Small leak - stain on ceiling

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Jun 4th, 2020 1:45 am

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Apr 22nd, 2020 9:13 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:13 am

Small leak - stain on ceiling

Hi all. I’ve just had a plumber leave scratching this head (no fix). I’d like your opinion please.

We woke up to a stain in the ceiling about 4 inches in diameter on Tuesday morning. The stain is directly below the en-suite shower. Plumber came in today and checked the bathtub drain. He also inspected the shower drain along with all the sealing. He said they were all good. He suspects water may have leaked out of the tub or shower, but that didn’t happen.

The house is 3 years old and the shower and tub have been heavily used in those 3 years.

What would you do?

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58 replies

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:21 am

torontotim: Deal Addict; Nov 17, 2012; 3235 posts; 2198 upvotes; Toronto

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:21 am

A shower can leak from 1000 different places other than the drain. Is it a tiled shower? Acrylic insert? Is this a tub/shower combo?

It could be as simple as caulking around the shower faucet trim plate, or it could be the tiled shower was built without proper waterproofing and the entire thing needs to be ripped out.

It could be the p-trap of the shower drain wasn't glued properly and it's finally leaking.

Once you do more investigation of the shower itself in terms of it's construction etc, the next likely step is to cut the ceiling open where the leak is and see what's going on.

+1

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:29 am

Shaidin: Sr. Member; Jan 7, 2013; 708 posts; 377 upvotes; Oshawa, Ontario

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:29 am

My parents recently had a leak from their shower area, turned out to be a copper elbow fitting leaking after 30+ years

+2

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:42 am

fordmaple: Sr. Member; Nov 6, 2014; 753 posts; 1151 upvotes; Woodbridge, ON

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:42 am

Cut the ceiling open and follow the wet stains to your leak. Fix leak, patch and paint ceiling. This happened to me as the builder had damaged the rubber shower liner when they installed the drain. Had to tear up the shower floor, fix, retile, patch drywall and paint.

+2

Apr 22nd, 2020 10:38 am

jm1: Deal Addict; Jan 5, 2003; 4302 posts; 3740 upvotes; Toronto

Apr 22nd, 2020 10:38 am

Water flows along joists and pipes. The leak might not be exactly above that spot, so it'll be difficult to pinpoint the area from inside the bathroom. As others have said, there's nothing you can do except cut a hole in the drywall, then run the shower and see where it it's dripping from. At least it's not a popcorn ceiling, so it's easy to patch up.

Drywall can soak up a lot of water, so it's quite likely that the other side of the drywall is quite wet and it's now reached its saturation point.

+2

Apr 22nd, 2020 10:56 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 22nd, 2020 10:56 am

Thanks for your help so far. I’m not really digging the fact that the plumber didn’t open the ceiling up to pin point the issue. Is that wrong of me? The damage has to be fixed anyway so why wouldn’t he have done it anyway? He’s basically saying spray the stain with bin paint(?) and see if the leak comes back. Should I call back and ask to cut and inspect?

Apr 22nd, 2020 2:59 pm

TLSRULZ: Deal Addict; Apr 18, 2005; 2521 posts; 906 upvotes; Mississauga

Apr 22nd, 2020 2:59 pm

So you paid him to drive to your place and tell you the paint it back up ??

Why do you not just break the ceiling yourself and see ?

Apr 22nd, 2020 7:51 pm

Katedontbreak: Sr. Member; Aug 29, 2019; 762 posts; 326 upvotes

Apr 22nd, 2020 7:51 pm

Could it possibly be from your toilet? I've seen a stain like that after a toilet wax ring failure. It was a very slow leak, no pool of water on the floor but a very small amount of moisture on the floor at the base of the toilet.

+3

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:21 pm

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 22nd, 2020 9:21 pm

Katedontbreak wrote: ↑ Could it possibly be from your toilet? I've seen a stain like that after a toilet wax ring failure. It was a very slow leak, no pool of water on the floor but a very small amount of moisture on the floor at the base of the toilet.

I guess it could be anything at this point. Before opening the ceiling, I'm going apply some BIN primer sealer spray and see if it worsens. At this point it has fully dried. The tub, shower and toilet have been used multiple times today. From there I'll open the ceiling up and see what's up.

Apr 22nd, 2020 11:17 pm

NEMESIS_2008: Deal Addict; Mar 23, 2008; 4045 posts; 440 upvotes; Toronto

Apr 22nd, 2020 11:17 pm

I had something similar. Had a minor leak when the shower was turned on.

Try checking it out when someonr is showering.

+1

Apr 23rd, 2020 12:43 am

mrct1944: Member; May 28, 2012; 425 posts; 369 upvotes; ONT

Apr 23rd, 2020 12:43 am

We had something similar on our main floor ceiling.

Turned out my wife had used too much water cleaning the bathroom floor and some had leaked around the floor warm air vent.

+1

Apr 23rd, 2020 1:09 am

Frankie3s: Deal Fanatic; Jul 4, 2004; 8715 posts; 1659 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 1:09 am

Another thing, if you have children and they're taking a bath is it possible they tried to cover the spout where the water comes out with their hands while the water was filling the tub? The water would back flow into the wall cavity and then leak down to the ceiling.

Help an animal charity or sanctuary out today. Become a volunteer, advocate, foster a pet, or donate. They need you as much as you need them!

+1

Apr 23rd, 2020 7:42 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 7:42 am

NEMESIS_2008 wrote: ↑ I had something similar. Had a minor leak when the shower was turned on.

Try checking it out when someonr is showering.

Thanks. We left the shower running for 20 minutes when the plumber was here and there was nothing

‍♂️.

