Sounds of water in the wall. What in the world!!

[Shell Pruitt]

I hear something that sounds like water is on outside, but I hear it in the wall behind the shower; also water is coming from the base of the toilet! What could this be?

[Thomas]

[Scott Lurndal]

Your description lacks useful information, but the likelyhood is that you have a clog in your DWV downstream of the water closet which is backing up into the vent stack.

[Mark Lloyd]

I've had a shower valve leak inside the wall.

[Marilyn Manson]

Sweated connections *can* be fixed (steps: heat up, pull apart, clean inside and out, resweat, pray you get lucky)

However, since you apparently have a leak only when the valve is on *and* it leaks when either the tub faucet or shower is on, it sounds more like a valve problem than a solder joint. Of course, that's pure speculation, because I have no clue what kind of valve you have or how your plumbing is connected.

Does it leak with only the cold water on? Does it leak with only the hot water on? Do you have a valve with a cartridge or a valve with stems?

A typical valve for a shower and tub will have 2 incoming pipes and 2 outgoing pipes, one to the shower head and one to tub faucet. If it doesn't leak when the water is off, then it seems like the 2 connections for the incoming water are fine.

If it only leaks when the shower is on, then it could be the "valve" (cartridge or stem) or any of the connections in the pipe that goes up to the shower head.

If it only leaks when the tub faucet is on, then it could be the "valve" (cartridge or stem) or any of the connections in the pipe that goes down to the tub faucet.

If it leaks regardless of which one is on and *not* limited to either cold or hot, then it's most likely the "valve" (cartridge or stem), specifically the diverter portion that sends the water to the selected fixture.

If it's a 3 stem style (hot, cold, diverter) and it's limited to cold or hot, then the stem for that side of the valve may be leaking around the stem when open.

I'm sure I missed a bunch of possible combinations, but without knowing how your plumbing is set up, what type of valve you have and exactly when it leaks, it's kind of hard to answer your "inevitable" question.

I am willing to say that typically it's not "inevitable that the whole valve assembly will have to be replaced". Cartridges can leak and they can be replaced. Stems can leak and they can be repaired/replaced. Rarely does the entire valve assembly need to be replaced. Typically it's just the inner workings and for the most part that is a DIY job.

Bottom line, you need to find out where the leak is and then go from there. No one can fully answer your "inevitable" question unless we know exactly what's going on inside your wall.

[Davej]

A water leak? Cracked drain pipe? One common problem in older homes is where a steel nail has been in contact with a copper water pipe. The dissimilar metal corrosion eventually causes a leak in the copper pipe.

[TimR]

Agree. We've been able to repair several of mine. Mine have been the old faucet stem with packing under the packing nut and a flat washer at the end of the stem, although this week I replaced washers in a single handle kitchen sink with a ball. I'd never had one of those apart before and I was very surprised the parts fit and the drip stopped first try. Usually plumbing jobs involve three trips to the store: to get the parts you think you need, again to get the parts you really need, again to replace the ones you broke or lost down the drain.

I had a leak that might be similar to yours from the packing. On a tub that can drip inside the wall where you can't see it.

But you have to get the valve apart and that isn't always easy if it's an old one. You may need a special tool or two. You can't get a crescent wrench on the nut because it's deep in the wall. It's sort of a plumbers socket set.

Here's a video that is not of a tub valve but it shows the valve stem washer, and packing nut very clearly.

It doesn't always work. My tub was repairable but my shower wasn't, couldn't get parts. I tried new washers and seats and still had the drips, visited every specialty store in the area for a new stem but nobody could match, got a good plumber to do the same thing with the same result, and ended up with an expensive replacement and re-tile job.

[Marilyn Manson]

I don't have a leak. You might want to offer your thoughts to micky or Shell. They are the one's with sounds of water inside the wall.

Maybe they'll read this response. We'll see - or maybe we'll never know.

[Marilyn Manson]

That's not necessarily true. If I piece together everything you've said correctly, you have a 2 stem valve and the diverter is in the tub spout controlled by a lever of some sort. IOW you do not have a 3 stem valve (Hot-Diverter-Cold). Is that correct?

In any case, going back to the cold and hot water supplies, "a leaky place for one" does not mean "a leaky place for either". If the packing around the stem for the cold is bad, then it may only leak when that stem is opened. Same for the hot. If it leaks when either one of them are open, then it's probably not a stem, but something down stream of the valve, possibly even the valve body itself, although that is relatively rare.

Again, this assumes that you don't have a diverter stem. If you do, it could be leaking from there .

In other words, your premise that the "Hot and cold go to the same places" is faulty. Each one enters the valve in a different location and is controlled by it's own stem, which can leak all on it's own.

Granted, if you are going to repair/replace one leaky stem, you should probably repair/replace all two (or three).

Let's make sure we are on the same page. I said the *connections* for the incoming water are probably fine. By that I mean where the pipes enter the valve. I did not mean to imply that the *stems* for either the hot or cold are OK. That is what you need to test by turning them one at a time.

This is the tool that TimR mentioned for removing stems in a tiled wall:

Some plumbing supply houses will lend them to you. Used to anyway, it's been quite a while since I've worked on stemmed valves. I replaced both of mine decades ago.

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