Drip...drip...drip...

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Drip...drip...drip...
4
Wed, 12-28-2005 - 12:50pm

Sadly, I don't mean my morning coffee!


Last night while getting ready for bed, I noticed that we have a drip coming through our ceiling in the upstairs bathroom.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-02-2005
Wed, 12-28-2005 - 4:30pm

Hi Danni,

I feel your pain. Unfortunately, our leak is a little less obvious as to where it's coming from. It's downstairs in our living room, so it has to be from one of the upstairs bathrooms. The plumber thinks it's coming from at least one of the toilets. Lukily, it isn't so active that we have to do it immediately. We've scheduled for January 4th and it will cost about $500.

Hope you come through financially unscathed.

Della

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 12:28am
Hi, Danni. Drip, drip, drip? Leaky shower? Leaky roof? We went thru it. The bathroom wall peeled. Stains in the kitchen. Etc. Soo, we had to get a new roof last year. Thank goodness we did. The old one just could not hold up, and the house was getting damaged. Let's hope it only is leaky shower. Is it coming from the ceiling, or the shower fixtures or the roof? Dont do what DH did, and try to fix the bathroom plumbing. Why? Well, let's just say that fiasco (a while ago) entailed a huge flood from the bathroom into the living room, etc. resulting in new carpet (this was about 8 yrs ago). Best of luck to you. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 9:12am

My fingers and toes are crossed for you, Danni. I'm sorry this had to happen so close to the holidays.

Pat

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 9:24am

Della, is it possible that the leak is coming from your wax ring on your toilet?? That's basically a big ring made of wax that forms a seal between the toilet and the drainage pipe beneath in the floor. Wax rings do fail from time to time....sometimes more than mormal if the floor is uneven (such as in our upstairs bathroom). If so, this is a very easy fix, and shouldn't cost more than about $20 to remedy. I do it myself without any help at all, and I've gotten so good at it that I can usually do it in 15 minutes (my first time took a bit longer). I got the directions right off the internet. I think I searched for "How to replace a wax ring on a toilet", and I found several sites. I just picked the one that had the easiest directions.

Wax rings usually cost about $4.00

Teflon tape is about $2.00

A new set of gaskets to connect the upper tank to the bowl again (if you choose to remove the upper tank first and then the bowl--which is easier if you're doing it alone--don't want to crack the bowl when trying to move it) costs about $5

You'll also need a utility knife to seperate the toilet from the floor if it's been caulked (although I've done it with an old vegetable knife in a pinch)

You'll also need some towels and a wrench to disconnect the water pipe from the toilet, but you probably already have those two things.

I'd search on the internet for things that can cause a toilet to leak and see if you can fix the problem on your own. I've replaced every single item on my upstairs toilet in the 8 years we've been our home, except for the actual bowl itself. All the inside components and even the water line going to the toilet. Toilets are very easy and inexpensive to fix. I've even picked up tips just from going to Home Depot or Lowes and talking to the employees as I'm searching for the part that I need. They always seem to have some sort of tip that will make the job even easier. :-D

Pat