From time to time, like about once a month, water comes dripping out of my chandelier. We have recaulked the tub, have two shower curtains, and also put towels on the floor to keep it dry. This is an intermittent problem, and I can't really figure out why it occurs. I don't want to rip up the dining room ceiling, but I also don't want to short out the chandelier. Suggestions?
Check the faucet handle and show bib for leaks. My sister had an intermittent leak like yours and it was the handle mechanism needed a tightening. Would leak into the wall and down the ceiling like yours every few weeks just for fun.
Does it occur when the shower is being used, or not? If you can remove the escutcheon(s) (cover plate) around the faucet(s) you better have a look at the supplys and valves within the wall.
People have given great advice which I would certainly follow first, but in our situation, it was the drain under the shower pan that needs to be replaced. What a mess! Insurance helps.
Another "view spot" on some homes, probably harder to get into, but easier than tearing out a ceiling or adjacent wallboard, is located opposite the tub drain area behind a square looking trim piece. The trim (if there) covers a piece of wallboard which is probably nailed into the adjoining studs.
From this area you should be able to shine a flashlight on most of the plumbing surfaces and may have enough room to fix the problem if the previous replies are not sufficient to pin down the problem to an area with access from the tub side.
A reasonable in-between step might be to unscrew and re-seal the drain with plumber's putty, but age sometimes makes this task very difficult. If you attempt this step it would probably be a good idea to have replacement drain hardware available (or at least do it while your local plumbing supply store is going to be open for business several hours, just in case...).
The girl who lives on the first floor apartment under my daughter's second/third floor apartment had this problem. Here is my daughter's reply to the original post.
Melissa had water coming out of her chandelier, when we were getting our bathtub redone. Don't forget, after all the work, it looks like in the end it was a bad seal on the toilet causing the leak into her apartment. But the other work needed done, too -- there was a leak from the bathtub, but I think this was just rotting out our walls, not leaking into Melissa's.
I one had a crack in the shower pipe, where it connected into the fitting behind the wall. It eventually broke off, making the problem a bit easier to diagnose :-)
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