Plumbing Detective Work

>>1037464
Food coloring? I don't know how many pipes you have going on, but putting different food coloring down them will tell you which one is leaking or if a main junction pipe is leaking. Then you know exactly which way to look.

>>1037467
>Food coloring?
I thought about this. I'm not sure if it's a drain pipe leaking, or a supply line (or valve, etc).
I suspect I'd have a hard time collecting enough of the dripping water to see the color.

>>1037464
Just follow the pipes man, look where it's wet.

>>1037500
>Just follow the pipes man, look where it's wet.
The upstairs pipes are all in the walls and such.
Whatever's leaking is leaking in a wall, or maybe the tub or shower upstairs.
There's no visible pipes near the leak, it's just coming through the plywood floor.

>>1037486
Just use the food coloring without diluting it. You can't mistake that.

If it is constantly leaking when you are not running water through the drains, it means that is a water main or there's a pool of water somewhere.

Sometimes you have to remove drywall just for inspection.

Old house or new house? Is there an access panel behind the bathroom wet wall?

Some fun home owner leaks I've dealt with. Remember that water sometimes do not drip straight down, it hits something and can run to a hole or low spot.

Roof leak from the vent stack flashing, bad shutoff valve, bad toilet gasket, failed tub drain gasket, bad shower valve, toilet sweating (tired of getting blamed for pissing on the floor), failed caulking around the tub/shower, corroded drain.vent pipes (drip every rain storm), damn kids not sliding the shower curtain shut and water hitting the back wall and running down the HVAC vent, bad solder joint, never nailed or screwed into a line (yet)

>>1037548
>never nailed or screwed into a line
I have. Once. I blamed the plumber for not putting a guard plate over the stud.
>commercial job - plumber came back and fixed it

>>1037464

Turn off the water main. Open a faucet in the basement and drain all the upstairs supply lines. Pour buckets of water down the drains. That should at least narrow it down to drain vs supply.

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>>1037534
>Just use the food coloring without diluting it. You can't mistake that.
I thought this would be impractically expensive, because that stuff costs about $2 an ounce, but you can buy a gallon for $10.

>>1037534
>If it is constantly leaking when you are not running water through the drains,
It's erratic, so I'm not sure if it's a drain, or maybe the valves or a pipe after the valves.
>>1037534
>Sometimes you have to remove drywall just for inspection.
Yeah, I know, but I'm hoping to avoid that.

>>1037548
>Old house or new house?
About 30 years old.
>Is there an access panel behind the bathroom wet wall?
There's one panel behind one shower, but not the tub or either toilet, or either sink.
>Remember that water sometimes do not drip straight down, it hits something and can run to a hole or low spot.
That seems to be what's happening here.
Both the upstairs bathrooms are back to back and the leak is in the middle of all that.

>failed caulking around the tub/shower
That was my frst guess, and I've already recaulked both the shower and the tub/shower.
>>1037567
>Turn off the water main. Open a faucet in the basement and drain all the upstairs supply lines. Pour buckets of water down the drains.
Wow, that's a great idea.
Gonna try that tomorrow.

I gotta say, this is a much friendlier board than /sci/ or /n/ (my regular haunts).
Thanks for all the input!

>>1037618
Tell us your pipes and fittings are all metric, see how nice we are then. Well, half of us.

>>1037618
>>Old house or new house?
>About 30 years old.
Thirty years ago galvanized sheet-metal was still being used to make a 'pan' for shower floors.

After 30 or 40 years they rust through and an invisible source of water leaking occurs.

Stop using the shower for a couple of days and use the tub instead. If the leak magically stops you know the likely source.

Pan replacement in tile showers is quite expensive.

>>1037626
>Pan replacement in tile showers is quite expensive.
The shower floor is plastic, but the walls are tile.
I've done some tile work before, and I'm confident I could re-tile the lowest part of the walls.

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>>1037626
>a 'pan' for shower floors
After posting this I decided you may need a pic to understand what the pan does.
In this pic the pan looks to be seamless vinyl but yours may be sheet-metal

>>1037627
If it's fully sealed plastic and doesn't use a pan disregard both posts.

>>1037627
>The shower floor is plastic, but the walls are tile.
Look for damaged grout between the plastic and tile.
I've been saying 'pan' but what I was actually talking about is the pan liner.
Water will pass through concrete (mortar) and between tile and through grout.
The liner diverts this water to weep holes on the sides of the drain pipe below the screen/grate visible when looking at the floor of the shower.

>>1037627
>The shower floor is plastic
'Nuther thought. The plastic floor may have been installed to get around the leaking pan liner problem.

>>1037626
>Stop using the shower for a couple of days and use the tub instead. If the leak magically stops you know the likely source.

I'd still do this. Won't cost anything and then you'd know.

>>1037631
>If it's fully sealed plastic and doesn't use a pan disregard both posts.
Looking at your diagram, I agree, it doesn't look like there's a pan.

If I'm at a job and that's the complaint, I pace out the distance, or measure with tape. Figure out at least roughly whats above the leak.

First check your meter, you should have a red needle, triangle, blue gear or such that works as a leak indicator by showing even slight water usage, you'll have to watch for a couple of minutes.

If unsure of whats directly above and you cannot be sure of water running...
Check toilets for running ballcock or slow flapper leak, do toilets refill on their own every so often?. A constant slight trickle can cling to the toilet porcelain, and end up outside the ring and drain.
While checking toilet, look for any water around where tank mounts to bowl and any marks of water running down back of toilet, or dripping from bolts. Also make sure supply and valve aren't wet.

Next check supplies/valves at sinks.

Then, drains. Are any of them slow: sink or shower/bath? slow drain/ being filled constantly will make water leak out of bad joints that otherwise wouldn't cause trouble.

Final, tub/showers. Remove or pull escutcheons away from walls, with flashlight and paper towel, look/feel for wet spots, listen for fine sprays, look for corrosion on pipes suggesting leak and near valve body seals.
Also see if spouts are loose, slight drip may end up in wall instead of dripping in tub.

Also, if AC is near that end of house, see if condensate drain is blocked/over flowing. Condensate drains in that era usually connected to a tub vent or under a lav/sink. It's also possible someone just piped it into the closest vent, did a bad job and it could leak and follow the vent down the wall.
Check AC and Water heater pans. Check water heater.

>>1037626
I somehow have never seen a sheet metal pan, I've seen tar paper or lead pans in older houses, but can't recall seeing galvanized steel pans. And I can't imagine one lasting even a few years with constant exposure to mortar/grout/water and soaps/cleaners