Water spots on floor joists in basement, HELP!
10/30/2007 at 4:39:05 PM
We were downstairs earlier and noticed some water on the floor in the basement. We could not find a leak anywhere but the wood floor joists were very wet in one area. This area is directly below the drain area of the shower on the main floor. We didn't see a leak, even after running water in the shower for a couple minutes. What should we do? What's the best way to dry the wood joist? Our basement is unfinished so there was no damage, just wet wood we are concerened with.
I have attached a few pictures that show what we are talking about. Thanks for any help!
Shad
11/2/2007 at 5:39:51 PM
You might want to see if you have a couple of layers of flooring in this area, because of the chalking at the underside of the planking the water needs to go somewhere. May be spreadind thurout and then seepind thru the floorboards easiest way to know is remove the chalking around the drain pipe. Then run the water. Your more than welcome to give me a call 416-432-8458 Snow's Construction.
11/9/2007 at 1:56:06 PM
In the photos there appears to be expanded spray foam insulation on the underside of the floor.I don't believe it is either "chalking" or "caulking" as Patrick Snow has stated. I would suspect there was a previous problem and the expanding foam was used to fill a void. Is the "shower" a separate shower stall or in the bathtub? Is the shower fibreglass base, tile base or what? Does the plank flooring indicate that the house was built in the 50's or prior? Lot's of questions to consider the source and problem and how to correct it.
3/19/2008 at 6:46:47 PM
hello shad that is definitly spray foam depending on when the shower/tub was installed alot of installers will us spray foam under the tub for support and of course insulateing value. water comming from the drain will follow the voids and cracks in the foam coimg out where ever it finds a way not necessarily where the leak occurs and may take several minutes to do so and may only do so with someone or weight in the tub or shower. as far as drying te wood out time and finding the leak are the best ways,
According to the pics it is minor and recent damage and appears to be coming from the drain area wet floor boards tell me this.
A good way to find out where the leak is coming from is to open the area where the pipes go to the taps and shower head
or call a pro as the shower base may have failed and need to be replaced
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