Now We Have Water in the Ceiling

[Jodi1980]

My mother lives in our family room and one of her outlets went dead - the electrician noticed that there is water above her ceiling in her bathroom under our bathroom upstairs. Could the water be coming from the air conditioner?

 

[JDH]

it sounds like the wax seal has gone bad in the toilet. Or you have a leak in the shower or tub. Unless you have an upper a/c unit which has a evaporation coil and pan which could be leaking I don't think its the a/c.

 

[floridafam]

I agree.

The seal has probably gone bad on the toilet. If this is so, it should be replaced as quickly as possible.

Ours was leaking slowly for years and we didn't know it. My DH went to redo the bathroom floor and there were 7 layers of soaking wet floor under the linoleum. It was absolutely disgusting. It had been leaking long before we moved in.

Luckily, the bathroom walls and rest of the house are plaster and held up really well against the mold and mildew on the bathroom floor.

Our son was diagnosed with asthma and had a lot of breathing problems. He has not had one episode since we replaced our floor. We think he had a mold allergy and was having almost constant reactions to what was on the floor.

In any case, no matter where the water is coming from, it should be dealt with promptly before any mold can start to grow.

 

[LisaTx]

It could be the AC. We had a new unit installed a few years ago. The drain overflow pipe was not installed correctly and got a clog. It backed up into the drain pan and eventually overflowed. We didn't notice until the ceiling on the back porch started falling down.

You should check the bathroom too. Lots of places for leaks there.

 

[Jodi1980]

Thank you!

We have a plumber coming today - if he/she fixes it, will the water in the ceiling just sit there- is that ok?

 

[floridafam]

They should have a wet/dry vac to get rid of any standing water.

If they do not then I would rent one.

You really shoulnd't have any water anywhere after they are done.

You would be surprised at how fast it can turn into mold.

If it is your toilet seal they will know how to fix it. My DH replaced ours. It's really not that hard. You just have to concentrate and do it right the first time because it's really sticky.

If it is something else they should be able to tell you what it is. It could be any number of things.

Just make sure to dry the area with fans and use a wet/dry vac to get rid of any existing water and you should be okay.

Most good quality wood will dry out if you place fans near it. If there is wood that is soaked I would consider replacing it.

When we were going through all of this with our bathroom my DH brought home an article he printed of the internet about insurance companies kicking people off their policies after they make a water damage/mold claim. The companies are so afraid of these that they have a "secret list"-I don't remember the name of it-it is used between all of the insurance companies and people who have made water/mold claims are having a hard time keeping their existing home insurance or finding new insurance because they are on this list.

Unless we had a major thousands of dollars claim we would do the work ourselves.