Big damp patch on carpet

aileth

Hi all - I'm cross-posting this on the DIY board as I'm not sure where to put it! Our Plumber can't get to us until after the weekend thanks to other commitments and the snow, so I'm hoping to get some ideas of what this might be. OH is very DIY-minded and extremely handy so maybe we won't even need the Plumber, but I don't know!

Basically suddenly last night, we got a damp patch of probably 8 inches by 8 inches on the landing, just outside the bathroom. There is nothing leaking from above, there is nothing leaking from the bath/shower, there is nothing leaking from the boiler cupboard. It is strictly contained in this patch. There is no radiator nearby.

We have lifted the carpet and the underlay is absolutely sopping wet. There's some sort of board underneath the underlay and it's almost like it's sweating? Like the water is condensing upwards almost, but it seems awfully wet to just be condensation and in such a specific area.

I have googled it and a lot of people say possibly a small leak in a pipe facing upwards, but these people also say there should be some evidence of said leak in the room below. There is absolutely nothing! It's definitely not a spilled drink or such like as it wasn't there in the morning leaving work and was only there after I had got home (no one else was at home). It has remained wet since! Definitely not animal pee either, we have done the 'smell' test!

Please help?

G_M

Have you got a dog?

Failing that, is there a central heating pipe running under the floorboards? A small leak on the top of the pipe (perhaps at a junction?) and the water spurts upwards under pressure.

Have you noticed the heating system re-filling from the attic tank if it's losing water?

Time to lift a floorboard and take a look underneath!

aileth

It's going to be tricky getting the floorboard up, going to have to remove all of the carpet on the landing, a corner of which is stuck under the carpet edging in the bathroom door thanks to our cowboy house builders jamming and bending nails in and then GLUING them down!!!

We do have a dog, but it 110% wasn't peepee!

somethingcorporate

How very odd, even if it was squirting upwards you would expect it to have made the ceiling below damp.

All I could think of as I was reading it was pee (that's life with a 2 year old that likes to run around naked).

G_M

aileth wrote: »

We do have a dog, but it 110% wasn't peepee!

Only 110%?

I'd want to be 120% sure before writing off that possibility. At least.

lavalamp

The plumber is probably going to have to take the carpet up anyway, so you're just delaying the inevitable....

Mallotum_X

If the central heating pipe runs close to the surface then it could be a small leak against the floor. Seems strange that it would appear so suddenly though without anything below.

You will need to get access for the plumber so might as well work out what needs to be removed to do it.

Be careful if you decide to cut the board that you dont cut into a cable or pipe below.

Lord_Baltimore

The board under the underlay might be disguising the true source of the leak. The actual leak could be much further from where you've found the water.

Either that or your OH is incontinent

rosie383

I know you say hou have done the smell test and it isn't wee, but if your dog is very well hydrated there may not be much smell. Try putting kitchen roll flat on it with a weight on top for a minute or so and see if there is any colour in the wetness.