Water leak???

[ineedhelp]

Hope you guys can help me...

I live in a 4 story condo building. Our unit occupies the 1st and 2nd floor. After the toliet is flushed on the 1st floor I notice a rapid dripping noise, that subsides to an occasional drip from the ceiling in the living room area. When I use the sink in the same bathroom, I only hear the dripping noise when I use the warm/hot water. I also hear the occassional dripping noise, from the same area, while running the dishwasher or washing machine. There is no evidence of water damage from the area where I hear the noise. Short of opening up the ceiling, can anyone give me any insight as to what is going on or what else I can look for? Do I have a leak or is it pipes expanding/contracting? I can't check to see if I have a leak by turning off the water and checking the meter as the units are not individually metered. If I can supply more info, please let me know. This noise is driving me crazy and I'm constantly staring at the ceiling. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Rmelo99]

First thing that comes to mind if there isn't any evidence of water leaking/dripping is that maybe you are hearing the pipes expanding.

We have a few parts of our home where the radiator piping expanding in the walls/ceiling makes "drip like" sounds.

With the exception of the toilet all the other sources you mention use hot water, not sure if it is enough heat to be causing pipe expansion rubbing noises.

Did you recently move in? What is the heating system, hot water or forced air?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Doherty Plumbing]

Hope you guys can help me...

I live in a 4 story condo building. Our unit occupies the 1st and 2nd floor. After the toliet is flushed on the 1st floor I notice a rapid dripping noise, that subsides to an occasional drip from the ceiling in the living room area. When I use the sink in the same bathroom, I only hear the dripping noise when I use the warm/hot water. I also hear the occassional dripping noise, from the same area, while running the dishwasher or washing machine. There is no evidence of water damage from the area where I hear the noise. Short of opening up the ceiling, can anyone give me any insight as to what is going on or what else I can look for? Do I have a leak or is it pipes expanding/contracting? I can't check to see if I have a leak by turning off the water and checking the meter as the units are not individually metered. If I can supply more info, please let me know. This noise is driving me crazy and I'm constantly staring at the ceiling. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Could be a leaking wax seal on the toilet.

 

[Dcelite]

Sounds like expansion. However, your toilet would have to be plumbed with hot water (which has happened before) . Have you checked the temp in the toilet tank after a few flushes?

 

[Doherty Plumbing]

Sounds like expansion. However, your toilet would have to be plumbed with hot water (which has happened before) . Have you checked the temp in the toilet tank after a few flushes?

Could be coincidental. I have seen people swear one thing was causing a problem then you do more investigating and it's a fixture 30' away from where the problem is showing it's head.

I'd atleast check the wax seal and replace it.

 

[ineedhelp]

First thing that comes to mind if there isn't any evidence of water leaking/dripping is that maybe you are hearing the pipes expanding.

We have a few parts of our home where the radiator piping expanding in the walls/ceiling makes "drip like" sounds.

With the exception of the toilet all the other sources you mention use hot water, not sure if it is enough heat to be causing pipe expansion rubbing noises.

Did you recently move in? What is the heating system, hot water or forced air?

Yes, we recently moved in about 2 months ago. I really didn't notice it until about 3 weeks ago.

The heating/air system is an Aqua Therm system. In the winter hot water is used from out hot water heater and run through the furnace to produce heat.

The water in the toliet tank is cold. I know this because the toliet handle has broken and I've had to replace it.

Lastly, how do I go about checking the wax seal. Sorry, I know very little about plumbing. I do remember during the home inspection the toliet being loose at the base. They fixed it.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

 

[hj]

leak

The first rule of any leak is, "IF it is leaking, the water will show up someplace below the leak". You do not seem to have any signs of a leak, so I would consider that the sound being caused by expansion. Even flushing the toilet could cause it because the cold water could be causing contraction which would createthe same sounds as expansion, but for a much shorter time period.

 

[ineedhelp]

The first rule of any leak is, "IF it is leaking, the water will show up someplace below the leak". You do not seem to have any signs of a leak, so I would consider that the sound being caused by expansion. Even flushing the toilet could cause it because the cold water could be causing contraction which would createthe same sounds as expansion, but for a much shorter time period.

That is what I thought, I should have seen something by now if there truly was a leak. However, the constant dripping noise just worries me.