Possible Bath Leak???

goldbyron

I live in a converted first floor flat and my partner lives in the top floor above me. Directly above my bedroom is her bathroom. Every time we flush the loo the pipes make a right old racket - knocking about. However this doesn't bother me - however last night I kept hearing a noise every 10-15 mins from the area above my bed (which is her actual bath). It sounded like either a small knocking of pipes or a large drip (although the space between the bath and floor/ceiling can't be that big). I could not hear any noise when in her bathroom when I went up there. This morning I was convinced I could see a small brown mark above the bed suggesting an old leak.

We don't use her bath - only the sink/loo (we use my bath instead as it is a much newer bathroom) so it can't be from drained water. I am a little paranoid at the moment as we have just fixed our flat roof due to leaks in the said bathroom itself (oh there would have been drained water then I suppose as the leak went directly into the bath)!

Any thoughts on what this could be (and whether it is an expensive fix)?

Thanks

latecomer

first thing I would do is take the side panel off the bath and have a look around to make sure there is no sign of water. I know its unlikely given your description but it is an easy thing to do. after that you either need to think about getting the floor up or waiting to see if the if brown mark gets bigger.

goldbyron

LOL - nothing is easy in our flats. The bath has two steps up to it and is carpeted! Therefore the panel means ripping up the carpet and the steps - seriously pain in the a*se flat - :rotfl:(slightly manic laughter).

Surely if there is no water running - it can't leak...?

latecomer

The taps or pipes to the taps could be leaking even wen not running due to the pressure of the water. I guess from what you're saying that getting to the rest of the pipework is going to be even harder.

the noise you hear when you flush the toilet is probably from the cold water pipe which supplies the cistern. if the pipes have been vibrating for a long time (thats what makes the noise normally) then its possible a connection somewhere has become loose. If there is no sign of a fresh leak from below you cant really do anything other than lift the floor to inspect the pipework or wait and see what happens which could end up being expensive if you get water damage to the flat below.