House Leak Mystery... help?

[carolpetunia]

We have a problem with the house, and calling a professional is financially impossible -- so I'm hoping someone here will recognize what's going on and tell me what to do!

Our house is brick, and like most houses in Texas, it's built on a concrete slab. The problem is in the walk-in closet of my mom's bedroom, which is on the east wall of the house. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a LOT of water has appeared there, saturating the carpeting in the MIDDLE of the closet -- but not the edges, so it doesn't seem to have come from under any of the walls. I can't see any sign of leaking around the ceiling light in the closet, either.

We've been soaking the water up with towels for two days now, and it doesn't seem to be returning -- but the musty odor is intolerable, and I'm afraid I may have to just rip the carpet out of that closet altogether.

Adjacent to one wall of the walk-in is the utility closet, but there doesn't appear to be any kind of leak from the water heater. Both bathrooms are far away. And on the outside wall of the house where that closet is, I can't find any sign of trouble on wall or roof.

I just cannot imagine where all this water came from. I even considered the possibility of a crack in the foundation that could have let water seep up from below -- but we haven't had a significant rain in weeks.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on here?

 

[mrblanche]

Worst case, it could be a broken pipe in the slab.

Nothing close to the wall, huh? Have you looked in the attic?

We had a leak that traveled almost 10 feet under our roofing before finding a way down inside a wall.

 

[swampwitch]

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Worst case, it could be a broken pipe in the slab.

Nothing close to the wall, huh? Have you looked in the attic?

We had a leak that traveled almost 10 feet under our roofing before finding a way down inside a wall.

Sounds like a pipe in the slab to me, too, but Mike's right it could be coming from anywhere.

We had 6 different ceiling leaks in 3 different rooms on the main floor, it was a complete nightmare. The weird thing is the top floor didn't have any leaks in the ceiling, but a new roof fixed all the leaks.

Hope you don't need a new roof and that you figure it out.

 

[carolpetunia]

Update: Now water is appearing in the hallway, right in front of the utility closet. It's under the carpet -- comes up when you step on it. AUGH!

Thank you both for your ideas... I sure hope it's from above and not below.

Here's what I'm thinking: if the water is staying under the carpet until we step on it heavily enough to make it squish up, then the confinement of the water to the center of Mom's closet is probably an illusion. And that makes it more likely that there might be a roof leak. We did have a big windstorm here a few weeks ago... and a very brief rain a few days before the water appeared. So maybe there was damage to the shingles and the rainwater just now made its way down, just as you said.

II'll have to go up into the attic in the morning. Oh, I hope I find something I can fix myself!

 

[Winchester]

I just wanted to wish you good luck....hope you can find out what's wrong and that it doesn't cost a small fortune to fix.

 

[natalie_ca]

I can't really offer any suggestions about repairs, or what might be wrong. But I want to caution you about mould.

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/mah...o/momo_007.cfm

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/mold/protect.asp

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/mah...o/momo_005.cfm

If you have home owner insurance, it should cover the repairs of the leak.

 

[catmom2wires]

Sounds like a slab leak. We've had two. Insurance covers such things. You can't just wait around on something like this, as it won't improve, and the damage will only grow, as you've noted.

Good luck. I know how frustrating it is.

C

 

[ldg]

Oh Carol! I hope you find it and are able to fix it without professional!

I hate to say it - you may have to rip up the carpet to treat the wood underneath in order to stop the musty odor though.

 

[carolpetunia]

Oh, I hope it's covered! Mom is tracking down her policy now. Thank you for that idea! And thank you for your good wishes... and yes, mold is a fear I have. I don't think there's wood under the carpet, though -- just concrete. So that's a mercy.

 

[catmom2wires]

With our leaks, we had to pay the plumbing repair of the broken pipe, but the insurance paid for repair of the damaged floor (replaced $10K worth of hardwood.)

Unfortunately, this is one of those things you can't afford NOT to fix.

Cally

 

[rockcat]

If you rule out a roof leak (which is not fail-safe) and assume it is a slab leak, be sure to hire a plumber with a leak detector. Not every plumber has this equipment, but it is necessary in your case, otherwise you run the risk of jackhammering holes in your floor only to find that the leak isn't where you thought.

