Mystery flood need ideas

hjion

My plumber has not been able to figure out the cause of two leaks/floods in my bathroom. In the middle of night i could hear water running behind the wall behind my upstairs bathtub/shower. No water was turned on and everyone had been asleep for hours. I went to look for the source of the water sound and discovered water was pouring through the ceiling lights in the bathroom below. I turned off the main water to the house and called the plumber. When he came the next morning and turned the main water line to the house back on, no more water came our of the lights and everything seemed normal. He checked the toilet, tub, radiators and sinks but could find no cause. The next week the same thing happened.
We are almost afraid to leave the house because we are talking gallons and gallons of water pouring out. We turn the main water line leading to the house off whenever we go out. We have had two floods and two plumbers but they have no idea what is happening. Has anyone got any idea what can be going on?

leak

My first thought is to check the bathtub/shower. Unknown to you water could accumulate in the space between floor and ceiling below and eventually find an outlet like a light fixture.

Could be water finds it's way through the floor or through the caulking behind the faucet trim. Look in the access door to see if there are indications of water.

If there has been that much water in the ceiling below, you really must open the ceiling up anyway. It is almost a certainty that you will have to replace some drywall, and by getting in there , you may be able to see some clues about the source of the leak.

mystery leak

Thanks for your comments of the possibility of water collecting under my tub and making holes in the downstairs ceiling.
We discussed both with our plumbers. they said it couldn't be water collecting beneath the tub because he checked the tub and more importantly because the p ouring water stops when the main line is turned off.
With regard to the ceiling, the plumber says the leak may be behind the upstairs bathroom wall and doesn't want to take down the ceiling because he thinks that the two lights in the room have allowed the water to pour right out and possibly dry successfully!

There are companies that have cams to determine where water is pooling up/moisture content. That may help with standing water. I know water restoration uses them alot. I think you may have to open up part of ceiling to see whats going on.

open up the ceiling, too much at stake

pretty soon you'll be calling the mold people,you don't wan't to go there!

If you let the insurance co. know of this situation,they may cancel your insurance. I'ts not right,but it happens here in ca.
open it up ,it's the right thing to do. good luck

There are several things that can cause this. Water line piping does not just start leaking. You must open the ceiling and check the waterlines. You will find the problem.

Most insurance policies cover damage caused by burst pipes and other "sudden" flooding -- sounds like this might qualify. Since you can hear water running when it happens, there's almost certainly a leak on the supply side rather than a tub/shower leak that slowly accumulates and drains through the light fixtures. If you hear it "behind a wall", you might pull that wall and have a look. Doesn't sound like a run-of-the-mill drippy leak, which rarely can be heard -- that implies a pretty good flow.

I'm curious about the frequency of these events, and the fact that the flow apparently stops for a long period when the water is turned off. Are you on a well or city water? I ask that to see if there might be a variance in water pressure that results in a leak when the pressure is especially high. It's easy to pressure-test the whole system.

Toolaholic and Cass are on-target: pull the ceiling (I'd add the wall), find and fix the problem before the mold starts growing, or you'll have a real problem.

Count me in. Open the ceiling. Small price to pay for peace of mind.

Jason

mystery flood

Thank you for your advice, will have the plumber open the ceiling- Will they be able to find the problem now or should I wait for the next flood to call him as my plumber advised?

leak

They will find dampness and water stains on the ceiling. Follow you'r nose.

Am I correct in assuming you don't have an access door adjacent to the business end of the tub/shower to look into before you cut out ceiling?

I encountered a problem with a leaky pipe and I still haven't figured this out. While putting in a dryer vent we bumped the water line right where it enters into the house, just past the meter and it started leaking all over the place, we had just left the room and then returned and their was water all over the place. We thought the floor drain had backed up, but discovered it was the pipe, it then stopped, how is that possible?

A marginal connection may last for years before something triggers its failure. Doesn't matter if it is copper, cpvc, galvanized (more prone), etc.

What kind of pipe material is it?

Unions are often used to make replacing a water meter easier. They don't like to be moved or jarred. You might just get things dry again by tightening up the union, if there is one there.

It is copper, and stopped leaking all by itself, that's what I found odd, we had dumped a bunch off water down the floor drain, thinking that is where the problem was, then when working on the dryer vent, we had bumped the line again and it started spraying, I thought uh O, this is bad but it then stopped...

You need to figureout what and where it is leaking and repair, or you might wake up some morning with the area flooded. Suspect things are joints, unions, but sometimes pinholes. Why it would stop is weird, though. Heard of it happening, though.