Ask the Carpenter: Is a bathroom leak to blame for this kitchen water damage?
Ask the Carpenter’s Rob Robillard talks shower leaks, basement cracks, and woodpeckers. Get more home improvement advice at realestate.boston.com.
Q. I have two problems that I think are unrelated, though both may have to do with water. Several years ago we came home from a week away to find a wet streak on the kitchen cabinets, a cracked ceiling, and a wet wall below our upstairs bathroom. My husband replaced a leaky valve behind the faucet in the tub, but the problem remains. The ceiling bubbles, and a wet stain comes and goes. Plumbers have taken down the ceiling to take a peek and checked out that replacement valve, but they’ve found nothing amiss. I had the tub grout resealed last year, but that didn’t solve the problem.
Meanwhile, there’s is a mildew smell in the house. It hits us as we walk in no matter the time of year. We quickly get acclimated and then forget about it. This may sound odd, but my dad died in 2003 and I associate this smell with his house. We inherited a few things from him — mostly hard things like books and a lamp, so nothing that I can think of that would be the source — and the smell started in our house shortly after we brought those things home.
It would be great if you could diagnose all this from afar.
LISA RUCINSKI, Newton Lower Falls
A. Without inspecting your home, I can’t be sure, but I have a lot of questions: Do you use a shower curtain in that bathroom? Be sure to the keep the curtain inside the tub and all the way across when you are showering.
Check all of the vertical corners and the horizontal tub-to-tile caulking seams. Check for missing grout and recaulk. If you do use a shower curtain, caulk the grout line between the tub and floor.
Did the plumbers test the drain lines? Did they fill the tub with water and test? Did they inspect the shower valve for a leak? Did they run the shower for 10 minutes or more and check while the ceiling was open? Was there any wet framing that indicated where the water was coming from?
Are you sure this is a plumbing leak and not something external — like the roof or a window or deck flashing? I’ve seen a few leaks that came from an exterior issue that were blamed on a bathroom.
Regarding your mildew smell … If you have ever been in an antique store, you know that old books can smell. The smell may be coming from your father’s books, or it may be from that water leak you haven’t found yet.
Dear Rob
From Mary in Melrose:With cracks in both my basement and garage floors, I read your June 23 column (“Ask the Carpenter: Cracks in the basement, rodents in the garage’’) with more than a little interest. When you said to “make sure to have them inspected by a professional,’’ what kind of professional did you mean?
Rob: Small cracks rarely affect the structural integrity of your home. Bigger cracks or those caused by instability of the soil beneath your house can lead to serious issues. If you find a crack in your basement wall or floor that is wider than a quarter of an inch, you should call in a foundation contractor, basement waterproofing expert, or a structural engineer.
From Melody: Regarding your July 7 column on woodpeckers (“Ask the Carpenter: Why woodpeckers are damaging your siding’’): We found that a large battery-operated furry black spider keeps woodpeckers from attacking the siding of our home. The sound or vibration of the woodpecker triggers the spider to drop down suddenly about 3 or 4 feet on a cord. A mechanism then triggers it to climb back up the cord to await the next bird attack.
Rob: I’m sure it freaks out your guests, too!
Rob Robillard is a general contractor, carpenter, editor of AConcordCarpenter.com, and principal of a carpentry and renovation business. Send your questions to [email protected] or tweet them to @robertrobillard. Subscribe to our free real estate newsletter at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.
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