CatMom2Wires is right. Insurance should pay for everything except for replacing the section of damaged pipe, less your deductible, of course.

 

[rockcat]

Also, as far as your carpet - you HAVE TO get that pad out of there! Disengage the carpet and cut out the pad and throw it away. Put fans under the carpet to dry it.

From what you described, your walls are highly likely wet too. You really need a professional to get your home dried out, but if you don't call one, at least pop off your base molding and drill holes where the base was to allow air flow. Exterior walls will have insulation that should be replaced, meaning, of course, removing drywall. So sorry, but you need to address this to prevent mold, which can destroy your home.

 

[stephanietx]

Also, don't forget to have them treat for black mold, especially in the closet! That's a whole 'nother problem if you get that!

 

[carolpetunia]

You guys are all wonderful to put so much thought and care into your replies and good wishes -- thank you so much! I know you're right; the carpet and pad have to go. I have to find a way to make it safe for my mom to walk there, though... she falls so easily. Or maybe I can just block that end of the hall -- there is another door to Papa's old room, so we can just go around.

We still haven't found Mom's insurance policy, but there might be good news! Her friend Bonnie, a real estate agent, called tonight and Mom told her about all this, of course... and Bonnie told her, "You just need your pipes blown out!" I don't know exactly what pipes she's talking about (except that they relate to the furnace/AC), but she seemed very certain of the diagnosis. She even correctly predicted that the water in the hallway (as opposed to in Mom's closet) would recede, which it has. And blowing out pipes sounds a lot less expensive than repairing a slab, so I'm hoping VERY hard that Bonnie's RIGHT!

So tomorrow, I'm calling a plumber who was very good to us last year to see whether he concurs with Bonnie, whether he can do this pipe-blowing thing, and how much it will cost. And I'll get an X-acto knife and cut out that carpet once and for all. Thank you all for impressing on me how important that is!

 

[catmom2wires]

Your insurance may also pay for carpet replacement. You don't have to find the insurance policy--just call their office and the receptionist can pull up your info and tell you exactly the situation.

Fingers crossed that this is an easy fix. And even if it IS a slab leak, they don't necessarily have to jackhammer your slab. In our case, they just "killed" the offending pipe and did a re-route from another one. Just had a small hole in the wall that insurance paid to have redone.

C

 

[stephanietx]

Is it related to the AC system? If so, it could be clogged. We used to have this problem with my parents' old system. Once a month, we poured a 50-50 solution of bleach/water down the drain pipe and flushed it out.

 

[mrblanche]

I'll bet the "pipes" she's talking about "blowing out" are the A/C condensate pipes.

If the A/C is in the attic, you should go up and take a look at it. It should have one pipe coming out of the unit and snaking around to go to some drain, likely one in one of the bathrooms. It should have a pan under it with another pipe going to a different drain, or, likely, outdoors under the eaves or something. If the pan is full of water, you probably have a clogged drain line or the internal A/C drain pan is rusted out. If the pan is full and overflowing, you have a clogged alternate drain. If it has water dripping into it, but it's rusted enough to be leaking, that would be the source of your leak. The good news is that that pan can be replaced, the drain lines can be "blown out," and it should be covered (within limits, in Texas), by your insurance. The insurance will NOT cover replacement of the A/C unit, but, if it's old enough to be leaking, you would probably be money ahead to replace it with a newer, more efficient unit (and there are some tax breaks, etc., for it, too).

 

[pookie-poo]

I had water on my basement floor last month. I also noticed that my AC wasn't shutting off, and the house wasn't getting very cool. I went outside and looked at the compressor unit, to make sure it was clear (this time of year Cottonwood tree fuzz clogs everything) and noticed that the evaporator coil had about an inch thick coating of ice on it. I shut down the central air and fired up all of the ceiling fans. The HVAC repair guy came the next day and recharged the freon. He said the water in the basement was caused by the iced evaporator coil. My basement has remained dry since (and I've had standing water out in my back yard for weeks because of all of the rain lately.) Good luck Carol!