lostwong

sooo... just bought a home, we've been living in it for about 6 months and we now hear a drip between the first and second floors.

The drip occurs only when

• the kitchen taps are running
• The second floor bathroom shower is in use
• The second floor bathroom taps are running
• Someone flushes the toilet in the second floor bathroom

The drip occurs once a second roughly... and I think I might have heard a smaller second drip.

So... does anyone have any recommendations on what I should do? I considered calling a plumber but I'd feel a bit better knowing what might be the problem before calling.

Ken.

Daryl in Nanoose

It sounds like you have a hole or crack in the drain. Of course the drain is in the wall and someone will have to trace it to the souce

__________________
[url]http://edhome.shawwebspace.ca/[/url]

CraigFL

What you describe sounds like a waste pipe leak. You probably want to take care of this quickly since it will make things nasty considering the source of the water.

lostwong

Yeah, aside from the type of water damage that might be/is happening, the drip is starting to annoy me whenever I hear it.

So is there some sort of recommended practice for how to find the leak? Are there tools that I can look into buying/renting that might make my life easier?

Ken.

CraigFL

I use people with good ears to find where its dripping. Or... of course if you wait long enough, you will see the mark on the drywall...

Square Eye

Find the source of the noise from the drip.
If you must buy tools, buy a rotozip. It will cut the drywall easier than anything else.
You only need to cut a strip out about 12" wide. Follow the pipe until you find the leak. Be careful to keep the cutter just deep enough to cut the ceiling or you could cut the pipe!
Tack a straight edge 1x4 to the ceiling and you will get a much better cut.

__________________
[URL="http://www.houserepairtalk.com/announcement.php?f=39&a=6"][size=3]The Ten Commandments of House Repair Talk[/size][/URL]



[URL="http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=289528&ck="]Square Eye's home page[/URL]

Daryl in Nanoose

You say Kitchen and second floor bath, so where is the kitchen, up or down or??

__________________
[url]http://edhome.shawwebspace.ca/[/url]

lostwong

Just follow the sound of the drips? Makes sense... I guess the KISS principle wins again.

Daryl, the kitchen is located directly below the washroom... does that affect how I should go about doing this?

glennjanie

Hold on Ken!
Don't cut anything yet. First check to see if you have plastic plumbing either on the supply side or the drains.
If you do have plastic drains, you will hear water dripping in them; no harm done.
If you have plastic supply lines (PVC or CPVC) they will expand and shrink with temperatrue changes; becoming longer with hot water and shorter with cold water, still no harm done. These water lines will move through the studs or joists through holes drilled in them; if one hole is out of line it will make a popping that sounds like a leak.
I'm putting my money on the plastic pipe theory; anyone want to take me up on it?
Glenn

Daryl in Nanoose

Very good point, Did not think of that, but as far as taking you up on it, i AM A TERRIBLE GAMBLER
So just how does someone find out if this is the problem??

__________________
[url]http://edhome.shawwebspace.ca/[/url]