Re: [DIY] Leak from upstairs toilet to ceiling AC vent

 

Are you sure the water is from INSIDE the vent, as opposed to using the opening as an outlet for water that's found its way inside the ceiling? If so there is a serious problem and the ductwork needs to be worked on.  But first ...

 

Check all the seals on the toilet. Is the toilet wet behind the bowl (that's the tank to bowl gasket)?  Are the bolts holding the tank onto the bowl wet (the screws are no longer tight enough to seal the water out)?  Does water spray out of the hose connecting the valve to the toilet (that would be constant and most likely dripping)?  Check the little hose inside the tank - if it got disconnected, then you might have water spraying out of it (I don't know how it happens as there is a lid, but water can spray out if that hose is loose). If the entire bottom half of the tank is wet with condensation, then you have a totally different problem.  In that case, you can be guaranteed that the hole in the floor has been leaking for a while. 

 

The sudden appearance of that much water leads me to believe that either there is a gasket leak from toilet or you live in a high humidity location and have a lot of condensation.  If it's condensation then the leak in the floor is really small and you really should remove the floor and air it out before repairs.  At this point, seriously consider the insurance - depending on your deductible.

 

If it's condensation, you have two main remedies: warm the water in the tank or dry the air in the bathroom. In some cases, I've had really cold water coming in from the street and had to add a connection to mix hot water with the water going in to the tank.  I added a valve on both sides but the one on the hot was especially useful to stop using the hot water when it was no longer needed. Doing this connection won't be easy on a second floor toilet.

 

But right now, you need to find the source of that water. 

 

 

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From: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of bigmikechen@yahoo.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2017 5:21 PM
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DIY] Leak from upstairs toilet to ceiling AC vent

 

 

The vent for our central fan/A.C. in our downstairs began dripping--a slow drip. Immediately above it is our master bathroom and shower.

I went upstairs and saw the floor by the master bathroom had flooded about a 1/2". It was last used about three hours ago and there was no water pooling at the time. I shut off the water, drained the tank, and mopped everything up with towels. As I did that, I noticed a tear/raise in the linoleum in that corner.

The dripping stopped. It also notably did NOT smell like toilet.

A few months ago, during a heat wave, that bathroom had previously flooded. I mopped it up and when the heat corrected it was totally fine.

So I think the problem tracks like this:

Something causes the toilet tank to leak.

The leak pools in the back left corner where there is a tear/raise in the linoleum.

The water travels into the floor and somehow gets in the vent.

The vent drips out to us.

Variables - I doubt these are involved but worth noting. 1) a week ago I went into the attic above the bathroom and looked at the furnace blower. I don't think there's any piping there but still. 2) I was digging up weeds in our backyard which has some piping to sprinklers. It's the end of the line and a different line, plus I didn't think I hit anything but still worth noting.

Questions:

1) What are the chances of mold?

2) Is it safe to turn on the AC/vent? Would that actually help the drying process?

3) Should we call our home insurance and just pay the deductible?

4) Is this a "get a plumber in there ASAP" issue or is this something that can wait a few days?

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Posted by: Ron Johnson <l0c0l0b0@hotmail.com>

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