I live in a 1906 Victorian house with 7 bathrooms, lots of plaster walls, and lots of woodwork. I've only been here for 2 months, and the 'trusted plumber' that knows everything about the house, and the previous owner has recommended is tied up with a commercial job until June.
About a week ago, I noticed a very small water stain coming down the wall from the ceiling. Had the wall not had wallpaper, I wouldn't have noticed it. The master bath is right above it, and I know the main drain line is right behind it. The wall is also an outside wall, and there is a steam radiator above it, so I wasn't 100% sure what was causing it.
I went upstairs, flushed the toilets a few times, ran the showers, and saw no further leak. I also went outside and caulked some flashing, etc., trying to cover all my bases.
I used the bathroom probably 10 times, took a half dozen showers, until yesterday, when I flushed the toilet, I noticed that it didn't flush right - in that almost acted as if it was clogged. I immediately ran downstairs, and noticed the ceiling was leaking. I instructed my girlfriend to turn on the shower for 5 seconds in the same bathroom (trying to isolate problem)- and it leaked even more.
There is no sign of water on the bathroom floor, or drains backing up in the bathroom.
It almost seems that when the bathrooms are used a lot in one day, the leak occurs (I had company stay over that day).
I know an obvious possible issue is that I have a bad sewer pipe, or fitting, and I need to crack the wall open to fix it, but I was trying to get ideas of other things that It may also be (if anything).
This will definitely be a job for a professional (when I find one that is trusted in my area), but until I get someone here, I want to make sure I'm as educated as possible.
Thanks!
Jim
About a week ago, I noticed a very small water stain coming down the wall from the ceiling. Had the wall not had wallpaper, I wouldn't have noticed it. The master bath is right above it, and I know the main drain line is right behind it. The wall is also an outside wall, and there is a steam radiator above it, so I wasn't 100% sure what was causing it.
I went upstairs, flushed the toilets a few times, ran the showers, and saw no further leak. I also went outside and caulked some flashing, etc., trying to cover all my bases.
I used the bathroom probably 10 times, took a half dozen showers, until yesterday, when I flushed the toilet, I noticed that it didn't flush right - in that almost acted as if it was clogged. I immediately ran downstairs, and noticed the ceiling was leaking. I instructed my girlfriend to turn on the shower for 5 seconds in the same bathroom (trying to isolate problem)- and it leaked even more.
There is no sign of water on the bathroom floor, or drains backing up in the bathroom.
It almost seems that when the bathrooms are used a lot in one day, the leak occurs (I had company stay over that day).
I know an obvious possible issue is that I have a bad sewer pipe, or fitting, and I need to crack the wall open to fix it, but I was trying to get ideas of other things that It may also be (if anything).
This will definitely be a job for a professional (when I find one that is trusted in my area), but until I get someone here, I want to make sure I'm as educated as possible.
Thanks!
Jim
