Well, our house is now 10 years old. Stuffs are slowly breaking at different places. I try to fix them IF i can. Otherwise, Im gonna have to call a professional. I have some basic skills and tools to fix minor stuffs.

I just finished fixing/replacing our irrigation sprinkler main valve and control panel. Took me few days and several trips to Lowes. Watched few youtube videos and I did it. Saved me couple of hundred dollars in labor.

This morning, I noticed a new stain in the garage ceiling. It is still moist. That tells me it is new. We have 2 rooms above the garage. I can tell it’s not a broken water line as the stain is contained in one area and has not gotten bigger since this morning. My gut feeling tells me it is somewhere from the toilet area (shower, sink or toilet). Maybe the water ONLY leaks when those are being used.

I ordered a snake bore camera from Amazon today and will be delivered this afternoon. My plan is to cut a small hole from the ceiling and insert the camera and look around to see if I can find anything. This is BEFORE i start cutting the ceiling.

Any tips or suggestions from our folks here who may have had the same problem in the past???

I have a 3 story townhome and last week saw a large wet spot on the 2nd floor ceiling underneath a shower. The leak occurred after a huge storm. The roof was replaced 2 months ago. As it turns out roof debris clogged the drain and the gutter overflowed behind the siding bypassing the 3rd floor into the 2nd floor ceiling. You might want to check the attic before cutting a hole in the garage ceiling.

You're going to have to cut a hole in the ceiling. I don't think you will see much with the camera. It could be right above or several feet away. Water will run along pipes and the ceiling until it finds a low point. I've tracked down many leaks, and cutting the ceiling is most likely the way to go unless you see something leaking in a bathroom.

Also, mold can be an issue, but it is usually from a slow leak that isn't noticed right away. Since your house is just 10 years old, I'm guessing it's not copper, so a pinhole leak is not the issue. I've seen many of those over the years.

It may also be from a sink, toilet shower that only happens when they are used. Is all the caulking and grout in the shower/tub good?

When that happened to me, I found it was only wet when the kid took a shower in that bathroom. Cut a hole in the wall behind the shower (thru a cabinet) and did the look for green verdigris. After running the shower- no leak. I stood in the shower and ran it and it got wet again. Turns out the plumber didn’t place any type of caulk behind the escutcheon for the showers on/off mixer.

What was happening was as the water bounced off the person and hit the shower wall, water ran down behind the escutcheon and down the pipes to the ceiling of the room below.

Drove me bonkers to figure out.

Easy way to test is to place you fingers near the escutcheon and push into the wall and watch to see if there is a gap. If it’s caulked properly, then maybe you are gonna have to cut the ceiling open from below.

Good luck

As comet24 stated, you are going to have to cut the sheetrock where the leak is in any event.

Cut a hole large enough diameter that you can get your head and a light so you can get a good look.

Find the joists (use a finish nail and tap it in a line until you locate the joists so you know where to make the cut.)

Any staples or finish nails that may have hit a line can start leaking immediately or hold up to years before letting go.

Coated nails, minerals or water softener can affect time, and plastic vs copper. (plastic can go a very long time before leaking)

Thanks for the tips fellows. My bore snake camera just arrived. I will keep it for future use at it only cost me $25. I was staring at the stained ceiling trying to gauge myself and my capabilities. I will drive to Lowes tomorrow and buy one of those small hand saw and cut a hole. May just drill a small hole and use the scope to make sure there aren't any pipes where I will be making the cut.

But before I do that, I will inspect all sinks, toilets and shower tubs to make sure there are no obvious leaks.

All of your suggestions are greatly appreciated. This forum never ceases to amaze me. I told my wife about this forum and she is very appreciative.

I will post back tomorrow about what I find.

don't bother with a little hole you need to do an inspection and see. and fixing drywall (if that is the ceiling material) is all about the same no matter the size of the repair.

I had a small, intermittent leak on the back wall of a lower closet. The house was newer, very small amount of seepage.

I removed enough drywall around the leak, saw a screw holding a closet shelf penetrated into an upstairs bathroom drain, so no real water pressure.

It was an easy fix, then I patched things up.

If your leak is enough to be concerned about, I’d look for the least invasive way to get inside to inspect. You could look around in the upstairs bathroom drain, but it may be hard to decipher from that side.

Everything can be fixed afterwards.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Any staples or finish nails that may have hit a line can start leaking immediately or hold up to years before letting go.

Coated nails, minerals or water softener can affect time, and plastic vs copper. (plastic can go a very long time before leaking)

I can attest to this. Had leak behind sink in wall some 7 years after the house was built. Finish nail from the baseboard finally rusted enough to leak from where it had pierced the pvc in the wall.

It was above unfinished basement, so the next floor down wasn’t a total wreck, it it was annoying anyway.

Many years ago had the same issue Mike described above. Water was discoloring a spot on the living room ceiling, but it only occurred very rarely. Correlated it with visits from grandson who used the shower on the second floor during his stays. Missing caulk behind the shower knob escutcheon was the culprit.

I found the source after opening up the ceiling. It was a slow leak from the hot water T-connector (1-inch to 1/2 inch). I removed all the soaked area of the dry wall. Will patch it up after few days and letting the frame dry up.

I had to run to Lowes couple of times as I purchased the wrong T-connector the first time. That Shark Bite was easy to use. Will observe the area for few days before I patch it up to be sure there are no other leaks. Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

I tried to post pictures using IMGUR but they are coming out HUGE.

Personally I would not bury a shark bite in a wall. It’s just an O ring keeping the water from leaking and what’s the lifespan of an O ring. My dad was a plumber so take it for what it is.

I’d sweat it if it’s copper or use a crimp if it’s PEX (you can rent the tool cheaply). If it’s cpvc I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night as I’d be waiting on the inevitable failure.

I only have shark bites on hand to cap off a pipe as it’s temporary until I can get the right fitting to fix something.