Bathroom Leak

[Indy]

Looks like I'm up for remodeling our master bath, a lot earlier than I'd anticipated. The wife noticed water on the floor late last night and figured it was the toilet leaking. Turns out a joint between our tub faucet and the shower head has developed a nice leak. I'm not real happy considering the house is less than 4 years old. Of course this happened upstairs so now I have water in the garage ceiling, the half-bath ceiling, and probably the upstairs laundry room. :evil:

I'm thinking about taking this opportunity to add a second shower head by lowering the ceiling over the shower/tub and running my plumbing through that, rather than routing it through the existing walls. I might as well add a light or two while I'm at it. Any suggestions before I start making a mess?

[dad2jeff]

those dam repairs never happen when you want them :x . taking the water up and over sounds good with lights is nice, but do you have a fan to get rid of the steam? and make sure you dont lower the shower to much because the water mist and steam will if it. and use the green board it repells water a little better.

[SideShowCecil]

Gee, sounds a little familiar.

Only four years old, doesn’t the builder still have some responsibility? A bad plumbing connection is just poor workmanship.

[Don-Dad]

hahahaha! Good luck getting a builder do do anythig after the sale :twisted:

[Indy]

Yuck! sounds like a bit of drywall work. is your shower wall accessible from an adjoining room?

Fortunately the plumbing's in the wall between the shower and the toilet. That makes it easy to get to, and even gives me a place to sit while doing the work. :D

[SideShowCecil]

No state NHWP? Alberta builders are required to warrantee their homes for five years after the sale.

Our last home, a condo we bought brand new was covered by the ANHWP. We had the builder back at least a dozen times to address problems with the building.

[Indy]

We haven't looked at the home warranty yet, but I would expect that they'd warranty the plumbing for at least 5 years. Question is, will it just cover the repair of the leak, or will it also cover the cost to fix the walls that were damaged by water?

[mnsahd]

Indy,

Your project seems similar to mine. Momma wanted a whirlpool bathtub where the shower once was. I moved the shower head to the opposite wall by running above the ceiling that I will lower. I have two light cans and a stereo speaker that will go there.

If you do not have them already, put in shutoff valves that can be accessed in a time of need, like your situation.

Just on the other side of the faucet wall, I installed a pocket door to eliminate that thing from swinging into the bathroom.

Here are some pics: http://dreaandjer.com/dad.htm

[Jackson's Dad]

Question is, will it just cover the repair of the leak, or will it also cover the cost to fix the walls that were damaged by water?

We had one of those aftermarket home warranty products once. What a crock it was. They'd only cover what was damaged. But they too this to the literal extreme. For example, our furnance blew (in a huge mess of water and fire... very dramatic). Normally, this would be covered. But they said they'd only repair the PART the broke (if we could figure that out), not the cost of the whole furnace. They also don't cover damage done by rust or normal wear and tear... it's funny how many breakdowns can be described as being due to wear and tear, if you really try. :evil:

[jeffus]

You can use the hardiboard anywhere - awesome stuff! Very heavy and a beotch to work with, but the results will be superior, especially if you tile over it. And it'll last forever!

[sao95]

I've never had any problem working with cement board, and you can cut it just like drywall, a utility knife to score it and cut through one side of mesh, then snap it and cut the back, use a rasp for rough edges, faster than using a dremel and not as much dust either :)

[jeffus]

I only meant that it doesn't quite flex like sheetrock. If you're working in a tight spot (like my itty bitty bathroom) you appreciate a little bit of give.

[Indy]

Okay, I think I have my battle plan laid out. As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to drop the ceiling about 9" so I can run plumbing for a second shower head, as well as a light over the shower. As luck would have it, my ceiling joists run parallel to front of the tub. They're spaced two feet apart and of course the dropped ceiling is going to terminate right between the two. So here's my question for you guys--can I get away with building a header that's anchored between two walls, or do I really need to anchor this thing to the original ceiling joists? The span is 5' and the dropped ceiling is going to be 15 sq ft of 5/8" drywall. I'm guessing the framing is going to weigh as much as the drywall. I've got three walls to anchor this thing to and I really don't want to go digging through the insulation any more than I have to. I'm even considering just buying a 5' 2x8 and anchoring that to wall studs. :shock:

[sao95]

I'm trying to picture what your saying, if I'm not getting what your saying, then ignore my advice :) but your gonna drop only part of the ceiling, and it will end between two joists, is that right? And your not going to take the existing ceiling down? The problem I see is where the edge of the new ceiling meets the old ceiling, if there isn't any framing there the drywall will give and your corner will be difficult to mud, plus it will crack, the easiest way I can think of to fix it is take a couple of 2X4's and throw them between the joists in the old ceiling, then throw a 2X4 across the top and screw it to those braces, then frame the rest off of it. Like I said I'm not sure if I really got what you were saying so if not nevermind :wink: my brother in law lives in Greenwood, you want me to send him up to help :D

[Weston]

Indy will your homeowner's insurance pay for any damage that the water has done... don't know if the damage would be more than your deductable and don't even know if insurance will pay for something like that but it did for a neighbor of mine in a townhome next to us. They had a leak from the quest plumbing and from what I remember (that's been many years ago) they had most of it paid.

