Home Improvement → Water Damage in Bathroom

I've had this house maybe 6 months or so. Today when I was getting out of the shower I noticed the baseboard behind the toilet fell off. It had only been glued in place. I got to snooping around the floor and wall and noticed there was some obvious (when I got up to it) patch work and it appeared as though the drywall was wet where it met up near the floor. Pulled back the vinyl tile and you have what's in the picture. I checked from the basement and the plywood subfloor (?) looks to be ok. The brown stuff in the picture is some kind of composite wood and it's falling all to pieces and pretty wet.

The baseboard was never secured to the wall very well and I'm thinking that water from the shower would maybe splash down there and keep the floor wet but it seems awful wet considering I'm the only person that uses the shower (I do have a shower curtain).

I don't see/smell any mold or mildew so I don't know how long it's been like this. That bit of drywall right near the tub is mush though (but it could be glue too). The previous owner was an elderly lady that left the house vacant for 6 months. It wasn't selling so they dumped some money into the house (new furnace, new ac, new paint) but some of the stuff is half-assed (patch work, paint work, etc.) From the looks of it there was an issue with water damage in this corner that was fixed.

My bathroom is small, maybe 5 feet by 8 feet total. I can't find my tape measure but I can touch the walls one way and I'm about a foot short the other (6 ft tall). This is the only bathroom in the house and I don't think I'd be able to put it all back together before I'd have to use it again

I've got a home service warranty plan and I'm going to give them a call but I'm not sure it's going to be covered. Is it going to be a complete PITA to rip this floor up and put a new one in? If the warranty company does come out and fix it, is there anything I should look for as far as the contractor half-assing the job? Is the tub going to need to be removed? What about the toilet? As far as I can tell the water damage goes out about 2 feet each way from the corner where the tub is at (2 feet towards me in the pic, 2 feet to the left) so I'm expecting there is further damage underneath the tub.

I've got a ceramic heater in there to try and dry it out some, but I really would like to fix it right. The bathroom needs a remodel to begin with so there is no sense wasting money on a temporary fix when I planned on remodeling it later this year anyways.

figure out if it's the toilet leaking first.

I can just about guarantee that you get some water out from the tub when you shower. Or if not from you, then previously. It's a pain to keep from happening.

Make it as dry as possible and spread paper towel all around there. Take a shower and see if it got wet. If not, flush the toilet a couple times and sit on it and get up etc. See if it leaks then. It may take a while to seep.

In reality, it's not as bad of a job to fix the floor as you think. If you get a good contractor, only a few days you can't go in the bathroom. In between things being fixed and glue drying etc, they can put the toilet back on. And you should be able to use the shower.

If you have a home warranty plan, *STOP NOW* and don't do anything further that could jeopardize their analysis of the situation. If you start digging around looking for the source of the water, you could disrupt the area enough that the inspector will not be able to tell what is damaged by water and what was messed up by your actions.

Leave it as-is, call them and once they have made their determination you can go from there if they don't cover it.

A good DTY project is installing a shower door. If done correctly it will be water tight for many many years.

My guess here is the shower (curtain). Probably the previous owner after many years.

Thanks, I never even thought about adding a door. I priced them on Lowes real quick and they're only about $300 (plus tax) which I think would be more economical than replacing the entire tub with one of those slide-ins. I don't even know that I could put one in to be honest, my bathroom is so tiny and the doorway is so tight I'd have to take the door off the hinges for sure.

I noticed that the tub kind of has a little slant to it so water that falls onto the edge/backsplash (?) has a tendency to move/fall towards the edge/floor. That's why I try to be careful and mindful of it when I showered but from the looks of it, it would surprise me if 6 months of living here could cause as much damage as it looks to me. Plus the patch job kind of hints at previous problems.

I put a frameless in in about 2 hours but you really need an electric chop saw for this project. Length has to be cut just about perfect for a pro looking job. I know I couldn't do it with a hack saw. Paid about $250 (couple years ago) for the kit, nice 1/4" glass. Also you need ceramic bits but those are cheap.

I think I saw where the handymen in Dallas charge a $100-$150 for this installation.

Time to put in a nice tile floor!

It's not that hard to DIY.

Of course after the subfloor is corrected.

What are the ceramic bits for? The tile? My tile is some cheap knock-off plastic crap I think. Super-thin. I want to replace that eventually too; probably better to do that before the glass though... grrr....

I would like to put a tile floor in. I was going to have a plumber put a 2nd bathroom in my basement (just run the pipes and stuff). Then I'd have a spare and could totally remodel the upstairs bathroom at my leisure. The basement bathroom is going to cost a bit more than I can spend right now so I'll have to pay someone to fix the floor upstairs. There is nothing I hate more than running to the store to pick up a tool or part that I'm missing--except running to the store when I have to pee as well

Funny how something that seems small grows into a major expense. 1 ceramic bit to cut the screw holes in the tile.

That black stuff sure looks like mold to me. Are you on a concrete slab or a wood frame/plywood floor? Could be the shower water draining on to the floor but I would think you would notice that, or the wax ring in the toilet seal is bad, is the toilet loose? Looks like a lot of water damage. Do you have an access panel to the tub shut off on the shower wall in the adjacent room, if so I would look there for some clues. It is kind of hard from the pic to get a true feel of what is happening.

I did a little troubleshooting late last night and this morning. Apparently when the shower is running some water still drips down the faucet part. It's not enough water to make it drip down and off the faucet, but it looks like it's forming a small stream that flows onto the backsplash. It goes down the backsplash, onto the tub edge, and drips off the tub along where the wall and tub meet.

