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Re: Getting Ready For a Trip and . . . %@@#$!

By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE | Recommend this post (0)
Wed, 28 Jul 21 7:39 PM | 30 view(s)
Boardmark this board | 6th Edition Pope Board 		Msg. 20729 of 53276
(This msg. is a reply to 20342 by Decomposed)
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Re: “In the floor, the running water chilled the pipe and perhaps other pipes it came in contact with, creating a major condensation problem.”That fancy explanation for how my small upstairs toilet tank leak caused a massive amount of water to come down in my garage was WRONG.

Last night was exceptionally rotten. Not only was my dog in agony, dying and spewing huge quantities of bilirubin (he couldn't stand up to pee, but once the bilirubin started coming out on its own, it continued for the rest of the night) but I also had to do two loads of laundry because of all the towels that were soiled.

Those were the first two laundry loads since returning from Virginia. The big leak in the garage was discovered two nights before the trip. Guess what? Today the garage leak returned.

The leak then and the leak now had a couple of things in common. Laundry was done both times. And torrential rainstorms occurred both times. So I wasn't sure that wash water was to blame. When the plumber blamed the toilet, I was quick to agree. The leak could also have been caused by rain on the roof finding its way down a pipe.

But the second or third time I went to the garage today, I noticed that where I walked in the puddles, I was leaving suds. At that point, I was 95% sure the washer was the culprit.

I ran an empty load just now and watched the water pour into the garage. Now I'm 100% sure where the problem lies.

I wish I could say the drain pipe was merely clogged. That would be easy to fix, but I think if that were the case water would be backing up and coming out all over the floor in the upstairs bathroom / washroom. There's no visible water there.

So this is going to involve a damaged drain pipe and probably be costly. At least I know what's causing the leak.

I'm heading to Property #2 in a few minutes. My plumber will likely be there and we'll be able to talk.

Fortunately, I don't need to do any laundry for a while.




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Getting Ready For a Trip and . . . %@@#$!
By: Decomposed in 6TH POPE
Mon, 19 Jul 21 11:55 PM 		Msg. 20342 of 53276

My wife and I are driving to Virginia tomorrow (Tuesday) to see our son. We will spend Wednesday together, as a family, and hopefully come away with some good memories. Thursday morning, my wife and son fly from Charlottesville to Sacramento. They will stay there for a week, before heading down to San Diego with Joey's grandmother. Joey will be sharing an apartment with another computer science PhD student. He will also be buying furniture from the person whose room he's taking, so he's in good shape.

I will be driving back to New Hampshire either Thursday or Friday, depending on how early of a start I can get.

I went into the garage Sunday evening to get some of the things we'll be taking with us and . . . %@@#$!. Water was dripping from the ceiling in at least four places across an area of about 8' x 15'. This was about the last thing I needed. Mildew is on a lot of the sheetrock, so it's been dripping for a number of days. I haven't been in that part of the garage much lately, so I can't be more precise. The affected area isn't far from the upstairs bathroom, so the toilet was what I suspected first. I checked out its tank and . . . the exterior bottom of the tank was wet. So, culprit found. Probably found, anyway.

Under other circumstances, I might have tried tackling this myself. But 35 hours before a substantial trip complicated matters. Hardware stores were already closed, so I couldn't go out until Monday morning for parts. And, what if the problem wasn't the toilet? It's been very humid (95%) lately. Maybe I'm just finding condensation and the problem is elsewhere.

I bit the bullet and called my plumber. No answer. I left a message and waited half an hour without hearing anything. At that point I called my second plumber. His wife returned the call quickly and said Floyd was out but she could schedule him to stop by Monday at noon. Great!

I shut off the toilet. Then I filled the tub, filled some pots and pitchers with water, and shut off water to the house. The dripping continued.

I suggested to my wife that we clock the dripping. I went to the three places where I'd put buckets and did 2-minute counts. At the first, 190 drops fell. The second was 63 drops. And 89 drops at the third. 171 drops per minute. Uh oh. That was waaaaay more than what I thought the toilet tank might be dribbling. I was glad I'd called for help.

An hour later, two of the three drips had stopped. Monday morning, the third had stopped as well.

Long story short, the toilet IS apparently the problem. The plumber agreed with me that 171 drops per minute is a sizeable leak, and he thought the wax ring was the most likely cause. He pulled the toilet and noted that the wax ring was in good shape. He replaced it anyway. He reset the toilet and turned on the water, and the water POURED from the tank onto the floor. At that point, he said he was sure that the tank was the real problem. He tightened and replaced parts as needed and got the tank working the way it should.

This left me wondering how what seemed to be a SMALL drip from the toilet tank could manifest itself as a huge leak in the garage. The plumber told me that the tank's water was running down the hose to the water intake pipe, then going into the floor at the hole for that copper pipe. It wasn't noticeable in our bathroom.

In the floor, the running water chilled the pipe and perhaps other pipes it came in contact with, creating a major condensation problem.

Remember that 95% humidity I mentioned? It bit me pretty hard. The leaking water plus the condensation caused a whole lot of water to come down in my garage. I'll probably have to replace six or seven pieces of sheetrock and the affected floor insulation.

I spoke with my builder this afternoon about other things, but the subject of my water leak arose. He said I should rip all the wet sheetrock out to prevent mold. I told him I can't since I'm leaving town in the morning. He suggested I at least poke some holes in the sheetrock and get fans aimed into them to help dry things out. I did that in ONE place, putting a fan on its back and aimed into a hole that's less than one square foot. I hope it helps, but most of what's up there is fiberglass that's resting on the sheetrock. I don't think a little air in one place is going to do a whole lot of good.

But at least the rain has ended and the humidity is falling. 65% as of a few minutes ago.

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