Is my cast iron tub causing a leak?
by
Donna
+1
I have an old cast iron tub and at one end there is a square metal piece. When my tub water gets too high it goes through that. Do you know where it is supposed to go? Why I'm asking is that I'm having an issue with dampness on the top of the carpet of the Living room, which is next door to the bathroom. I've had countless plumbers out and they can find no leaks. I'm almost to the point of having the people with the infrared cameras come out to look through the walls.
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it is the "over flow" it goes the same place the water goes when you pull the plug in tub, all goes to same drain.You can have pin hole/hole in over flow & be leaking on outside of tub seems like plumber even you could see it/find that easily,is the tub enclosed?; we had minute leak in main drain that leads from tub to sewer in slab/foundation and it caused over 12,000.00 in damages from slowly leaking then mold formed inside walls. What is your floor made out of ? is it single level home? on cement slab/foundation? ours was in the slab, had to remove tub, walls,studs,tile in 3 rooms(2 connecting bathrooms & master bedroom) and actually had to be jackhammered out it was awful mess over 2 mos. complete tear out and repairs remoldel along with asbestos in all the drywall. if you have home owners warranty program contact them first for plumber then need to call your home owners insurance ours covered all but deductible even hotel for us & animals the 10 days we could not be in our house due to asbestos removal and no working plumbing.
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If your bathroom/tub is very old, your plumbing may also be cast iron. Over the years, it negatively interacts with adjacent copper piping, causing minute fractures, which result in leaks. The leaks can take as long as a year to become apparent.
Your plumber would have a difficult time locating this, because it could be below your subfloor, as far away as the opposite corner of your bath (water always seeks it's lowest level).
If your flooring were removed to expose these pipes, you may find the problem. Over time, the cast iron becomes so compromised, you'd be able to press on it and it would further disintegrate. It will require a gut of the cast iron piping and total replacement, to be safe.
Have it evaluated before a large section of ceiling collapses into your living room.
You should also call your insurance agent for financial coverage before the problem becomes so large they deny coverage.
The overflow is connected to the tub drain. There is a rubber gasket ring where the overflow pipe connects to the tub. They fail over time from age just enough for a slight drip. Best way to check this is dry the carpet out. Once it's dry fill the tub till overflowing to the overflow. Will take a while but then you can check if the carlet id damp. Then the gasket has failed. A quiker way would be to cut an small inspection hole in the room the tub drain is sided on, fill the tub and look for any leaks. Repair any leaks and patch the hole.