Hi all,
I noticed this wet patch on my carpet today in my apartment - Image of carpet
It is about 30cm long.
I live in a ground floor apartment.
I am the owner.
This wall shares a wall with the bathroom.
It must have been here for a while (or is recurring) because it smells damp.
In this something to raise with strata or something I should manage myself by calling a plumber?
Any thoughts on what's causing this?
Thanks in advanced!
Easily fixed? Thanks for the advice
(P.S. Do not google image slow leak water unless you want to see images of pregnant women and amniotic fluid)
Depends how "easy" it is for you to fix the new hole in your wall.
The bathroom side is tiled - it would be a matter of replacing the tiles I guess
Depends. I've experienced three water pipe leaks so far in my life…all under tiles and my walls are brick, which means they were harder to find the leaks and more expensive to repair. One was hot water, so electricity went up also.
I would estimate anything from $500 to $3k to find and repair (if you go through a plumber). I only give such a big range because I have no idea on your setup/situation.
The last two damaged my kitchen bench and cupboards so much, my pregnant wife wanted a new kitchen…so yeah, basically cost me a lot :(
Oh damn, I feel for you!
What pregnant wife wants, pregnant wife gets.
Worst time to be spending money though :/
Is the shower on the other side of the wall? If so, check if the seal between the wall and floor has deteriorated.
The toilet is on the other side (not directly - it's to the right of this)
I juts posted a pic on what on the other side below.
Neighbour stealing water?
Does that happen? I could understand electricity - but water?
They may have a pool in the living room..
P.s. push for strata, but they might argue your responsibility as its inside an internal wall.
I think he was making fun of another discussion post
I know the one you're talking about - that story was pretty crazy that it was making me question if someone would steal water too.
If you’ve got insurance, call them and let them know that you think you’ve got a leak. They should be able to send someone out to check whether it’s a burst pipe. They may just tell you to hire a plumber who can give them the report, or they might want to send someone from their end. But, hopefully if it’s a burst pipe insurance will cover it for you. The thing is you need to let them know as soon as you notice an issue.
I'm with Jawanzar. If you have insurance do this. It's good you caught it early as I had a very very much smaller leak but for a lot longer and it didn't seem like much or smell, but it rotted the wood, wall, and caused a lot of damage and mold within the wall, carpet, floor.
+1 letting them know relatively promptly.
With waterproofing in bathrooms, the water will seep out wherever the waterproofing is broken, it’s like an painted tank under the tiles. So the water could be coming from any part of the room, but leaking out where the breach is.
It could be a pipe or it could be shower water leaking across the room and out the membrane.
Use insurance. If not do you have basic skills? Carefully cut a hole in the wall (a plumber would be doing this anyways) from the bedroom side and see if you can spot the origin of the water.
If it is coming from above, you have serious, serious issues. Could be an apartment above. Call the Stata/OC.
If it's coming from your bathroom, provide more pics but probably a waterproofing issue or a leak.
It's a double brick wall - can't cut thought that unfortunately.
Wow, that's not good. Will make it hard to investigate and track down the cause if it's not your bathroom :(
One side of the wall is brick, the bathroom side is tiled. I posted a picture below on what's directly on the other side below if that helps. :)
Which insurance company covers pipe leak damages??? None I thought
I had a similar issue in the last apartment I lived in. The leak got much worse over a period of 12-18 months. The neighbour's hot water tank was on the other side of the wall. A number of plumbers came through and weren't able to work out where the leak was coming from. My neighbor even replaced his hot water system and the carpet just continued to be wet. The last check involved the removal of the gyprock. I never got to see the final report, but they put the wall back together and the landlord put the apartment on the market. I can only assume that it was a very expensive fix or they just couldn't figure out what the cause was because the problem continued.
Not saying your issue is the same, but it could be a pain to trace if it's trickling water. It could be coming from anywhere and running along beams, pipes, cables or floors.
Thanks for letting me know - let's hope it isn't that bad.
My story is similar - same sort of issue as you - bathroom other side of wall. Insurance assessor, plumbers, shower sealers all turned out to be a perfect waste of money. Two damn years of back and forth with all these experts trying to fix.
In the end we renovated the whole damn bathroom for $38k, including ripping everything off the walls and making sure everything was properly sealed before tiles etc went back on.
