Please help with mysterious water leak

3 years ago

Hi all

I am suffering from a mysterious Water leak that is driving me crazy and proving impossible to detect. Bit of background, bought house in June 2018 (old 1930s build), noticed 4-5 months after moving in that a crack has appeared in a kitchen ceiling although I never saw an active leak. through further monitoring I noticed that a leak happens once every 2-4 weeks which drips through the ceiling and leaves a very small puddle. It is very Sporadic and very hard to pinpoint, has happened after showers, flushing etc. It is not continuous and stops immediately after that one outpouring through the ceiling. In July 2019 I had the whole bathroom remodelled (bathroom is roughly above kitchen ceiling) and had the bathroom and plumbing extensively checked for any leaks, nothing was found. I had the kitchen ceiling re-plastered assuming the matter was dealt with.

A few months later, issue reappeared. Same sort of weird frequency, once every 2-4 weeks, lasts about 10-20 seconds and has happened after showers or flushing or using the shower douche. Fast forward To now, I have paid a specialist water leak detection company almost £500 to Try to find the leak a month ago, there was nothing obvious, they checked water meter Amongst other Things, no ongoing leak. Conclusion was that the sealants around the shower need to be redone. Had that redone 2 weeks ago, was careful about any water leaking through the sealant, wiped anything. Leak happened again today.

does any one have any idea what is happening?

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Comments (8)

Daisy England
3 years ago
It’s puzzling and no doubt very frustrating. Is there a crack in the tile grout in the shower cubicle?

We had water through the ceiling in our kitchen many years ago. Someone had pulled the plug out in the bath and the pipe became disconnected and it poured through the ceiling underneath. At least we knew what it was.

Good luck. I hope you find out whats happening and get some good suggestions.
Sonia
3 years ago
I know it’s in the kitchen but have you checked your roof? Is it slate? I have a 30s slate roof and when it rained I would get a puddle of water on my bathroom window. Turns out half a slate was missing, had the slate replaced and all good. Just a thought.
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Jonathan
3 years ago
I’m with Sonia. Check outside.
I had a ceiling wet patch and it turned out there was a gap in the pointing and water got in there, travelled along a joist and left a wet patch a good metre from the source of the problem
HU-55735859
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the advice everyone. sorry If it’s an obvious question but how would you go about checking the tiles on the roof? I don’t have a ladder tall enough to reach it and I don’t think I would be comfortably going that high without any safety measures? Do I need to hire a tradesman for it?
Richard L
3 years ago
For starters try inside the roof/loft space and look around for light...

Light from the eaves is fine - light looking down the line of the roof probably fine - but if you can see light when looking up - trouble.
Daisy England
3 years ago
If you’re checking the roof get a tradesman in to do it and make sure he’s half decent and does the job correctly.
Sonia
3 years ago
I could see the broken tile which was above the bathroom. You can go the loft to check, but I got a roofer in to check the roof. There’s no way I’m going up a ladder! He changed 3 tiles and charged £80 including the slate tiles. If you are near Hitchin, Herts, I can give you his number. He’s brilliant.
Jonathan
3 years ago
I have a three storey house and you need scaffolding to work on the roof...... but to check out the roof my surveyor had a camera on a pole.

Please help with mysterious water leak

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Daisy England

Sonia

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Please help with mysterious water leak

Comments (8)

Daisy England

Sonia

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Jonathan

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Richard L

Daisy England

Sonia

Jonathan

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Original Author