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Toilet leaked through the floor - how fecked is the wall?

Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt Stepped in itRegistered User regular
edited July 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
About three weeks ago my dad installed a new toilet in the guest bathroom. I came to visit, and noticed that there were some puddles on the tile. Tracking down the source, I found that there was a steady drip from the waterline. I don't know if it's been dripping the whole time, but it seems to have flowed through a crack in the tile, down into the room below where it flowed down the wall. It seems to be coming down the exterior of the wall, but is there anything I can do short of ripping out the drywall to figure out how bad things are, and if there's anyway to start drying things up?

(I already shut the water off, and figure I'll wait until after breakfast tomorrow to break the bad news to my dad.)

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Posts

  • EskimoDaveEskimoDave Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    As long as the drywall wasn't soaked in water it should be okay.

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  • Eat it You Nasty Pig.Eat it You Nasty Pig. tell homeland security 'we are the bomb'Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    if it still needs drying you can aim some space heaters (or fans I guess) at it.

    You also don't need to tear the whole wall out; just cut a little hole and see if it's wet on the back. You only need enough space to stick a couple fingers in really, and you can just putty over it when you're done.

    Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
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  • DeadlySherpaDeadlySherpa Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    You've had water running down through your wall for three weeks. It's a warm, moist environment and mold will be growing, and there's going to be some damage to the wood and insulation. If there's no waterstains on the drywall or bubbling of the paint it probably hasn't been running down over it, because drywall will soak it up and expand, and you'll be able to see the damage from the front.

    If there's no visible damage, don't bother poking holes in the wall; if you start the job you'll be tearing out the section between the two studs and potentially replacing them. At the least you'll need some mold guys to fix things up and they are expensive as hell. Let it be- now that the leak's fixed the damage won't get out of control and the house won't be much worse for wear because of a moldy section of insulation between a couple studs.

    DeadlySherpa on
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