Intermittent leaks--is my home's plumbing haunted???

[Steven L.]

Every time I call a plumber to fix the leak in my shower, the leak seems to magically stop the day the plumber is scheduled to arrive.

He looks at the plumbing, fails to find any leak, tells me everything is fine, and leaves.

Then the next day, the leak starts again.

I call the plumber back, and again the leak stops before he shows up.

Rinse and repeat...

What causes intermittent leaks in plumbing like that? Ambient temperature changes? Atmospheric pressure changes? Changes in water pressure in the mains?

Or is my house just haunted???

-- Steven L.

[Stormin Mormon]

Silly. You need to call a priest, and have your house blessed. And sprinkled with lots and lots of holy water.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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He looks at the plumbing, fails to find any leak, tells me everything is fine, and leaves.

Then the next day, the leak starts again.

I call the plumber back, and again the leak stops before he shows up.

Rinse and repeat...

What causes intermittent leaks in plumbing like that? Ambient temperature changes? Atmospheric pressure changes? Changes in water pressure in the mains?

Or is my house just haunted???

-- Steven L.

[Dave M.]

Steve,

What sort of leak? Dripping faucet? Drip at threaded joint? Something inside the wall?

Dave M.

[Robert Green]

Are the leaks occuring randomly or after you take a shower? If while in the shower, be aware that a lot of water bounces off your body and can find its way into cracks in the grout or caulking. The best way to find such leaks is to either shower with someone watching from below (if you have an unfinished basement) or to take a shower massager and spray each wall in turn to find the leak.

-- Bobby G.

[EXT]

He is right, a "leak" gives no information for us, or even your plumber, to work on. It could be water in the shower hose or pipe that drips out the shower head after a shower until it clears water in the pipe, could be a crack or seam in the shower wall or base that is leaking, many, many other causes ---- remember the reporting rules: how, when, where, why, who, this is needed if anyone can help you.

[Steven L.]

There was a leak inside the wall, but that was repaired a few weeks ago.

Now I've got an intermittently dripping tub faucet. Or if I switch the diverter to shower, then the shower head drips intermittently.

The valve stems were replaced just last September, so I can't see why that would be causing a problem.

The reason I wondered about the temperature changes was that here in MA where I live, we've had some wild temperature swings: Mostly mild but interspersed with some really cold nighttime temps. And it was when the temp plunged to 11 degrees Fahrenheit that I first noticed the leak.

-- Steven L.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Someone should be in the shower. The weight of a person can open the leak at the drain piping.

[gregz]

I mostly had a leak when one particular person used the shower. It was the caulking needed repaired.

Greg

[DD_BobK]

Put large pail or basin in the tub to collect the "drips" then you can get an idea of the magnitude of this "leak".

It the amount is small, it could be just the residual water in the pipe from tub spout to shower head.

My upstairs shower stall shower head will drip intermittently & randomly for a couple hours after use but it's not really leaking.

cheers Bob

[DerbyDad03]

re: "The best way to find such leaks is to ... shower with someone watching from below ..."

Now that's quite a visual.

[bob haller]

the weight of a person may open up a crack or seam somewhere generating a leak

splsashing is also a possible cause

[Robert Green]

Agreed, that factor and the different way people shower and set the showerhead angle can have a great effect on the leak pattern.

All our conjecture is moot. He says the leak is from the faucet. )-: That could just be the pipe going to the showerhead draining slowly back down the tub faucet.

-- Bobby G.

[piper]

He's taking a LEAK on the floor at night when he's drunk. Then he sees it in the morning.