Finding plumbing leaks in ceilings

[Terry]

Finding plumbing leaks in ceilings is always a challenge. Water tends to find the lowest point of exit, and at other times will wick it's way upward, even to the next floor. Sometimes the leak is silent, and other times alerts you with it's roar.

There are outfits that do nothing but find leaks, and then hand them off to plumbers for the fix. A moisture meter can be helpful at times. They will pick up moisture that your hand can't feel. In fact your hand has moisture already. It would have to be sopping wet to even notice by your touch.

Generally you want to start high and work your way down. In the example below, it turned out to be a water supply line to an upstairs kitchen sink. We pulled things out of the cabinet below the sink and checked there. It was dry there and dry under the dishwasher. It was wet and dripping from below the heating duct in the basement.

When I got there, a bucket was catching the water. Using the meter and measuring where the kitchen plumbing was likely to intersect I made my exploratory holes in the ceiling, finding the metal ducting and looking to locate where the pipes may be crossing over.

Bingo! I have a drip here and if I can open the other side, check for dampness I think we have it. I want to make sure that any leak over that ducting gets removed and replaced with new pipe. This pipe from the 60's has a weep coming from it. It's not on a joint, but oozing from the copper pipe.

Here you can see the water tracking from the pipe. I was lucky today. I've seen water travel a long ways but this time it was a bit easier to find.

 

[Themp]

My son had a leak show up in the ceiling during the summer and called a plumber in to find and fix it. After a few holes in the ceiling and not getting anywhere he gave up. His father-in law said, have you checked your air conditioner condense drain in the attic. Sure enough it was blocked and water was running over the tray edge and taking a long path to the family room ceiling(two story house). They now have a sensor on the tray that shuts down the A/C if this happens again.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

A leaking coupling on 2" ABS above the kitchen sink below the upstairs bathroom lavs.
The leak through the ceiling was noticed after Draino was used and showers taken.

The leaking coupling was replaced with a new section of pipe and two shielded couplings.

Before I opened up the ceiling I checked below the shower, located ten feet away to make sure it wasn't a drain leak on the pan, checking with a moisture meter. It was dry there, so in this case, the leak was right above and had not traveled.

There was some moisture heading out this way too, but not much. With the leak fixed, it will all be good.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

I have a 1/4 diameter camera on a 10ft cable that connects to my phone via WiFi... and an infared camera that are both great tools to detect leaks