Bad News/Good News

[Heather Thompson]

This may not sound like a woodworking post to start, but wait! My husband and I live in a townhome just west of Chicago, did some major work on the main floor, drywall, windows, tore up nasty carpet, etc. The drywall was finished last Saturday, went to get my coffee Monday morning and had a puddle in the dinning room, upon further inspection (still sleepy), the ceiling in the kitchen and dining room was soaked. @#&*@# At this point I can not get anything to leak, bathtubs, toilet, sinks. This is a major problem, the leak went through the floor and soaked my work bench and some highly figured cherry plus some other prime wood . Looking at the bright side, this will allow me to get recessed lighting, maybe build new cabinets, tear out a wall, etc. Come to think of it, I may need to get a Festool TS55 to break down sheet stock . I guess that I am learning to look at problems as gifts.

Heather

[Bill Huber]

What a way to wake up on a Monday morning..... bummer

But something had to leak, did it rain really hard Sunday night?

So there is always a good side, just think how much you learned the first time and now you can do it even better.

[Larry Fox]

Sorry to hear of your situation. I seem to be cursed by water damage as I have had two incidents - one very serious. I agree with Bill that something had to leak and you need to find it or it will likely happen again. One thing to check is the curtain in your shower to make sure it it INSIDE the shower. Strange as it may seem I had a leak due to this. Essentially the water ran down the curtain and across the floor where it puddled in an area where is was tough to see. After one or two of these incidents the leak showed itself. Leaks have a strange way of showing themselves in areas far away from the source.

[Leo Graywacz]

During the sheetrocking process was it posible that you puncture a copper line with a screw?

[Lawrence Nitz]

Sorry about your water problem. One source of this in older homes is the plate around the shower valve. Many of these have a foam seal on the back. The foam deteriorates over a decade or so, and then the plate leaks--with water running down the back inside of the shower wall and coming out any or eveyrplace down below. Take a look at the plate around the shower valve, if you have a bath over the wet spot.

[Greg Robbins]

With the weather we've had in the area, it could be an ice damn on your roof. I've had water back up behind one of these damn's and then come up under the shingles and then follow a rafter and start leaking in the middle of my family room. It's worth checking out.

[Walt Stevens]

What a mess. If you live in a townhouse, you probably have city water. I had a similar leak several years ago that came from a pin hole in a copper pipe. There was a rash of pin hole problems in my neighborhood apparently from corrosion of the inside of the copper pipes due to something being added by the city in the water treatment. Pin holes are hard to locae, but pretty easy to fix once you find them.

[Lee Koepke]

I feel bad for the loss of the cherry. Is there any way it can be saved ....HAHA

[Greg Cole]

Sounds like the drywall work isn't quite done just yet....
If you are sure it's not a plumbing leak, I'd be leaning towards looking for ice dams on the roof.
You sure have a better way of dealing with these things than I... last time I had water damage on sheetrock on the ceiling you could say it took me awhile to say to myself "this is a gift". Not sure doing an 18 square roofing job is a gift of any sort.... other than "free" exercise cause I did the roof.
Homeowners insurance very well might cover the damage to the bench & stock... worth a phone call or e-mailing a couple pics to your agent.
Best of luck.
Greg

[Jesse Cloud]

Bummer! But you got the right idea. Those Festool Systainers will keep your tools dry!

[Jason Roehl]

One other possibility that can be overlooked is condensation on the pipes--newly finished drywall and painting brings a LOT of moisture into a building, which can condense on pipes when cold water is running, or if there is a cold air leak into a joist/stud cavity, moisture in the air will generally condense on any metal first (pipes, ducts, screws, nails, etc...).

[Heather Thompson]

Well the kitchen is empty, the small holes for exploritory surgery yielded no information. Time to get ugly, full face protection, leather gloves, small pry bar, expanded vocabulary, etc. Looks like I may have found the source, there is a distinct water line that follows one of the ceiling joints, the screws that hold the drywall have rust on them in that area, looks like the drain pipes from the second upstairs bathroom, tub or toilet remains to be determined. The ice dam is still a possibility, this is one heck of a messy job. I was hoping to be cleaning paint splatters off of myself this week as opposed to drywall and construction crap. Well the lunch break is over, time to get back to work before the boss catches me playing on the puter. Thanks for all of the possible ideas.

Heather

[Greg Cole]

So much for the finished with drywall.
You're luck runs in the same lot as mine seems to Heather....
If you have skylights, definately look around them closely. Being from Northern Vermont, I'll never be comfortable with them in any home of mine as "they all leak eventually". Sooner than later in snow laden areas....

G'luck.

Greg

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Heather...that kind of convoluted think will send you to the poor house. However, they have pretty nice tools there!

Sorry...I think
-Jeff

[Heather Thompson]

Heather...that kind of convoluted think will send you to the poor house. However, they have pretty nice tools there!

Sorry...I think
-Jeff

Jeff,

I'm sorry, but I guess I missed your point.

Heather

PS If you are talking about the cost of Festool, in November I changed the brakes on my husbands Subaru, they wanted over 500.00, I did it for 70.00. I installed our sliding patio door, saved 1200.00, installed dinning room window, did the drywall on the south wall. When I talk about tools with my husband and he even hints at a problem with cost, I just grin. Last week we went to a home show at Pheasant Run, this woman was ready to buy 3000.00 worth of cookware, her husband was asking if she would ever cook. My husband has breakfast every morning, nice packed lunch every day and a hot meal every night, my cookware did not cost 3000.00. I do not have to justify the cost of my tools.

Heather

PPS Sorry if I sound a little nasty, drywall crap can do that to you, guess I need to take a bath and get the stuff off of me.