Apr 23rd, 2020 7:43 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 7:43 am

mrct1944 wrote: ↑ We had something similar on our main floor ceiling.

Turned out my wife had used too much water cleaning the bathroom floor and some had leaked around the floor warm air vent.

Thanks. Definitely not. I do the cleaning

Apr 23rd, 2020 9:10 am

MrFrugal1: Deal Addict; Jan 2, 2012; 3685 posts; 2644 upvotes; KINGSTON,ON

Apr 23rd, 2020 9:10 am

These things can be infuriating.
I'd have to agree with the plumber on the course of action. Cutting into the ceiling may reveal nothing, and now you have to patch AND paint. The leak is not pressurised (meaning supply side, before any shut off or valves) otherwise you'd have water dripping constantly. Therefore it's not a panic, drastic measures situation.

It could be from a spill/slop/poorly fitted shower curtain/shower door left open/kid doing who knows what, etc. (I've seen it all, including a woman who liked to use the shower head in a "certain fashion", that revealed poorly sealed wall perforation. It only leaked when she used the shower; so it was a bit of a puzzle

).

As Toronto Tim stated, it could be coming from a 1000 places.

Before you buy the paint, do this test. Push the spot with your finger. If the drywall is spongy at all, it means that the leak has been going on in a small way for a period of time. Wetting/drying drywall will make it go punky. If it is spongy, then you should cut into the ceiling. The leak still might not be apparent though, and you may have to watch for water as every family member uses the shower.

If the drywall is solid, buy a can of Zinnser Up Shot and repaint the spot. Home Depot Zinsser
Paint, then keep an eye on the spot.

+1

Apr 23rd, 2020 10:17 am

Katedontbreak: Sr. Member; Aug 29, 2019; 762 posts; 326 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 10:17 am

Floger78 wrote: ↑ I guess it could be anything at this point. Before opening the ceiling, I'm going apply some BIN primer sealer spray and see if it worsens. At this point it has fully dried. The tub, shower and toilet have been used multiple times today. From there I'll open the ceiling up and see what's up.

Any way to check and see if you have staining on the subfloor around the toilet? Toilet leaks are slow and sneaky, most people never even realize their toilet is leaking until they reno the bathroom.

Subsequently, if you can lift the pieces of flooring, you could also check around the base of the bathtub. If the stain came from the kids getting rambunctious in the tub and spilling water, you would see that on the subfloor as well.

Apr 23rd, 2020 10:37 am

gr8dlr: Deal Guru; Sep 1, 2005; 12581 posts; 7313 upvotes; Markham

Apr 23rd, 2020 10:37 am

What about drilling a hole, stuffing some valuable rolled Toilet paper in there and just monitor if there's a leak over time. TP wicks water very easily so you should be able to see it on the other side sticking out I think. If after a couple of weeks/month if nothing, a hole is not hard to fix (could use toothpaste in fact).

We're all bozos on the bus until we find a way to express ourselves...

Failure is always an option...just not the preferred one!

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:06 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:06 am

MrFrugal1 wrote: ↑ These things can be infuriating.
I'd have to agree with the plumber on the course of action. Cutting into the ceiling may reveal nothing, and now you have to patch AND paint. The leak is not pressurised (meaning supply side, before any shut off or valves) otherwise you'd have water dripping constantly. Therefore it's not a panic, drastic measures situation.

It could be from a spill/slop/poorly fitted shower curtain/shower door left open/kid doing who knows what, etc. (I've seen it all, including a woman who liked to use the shower head in a "certain fashion", that revealed poorly sealed wall perforation. It only leaked when she used the shower; so it was a bit of a puzzle).

As Toronto Tim stated, it could be coming from a 1000 places.

Before you buy the paint, do this test. Push the spot with your finger. If the drywall is spongy at all, it means that the leak has been going on in a small way for a period of time. Wetting/drying drywall will make it go punky. If it is spongy, then you should cut into the ceiling. The leak still might not be apparent though, and you may have to watch for water as every family member uses the shower.

If the drywall is solid, buy a can of Zinnser Up Shot and repaint the spot. Home Depot Zinsser
Paint, then keep an eye on the spot.

Solid advice and thank you Mr.Frugal1. I’ve just sprayed a coat of Zinnser for now. I’ll be keeping my eye of it and take it from there. I’ll update.

Thanks again everyone

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:09 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:09 am

Katedontbreak wrote: ↑ Any way to check and see if you have staining on the subfloor around the toilet? Toilet leaks are slow and sneaky, most people never even realize their toilet is leaking until they reno the bathroom.

Subsequently, if you can lift the pieces of flooring, you could also check around the base of the bathtub. If the stain came from the kids getting rambunctious in the tub and spilling water, you would see that on the subfloor as well.

The bathroom floor is tile and there is no sign of water or noises. My kids are young enough that they are always supervised so it’s definitely not them. I appreciate the response.

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:14 am

Floger78 [OP]: Member; Oct 14, 2017; 248 posts; 93 upvotes

Apr 23rd, 2020 11:14 am

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ What about drilling a hole, stuffing some valuable rolled Toilet paper in there and just monitor if there's a leak over time. TP wicks water very easily so you should be able to see it on the other side sticking out I think. If after a couple of weeks/month if nothing, a hole is not hard to fix (could use toothpaste in fact).

Cleaver. I like the idea. I may go that route although I don’t mind patch work. The house is new enough that the ceiling paint hasn’t discoloured. I have the original ceiling paint left with the house which is nice. It’s a small enough area that I can patch and paint in an hour or so when the time comes. The stain has a wonderful ridge that was left as well so it’s not flat anymore. I may get away with a light sanding, but I’ll probably just patch.

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