough for your head and a flashlight and see what you can see before you call anyone.

+1 Cutting drywall requires a $5 tool at Home Depot and no skill. Drywall patching a ceiling, which is painted in flat paint, requires like $20 worth of tools and no skill. It is also the first thing a plumber or handiman is going to do. Some water issues are plumbing issues, some are handiman issues. By getting eyes on the source of the problem, you can save yourself a bill from guessing wrong.

Water travels along the path of least resistance. Just because your leak is in one place, does not mean the source of the leak is directly above. Our leak was at least half the house away from the source of the problem. We also started working on diagnosing and fixing it the day it occurred so we didn't get mold or our bathroom upstairs falling down on our heads. I can't imagine ignoring it for years. Jeebus.