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Mystery Bathroom Leak...Bedroom Floorboards Moldy

Mary4b
9 years ago

Greetings,
We have discovered water damage, moisture and mold under the carpet that adjoins a tiled bathroom.

The shower wall is tiled 3/4 of the way up and the floor is tiled. The shower wall is the same wall that has the door to the carpeted bedroom, which is the area that the mold was discovered.

I noticed a mildew smell after leaving some clothes on the carpet of the bedroom, about 4 feet from the bathroom door. I thought that was strange. I pulled up as much carpet as I could to get a look and we have wet carpet padding and black mold under the carpet 4-6 feet into the bedroom. I could not get a complete look, as there is a heavy wall armoire/cabinet along the entire bedroom wall that backs up to that shower wall. However, I see wrinkling about 4" up on the wood at the back of that armoire, so apparently it has gotten wet along that wall at some point (it was not wet now.)

The crawl space underneath our bathroom did not seem to indicate that the water would be coming from the shower pipes that are in the wall. The floor boards were wet at the bathroom entry, but we do not typically get that area wet when we shower, nor do we exit the bathroom all wet....bottom line, this is way TOO much moisture than could have been caused by careless use.

Another crawl space wet spot discovery...near the toilet on the opposite side of the bathroom (not near the carpeted bedroom)...there seems to be a slow drip near the toilet. We couldn't tell if it was actually a toilet leak, or a floor board leak that happened to be near the toilet's plumbing...

So, we don't know EXACTLY if there's a leak in the tile floor, the tile drain, the toilet, etc...the water could be taking a path of least resistance, right, that happens to be in the direction of the bathroom door?

What do we do?
Who do we call first...plumber, contractor, cleaning/mold experts, insurance?

Comments (6)

  • pprioroh
    9 years ago

    If you can get under the bathroom into the crawlspace and look up at the same area - is the subfloor wet or signs of leakage?

    Regardless if you've got mold and that kind of water damage to your armoire, I would be moving everything out of the bedroom, pulling up the carpet right away and getting rid of it. Then I'd probably cut small sections of drywall into the wall between the wall and shower - i'd bet you have a leak in the seal between tile and wall and it's coming in that wall cavity and then running on the subfloor into your bedroom.

    If that's the case that wall is going to be nasty.

    What to do depends on how much money you have to spend and how handy you are. You may well end up ripping out the entire tiled shower and both sides of that wall (drywall) if the cavities are molded. One of the disaster/flooding companies can come and decontaminate all the mold if it's bad.

    If you're more handy and cash poor you can rip it all out, clean it out and re-drywall. But make sure it's dry and mold free first.

    Whatever you do, do NOT call your insurance or let them know anything about a mold or water issue in your home. You may find your policy canceled and unable to find reinsurance once there is any hint of mold or a mold claim.

  • airqual_guy
    9 years ago

    Agree with pprioroh.
    Get the carpet out now; if it's moldy, it's toast.
    What is the vintage of your house?
    There should be a caulk seal in the shower where the floor and wall meet, and in corners where two walls meet unless special corner tile pieces were used. Check those caulk lines carefully; any pieces that have fallen out, or are dry and stiff are suspects in this.
    Also possible, though less likely is an actual leak in the supply lines. As pprioroh suggests, you're probably going to have to open up some drywall from the bedroom wall side and investigate. If the problem can be identified and fixed without tearing into the tile job, you don't want to do that until you're sure you have no choice. Repairing drywall and repainting is far less costly than gutting and redoing the bathroom.
    Check the escutcheon[s] around the shower controls; there should be sealant arcs above the hole in the wall under the escutcheons [like an inverted horseshoe] to keep water out of the hole where the control hardware sticks out of the wall. Remove the control handles and make sure that sealant was used when the shower was installed.

  • Mary4b
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you for your help.

    This area of our home was build in the mid 80's, the bedroom walls are very solid plaster, not drywall. (Former owner was a building contractor, and probably also wanted to keep the add-on like the rest of the house, built 1945-ish.)

    So, we should:
    1) Remove carpet from bedroom.
    2) Investigate the leak.
    3) Have mold cleaned up
    4) Re-build as needed.

    Is there a type of person that I can call to handle the whole job....do any gutting, clean de/mold, figure out the problem and do the remodel?

    I have about $12,000...could this more than cover the whole thing? I have been saving money to buy wood flooring throughout our entire home, but looks like this will have to be done instead.

    We are not handy, aside from pulling up the carpet, we're pretty much useless on this front.

    Thank you for tip on the insurance, I will take care of this myself then. Grrrrr.

  • pprioroh
    9 years ago

    Best case scenario exactly what airqual says - it's a sealant/caulking issue - you can recaulk the entire area and deal with the mold. If you have to tear out the tile work it gets more expensive quite a bit. I don't know what to advise with plaster walls - don't have those around here but I still think you probably have no choice but open up the wall to let it dry and get mold out.

    One thing I might try - if you can get the baseboards off the wall you could cut a hole in the wall at the lower level and see what is in the wall cavity perhaps this way (depending how high your trim goes, remember there is a baseplate). You could then patch with drywall as it's going to be hidden. but if you're not the DIY type at all, probably best to just call someone in.

    You have to pull the carpet out no matter what and padding and get everything away from that wall.

    If you do that and can identify which area looks "wettest" then that would give a clue where to start looking and I'd do that before anything else.

    Give servpro or other type business a call to come out and see the issue. They'll give you an estimate, I have no idea what they charge but they have all kinds of mold abatement sprays that will kill the stuff without having to totally destroy the wall.

    Sorry can't give you more help - I'm sure it's incredibly disappointing and stressful.

  • Mary4b
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you so much, we are going to begin the clearing of heavy furniture so that we can remove the carpet from the area this weekend...we have a lot to move and the furniture is crazy heavy (2 man job). Once we've done that, we'll call some one in and I will keep you all updated...I may need some more help.

    I especially appreciate the tip regarding insurance...I had been told to call them, so I am so glad I asked here.

    We had the bedroom baseboards installed ourselves, so we can probably get them off to see what's going on along the seam of that wall.

    Thank you for your empathy, too, it is indeed very disappointing.

  • airqual_guy
    9 years ago

    Just to remove the carpet, pull the furniture to one side of the room. Slice the carpet into strips 2'-3' wide. Roll each strip up and haul it out. Move furniture to the other side and repeat. Much less trouble than trying to clear the whole room and removing the entire carpet in one piece. It's trash anyway, much easier to handle this way.
    When later you replace the carpet, the room will probably have to be cleared. Many installers will include this in their estimate.
    Your 1980s walls are almost certainly a skim coat of plaster over drywall, but whatever they are, that's the way you want to get into this.
    Unless you were CERTAIN you would be gutting the bathroom.....

    Good luck. Come back when you have more info, and tell us what the problem was.

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