[Weston]

My suggestion on any header is to make sure you have vertical supports holding it up at each end (in other words don't just rely on nails or screws in existing studs.

Also it was pointed out earlier about the top where the sheetrock meets the old and having a good place to nail sheetrock to- you might need to span another board acrross the original elevation in order to be able to nail the sheetrock properly.

Really hard to figure out and explain without drawings/pics :)

[Indy]

Indy will your homeowner's insurance pay for any damage that the water has done... don't know if the damage would be more than your deductable and don't even know if insurance will pay for something like that but it did for a neighbor of mine in a townhome next to us. They had a leak from the quest plumbing and from what I remember (that's been many years ago) they had most of it paid.

I doubt there's enough damage to exceed the premium. I already made one claim last year for a whole room's worth of carpet, and they only wound up giving me about $500 after the deductable and their BS way of figuring out how much it would cost to replace everything. To top it all off, the adjuster deemed my house under-insured and up'd my policy to twice what it was.

In all, it cost me about $200 at Home Depot to get everything I needed for the repairs/upgrades. I started the project this evening and already have the drywall knocked out, the header installed, and half the plumbing finished. I enjoyed doing the demolition work, as it helped vent some frustrations. Nevermind that it looks like a bomb went off in the bathroom and the tub now looks like a dumpster what-with all the drywall that's in it. I figure I have another day or two of work before it'll all be ready to paint.

[tt3]

I'm impressed with your progress. I usually look at a job like that as sooo daunting that I daudle until my father in law comes and starts it!
Sounds like you've got it under control!

[Indy]

With luck, I'll be done with the new drywalling today, leaving me with just patching the old wall where I cut into it. I'm going to leave the wall open for another week or so just to make sure my plumbing handiwork holds--not that I don't trust my pipe-sweating skills or anything, it's just that I haven't done it for ten years.

I was able to give the shower a test-run last night, and everything went well. I think I'll splurge and get a couple of nice showerheads a little down the road.

I still have a few things left on my list, but at least I'm about done with the drywall. I rank drywall sanding right up there with re-roofing on my list of things I don't much care to do. Here's what I have left:
Prime new drywall
Paint bathroom
Install Wainscoating and trim
Connect shower light to existing circuit

While I'm up in the attic connecting the shower light, I'm also going to add a couple of can lights to my office and run the wiring for a fan in the kid's room. I might even rewire her light switch so that it does something useful, like turn on a light on the other side of the room, rather than the outlet right next to the switch. Heck, I might even add another dozen or so outlets to my office so I can get rid of a power strip or two.

[SideShowCecil]

Back when I was doing hotel maintenance work and I had to clean up after whatever job I had completed I came up with a dust free drywall sanding rig that works great.

I bought myself a small electric palm sander with a dust collection bag. It was a finishing sander with the triangular shaped hook and loop sanding pads. I removed the bag and connected it to an old Electrolux vacuum using ten feet of 1 1/4 inch sump pump drain hose. The sump pump drain hose is twenty times cheaper than dust collector accessory hose and it’s lighter and more flexible; good for overhead work. I tied the power cord of the sander to the drain hose with some electrical tape to minimise tangling. The last thing I did was butcher the wiring in the vacuum so the sander plugged into the vacuum and the vacuum power switch controlled both appliances.

That little outfit worked great. I could sand all day and have little to no dust to clean up and no shoulder pain. I still use it for the work I do around the house. The sanding pads are a little on the pricy side compared plain sandpaper but if all your sanding is light-weight drywall filler the pads will last a long time.

[Indy]

Well, it looks like my plumbing work is going to hold, so this week I'll patch the wall and do the painting and finish work. Rachel's the only one not thrilled with the second shower head, evidently it creates too much "rain".

On a side note, I ran across this web site (http://www.advancedtoilets.com/shape_round.html) earlier. Take a close look at the options presented. Anyone care to explain why a toilet seat needs a remote?

[Jackson's Dad]

Did you see that that toilet has an enema option. Not bidet, enema. Oh my word. I'd hate to hit that button by accident....

[dad305]

[/quote]Oh my word. I'd hate to hit that button by accident....

the gift that keeps on giving

Nothing better to start the morning than a good laughter...

Simply said: you guys kill me :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Actually Indy, I was sort of disappointed. When I first read our posting I thought the remote was to lift the cover.

I can think of a couple of occassions when I've needed those tenths of a second... :wink:

[Indy]

I don't know about you guys, but my toilet's only plumbed for cold water. I'm thinking about getting this seat for my in-laws... :twisted: Of course I'll keep the remote control. :toimonster:

[Indy]

I just realized they have a testimonial page, complete with commercials.