Concrete foundation moisture

[astrolux88]

Hello everyone,


I am not a plumbing expert by any means, but lately I've noticed a small wet spot on the outside of my home, there are no large cracks and the soil right near the foundation is dry. The foundation just seems wet, it's not soaking wet, but it appears darker, and if I put my hand on it, it's moist. The part that is wet is on an outside wall facing my shower...I guess you can picture it like this (sorry for my bad diagram)



My backyard will be show as an underscore and then this will be the foundation (|)

_______(|) (foundation) (shower tub is above facing foundation)

As you can see if you were standing right near this wet spot and facing the hardiplank siding you'd be facing my tub/shower. It's right on that outside wall near the foundation. I have checked the tile floor in the bathroom, no leaks/water seeping through, or hot spots. I've put my ear to the shower, tile, outside wall, I do NOT hear any leaks or hissing. I tried several spots, right near the outside wall, and wear the faucet is and near the bottom of the tub. The water pressure is good. I checked my water meter today it shows 280320, 30 minutes later it was still at 280320. Then I took a 15-20 minute shower, it was around 280360. I waited another 30 minutes and it was still 280360. Could this be a leak in my pipe running down through my foundation? Condensation from the shower/heat and the cold air? The wet spot isnt' making it's way down to the soil and it's not up under the hardiplank, just in this one spot. I believe I have noticed it years ago when we moved in, but it was wet outside, so it didn't alarm me, I am just concerned that it may be a pipe leaking, but shouldn't I notice a large amount of water coming out, wetting the soil, spilling out into the ground? My water bill has been the same since we moved in 47-50 dollars a month.

 

[astrolux88]

Also my home was built in 2006, not a very old home, FYI...

 

[havasu]

Where do you live? What type of piping do you have? I'm not an expert but there are numerous threads here about small pinhole leaks from plumbing in slabs. Please post some pictures of where this moisture is present and hopefully some professionals will begin to chime in soon.

 

[phishfood]

Is your shower valve located on this outside wall?

If it is, I would start looking for a leaking shower arm, which is the bent pipe that connects the shower head to the piping inside the wall.

 

[astrolux88]

I live in South Carolina, Conway to be exact. I do not have a picture right now...I am at work . I believe my piping is CPVC. A lot of my pipes running from the water heaters (I have two low boys) are CPVC, I see it written on them. The ones that feed the hot and cold are copper though, but when I look in the attic I see CPVC/plastic piping. Like I said I am not great with plumbing related stuff haha. I know how to replace cartridges, faucets, and what not, but as far as getting into piping and diagrams I am kind of lost with that. I am just concerned. If this "leak" has gone on for years, wouldn't my tile floor and carpet near the bathroom be soaked?

 

[astrolux88]

My shower faces the outside wall if that's what you mean. When I get in the tub/shower and if I point straight ahead, it would be my backyard/outside. I checked the shower head, and pulled off the little ring around it and inside is dry if that means anything.

 

[havasu]

I had a leak in a patio slab for several years, and there was no moisture present anywhere on the surface since the water flowed down into the soil.

 

[phishfood]

Remove the shower head and put a 1/2" galvanized cap on the shower arm (use thread dope or tape on it). Pull the cover plate off of the valve, and then turn the valve on. See if you can see any dripping inside of the wall.

Is the shower recessed, and is the house on a slab? Could be a shower pan liner leaking.

 

[astrolux88]

The shower isn't recessed, I suppose. It's a typical tub/shower combo, similar to this design (below). I checked behind the shower head, I didn't put a cap or anything, just let it run, and removed the covering on the back of the pipe, but it wasn't wet or dripping to the touch. And the house is on a slab. This shower has also been used as a tub when bathing our daughter, and she will usually sit in there for some time and play with toys. Would I maybe notice water creeping up through the baseboards outside the bathroom or through the tile if it was a bad shower pan?

http://www.build.com/sterling-71040...s_kwcid=AL!4215!3!49842554719!!!s!74943107963!

 

[astrolux88]

I did notice that the faucet, not the shower head, but the main spout was pulling away from the tub, there was a space, I sealed it up, but I am not 100 percent sure if that's where the leak is coming from, maybe water spilling into it or moisture? As I said, I hear no hissing in the walls, our under the tub, its not severely/extremely wet, no water is coming through the baseboards outside the bathroom, near the closet or under the tile floor right next to the tub. I also checked the shower head inside and do not feel any moisture or see a leak, but I haven't plugged it up yet as the previous poster recommended. I also have a bathroom located directly above this other bathroom, but again, no problems there. The toilet leaks a bit there, t I don't think it would cause moisture to show up on the foundation, I could be wrong. There is also a house bib located a few feet away from the foundation, it's higher up, but close by and then my overflow from the water heaters are a couple feet away from here as well, just an FYI...not sure if it's relevant. I will try to get a picture later. My main question is, does it sound bad? Is my house damaged? I am just concerned about some catastrophic slab leak, but I heard/seen those and they don't look small, they usually look like something out of a horror movie

 

[havasu]

It is good that you are trying to solve this now and not later. I'm not an expert so I am watching this thread closely, since I also have pipes in my slab.

 

[phishfood]

Your last post brought so much more into the mix, this is not something that is easy to diagnose over the internet.

I would be looking for either a very good service plumber, or a very good leak detection company.

 

[astrolux88]

Okay, well I did some basic testing this morning. After we all finished showering and getting ready I checked the gallons on the meter and it was 280490 and I came back 6-7 hours later for lunch and it's still at 280490, the moisture outside is barley noticeable now. We used that bathtub this morning and the toilet as well, the meter did show the red gauge around 3 out of 10, which that has not moved very much, there are 10 lines between each number, so it would look like 3 |||||||||| 4, etc. The gauge is now 1 notch past the 3, where before it was a little bit past 3, which I did have the ice maker on, which uses a small amount of water (I hear it making it through the day, we use a lot of ice). Either way, if there is a leak, the water meter is not showing it, and it does work, I tested it the night before when I got home, ran some sinks, and what not, and the gauge moves, and even let the water drip and the little leak indicator moves as well. I guess right now I will just keep an eye on it.

 

[astrolux88]

Here's some pictures..ignore the slug

 

[SHEPLMBR]

You would be surprised how far water will travel down the outside of a pipe until it finds it's drop point.