Yes, it has been fixed now for more than a decade, but for us that's what it took. Now we did a LOT more than just that obviously I mean the bathroom is just damn modern sexy even after 10 years, but in the end it was ripping the tiles out, placing proper sealing on the walls before re-tiling that fixed it.
Not sure what that would cost now but it was the only way for us to be sure…..
As other have said, it's the waterproofing in the shower. Get it sorted soon because it's these kind of leaks that create mold easily.
It could be pipes within the walls. Especially as OP indicates it’s the toilet behind the wall.
Mysterious Wet Carpet Stain in My Apartment!
OH
This wall shares a wall with the bathroom.
Oh no mystery, your shower is leaking. Time to pull it out and put a new one it.
Later on he says the toilet is on the other side of the wall not the shower
Oh, but I guess either way, a plumber is needed, chucks of the wall might be disappearing and renos coming up to fix it :)
Hey guys, I just got home and took a look again in my bathroom.
This is directly opposite on the other side of the wall to the stain -Image of other side
The tap is tight - I couldn't turn if I wanted to.
As the oldies used to say down at the RSL before March - Bingo. It will be related to that. Insurance and plumber time.
My money would be on a steel braided hose between that tap and the cistern.
I’d be surprised if there is a braided line within the wall. They are normally used to go from the stop clock to the loo or mixer tap but in a position where it is easily changed. Ie external to wall.
It is however quite likely the pipe is leaking within the wall.
It could also be from the apartment/roof above
Notify strata and insurance, figure out who is responsible before getting a third party trade like a plumber. Could also require some structural drying seeing you are on the ground floor and could compromise the slab if it’s significant.
OP has answered his own question
"This wall shares a wall with the bathroom."
As for strata no point asking us as every strata plan is different
ASK YOUR STRATA MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It could be as simple as a leaking tap body washer (not the valve washer). Before involving body corp, tradies, insurance or cutting a hole in the wall, I’d first pull the tap out and replace the body washer. Five minute job. Then see if the carpet dries out. Bingo if it does. Then just refill the hole in the wall around the tap with some $8 filler from Bunnings. Worth a try.
if an old building could be an old pipe that was cemented in burst.
Best to cut a hole in the plaster above the carpet and look inside the wall cavity. Plaster easier to repair than tiles.
Was wondering how you fixed the wet carpet stain? I seem to have the same problem. Did your strata get involved in resolving the issue?
I reported it to strata who got a plumber to investigate the issue. It turned out that the apartment above me had a large crack in the tile and used to throw water on the floor everyday to clean the floor. The water leaked through this crack and down the inside of the wall causing the wet carpet.
Thanks for your response. Could possibly have the same problem as you. Did your strata pay for the plumber to fix the crack and repair the wall? Was there a need to replace your carpet?
They paid for the plumber and whatever work the plumber needed to do.
They didn't pay for carpet as they said carpet is not strata's responsibility.
@DaDollarz: Probably get a similar response to you but mine is due to a leaking pipe in the wall. If your damaged carpet is due to the large crack which is the Strata’s responsibility, shouldn’t they cover all the costs?
@Iwgp: They told me it isn't strata's responsibility. I don't know too much about it and the carpet dried up after turning on the heater so I didn't bother arguing or investigating it.
If it's an old building get the plumber in..
There is a chance that the cemented pipe burst.
Thanks for the advice. It’s a fairly new building so quite concerned when I came across the wet patch that won’t dry. Submitted a request to strata so hopefully they come back to me with a plumber. Do you know if it is difficult to replace a burst cemented pipe?
Glad to hear that it was resolved.
The building we live in is around 50+ years old. In the olden days they cemented pipes in.
We had one running from the bathroom across the living area into the kitchen. Of course it burst. near the bathroom.
Pipes were shut off. Pipe is now in the attic. Glad it didn't happen in the middle of the living area haha.. when the plumber got here he destroyed shower tiles looking for the problem, saying it's run off water. He paid to have the shower re tiled.
Broke the bathroom vanity, thinking it was that tap. The vanity still has a huge hole on the side.
After that it dawned on him that it might be the cemented in pipe.
Needless to say, I hate tradesmen showing up.
Probably a slow leak in the wall from one of the bathroom pipes. Call a plumber.