Damp Wood Joist from Small Leak ?

[Robert11]

Hello,

Found a leak in a water pipe from our upstairs bathroom. Leaking down to ceiling below.

Just a relatively small leak, but did damage the ceiling below a little.

Questions:

The defective pipe that was repaired was about waist high in the upstairs wall. Small section cut out to repair and re-solder, but impossible to see below to the the joists etc. on the bathroom floor.

Have a fan blowing on it thru the cutout repair hole for a few days to dry out hopefully any dampness.

Was wondering though:

a. how many days should I keep the fan going ?

b. Is there some powder, or something, to blow into the hole which hopefully would get down to the joists to help prevent any mold, etc. from forming before buttoning the cutout up ? Or best to just let "air-dry" ?

I am worried that I can ever truly dry out fully the wood joists and ceiling plaster that got damp, so am a bit concerned; or, will it dry out in time with the fan going for a week or so ?

Thanks, B.

[dpb]

Robert11 wrote: ...

...

Unless you had enough water that it's showing up somewhere besides the ceiling, I'd not worry about it...it'll evaporate w/ time w/ or w/o the fan; probably at about the same rate since you can't get any significant air movement anywhere but the localized area anyway.

Repair the access hole and go on w/ life...

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[dpb]

That's assuming, of course, you have collected whatever standing water on the ceiling was there (or it dripped down via a light fixture or some other escape route already)...

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