Ask the Architect

Where’s the leak coming from?

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Q. Our master bathroom was remodeled two years ago, and since then we’ve had a leak from the shower that drips into our son’s bedroom below. At first we thought the plumber could fix it, but we found out he needed someone else to put new ceiling board in and fix the ceiling before repainting. He said he’d find the leak and fix the problem, but said it was our responsibility to have someone else do the rest of the repairs, so we did. Everything was fixed, or so we thought, but two months after painting, the leak came back. This time the plumber said it must be from somewhere else and refused to fix it. So we’re stuck with a bucket in my son’s room, and different people have given estimates to do the bathroom all over again. How can we avoid this nightmare?

A. You avoid the nightmare by testing everything thoroughly to isolate the problem. My first question is, does the leaking only occur when the shower is run? Start by filling up the shower base pan but not turning on the shower. Use a large bucket filled from another location other than the bathroom. If you use a master bathroom fixture, you defeat the purpose of the test.

Keep filling the pan, which may mean having several containers standing by. Have someone standing below to watch for drips, and make sure not to let the water flow anywhere except inside the pan — don’t let any water flow onto the floor. If there’s no drip after you try this for up to a half hour, you can eliminate this as the source.

Next, turn on the shower faucet and let the water spray as it would normally. You could even do this by taking a long shower, again, with someone stationed below to watch the ceiling below. If none of this produces the leak, you need to test each of the other fixtures, one at a time. Also, if there’s an adjoining bathroom, do the same for the adjoining fixtures. It may not even be your bathroom.

If none of this isolates the problem, you’re on to the next point of inspection, which requires a professional. I’ve often looked at problems that many others couldn’t solve and spotted the source, either through testing or just by observation. The problem can appear to be coincidental — an unrelated roof leak, skylight leak, even a place where birds have dug a crevice in the siding around a window or roof connection.

As for who the responsible party is, if it was the bathroom remodel that produced the leak, then it’s obvious that any of the parties — the plumber, the contractor, the tile installers — may be the one. Piping, caulking, flooring laid without a waterproof barrier or gaps instead of overlaps, screws penetrating a pipe in the wall … the list of things I’ve seen is long.

© 2017 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.