I don't think it's mold, but maybe it is. It's not fuzzy and doesn't smell funny but I don't know how else to tell besides that. The wood is some kind of cheap particle/composite board. I'm on a wood/plywood floor. I pulled back some more of the tile earlier and I can see the wood around the toilet is actually plywood, further enforcing the thought in my head that the previous owner had someone throw a cheap patch together for an existing issue.

The plywood that I can see looks ok. I called the warranty service and filed a claim but I don't think this is as much a plumber issue as it's going to be my problem to deal with. I think it would be in the exclusion of "loss arising out of water residue" and there are no inclusions that it seems to fall under. I think it's a long shot to say the (likely) worn washer that's letting the water drip from the faucet/spigot isn't a homeowner responsibility.

My 2 cents:

That is way too much damage for shower splash unless you don't use a curtain.

Wood wicks water so it appears that something is definitely leaking.

Is your tub fiberglass? It may be cracked. Definitely call your home warranty people and set up an appt.

I still say this is water damage that's happened over years. I'll bet his tub leans a little toward the toilet and the water seeped in a little at a time. Sometimes a lot, sometimes just a little. I think that this might be the only bathroom. Kids probably used (abused) that area too.

Is the shadow your toilet tank? If it is the toilet may be the culprit.

OP says the water damaged floor is particle board and rest of floor is plywood so there is a leak that "somebody" cosmetically fixed . That picture shows a constant source of moisture.

Tub does appear to lean towards the toilet. This is just by eye-balling it and by watching the water tend to flow that way when splashed on the edge. My level is hiding somewhere along with my tape measure.

Yep. The toilet is right up next to the shower. Right on the other side is the sink. Tiny

The tub isn't fiberglass. And you're right, its too much for splash damage. I ripped up the vinyl tile and the particle board all the way back until I could find dry plywood. I was also able to get to a small piece of the plywood underneath the tub, it appears dry. The plywood doesn't look too bad. Definitely wet. Doesn't smush when I push it; the chisel I used to scrape/break the particle board up with didn't do anything to the plywood.

The tub sits flush with the plywood subfloor. The toilet is propped up on it's own piece of plywood (instead of the composite/particle wood). The bathroom floor is covered in cheap vinyl; the rest of the house (except the kitchen) has real wood floors. The bathroom floor is about flush with the hallway floor (wood), so I'm guessing the particle board is there to raise it up.

I'm going to let the piece I ripped up dry for a few days to make sure it's dried out (using a ceramic heater when I'm present and able to be in the next room). There is one piece of wood I'm concerned about; but I don't know that it's anything structural. It's a 2x4 about 1.5 feet long, running parallel to the floor (it's visible in the corner).

Since I ripped the vinyl up, and the vinyl was glued to the composite, it ripped up part of the composite wood (the parts of the vinyl that would come off).

I was thinking of replacing the entire floor with real plywood and some kind of tile. I have probably 20 sq. ft. to cover (5x5 area, less toilet and sink), so I don't mind doing something expensive/nice on the floor (nice taking priority over expensive). Easy would be good too. Since it's so small I think I'm supposed to put small tiles of a light color in, right? Or is it big tiles for a small room? Son of a gun.....

Ok, took another shower tonight and made sure I covered up any "egress routes" to keep the water off the floor. When I got done with the shower there was water in the corner again. Definitely some kind of plumbing issue. It seems a washer on the hot water knob (I have 1 hot, 1 cold) leaks whenever it's on. Didn't think much of it, since I figured it would just drip into the tub. Now that I think about it, that leak has to be coming from somewhere inside the knob/fixture, and it's probably dripping down to the corner from the inside.

I have to call the contractor (home warranty co) tomorrow so I'll try and get him out here and get that repaired before I work on the floor. $75 co-pay to get him to come out and look at it. I wonder if it's as simple as putting new washers in the fixture and/or knob? Would be a lot cheaper than $75 that's for sure....

Doesn't appear to be leaking when the water is off at all. I think the damage would have been a lot worse than it is (doesn't look that bad almost dried off).

Sounds like your on the right track.
As for the tile, really unless your a chick, don't worry about the size of it.
Personally larger tile is easier to clean, and looks better then small tile.

Not a chick, but good idea about large tile being easier to clean.....

That is the equivalent of the packing. You haven't posted any pics of the faucet so I can't give more details. But, yes, it is either a couple of washers (less than a dollar) or they may be all in one (American Standard ) and have o rings and a different kind of rubber which would probably cost about 4.00 for the two of them. If you have basic tools, it takes about 15 minutes to take it apart and put it back together. If you decide to do this yourself, get some plumber's silicone grease to lubricate everything with before putting it back together.

I have some basic tools. I'll get a pic of the faucet later tonight. It says "Crane" on the knob covers though.

I took a quick shower this morning since the ceramic heater had dried the floor up pretty good. The wood looks ok. Even with a quick shower there is enough run-off to make me think about having that wall torn open. Surely the drywall and possibly some of the studs are damaged.

I'm concerned about the drywall damage because my house was built kind of "funny". The walls are only about 2.5-3 inches thick. Something about the way the builder made it. The realtor told me what his name was and said it was pretty popular in this area in the 60's. SOmething about the corners and roof were installed with the minimal support, then the interior was framed after the exterior was done. I don't know exactly because I couldn't find anything online about this "style" of building. But basically, it seems I have a lot of drywall in my house as it seems on some walls they packed the area between the 2x4 with drywall as well possibly (I can drill an inch or more into my wall and not hit empty space, or wood)

If I can get the plumber to rip it out I'd go for that; warranty service should cover to restore to a rough repair. Then I could put some new tile in the shower and install that door; get it all knocked out at once.

If you are going to do all of that you should probably reinstall the tub also. The fact that water is running the direction it is tells me that the front edge is too low and should be raised. Water should not be draining out like it is if the tub is leveled properly.

I've removed the faucet and trim from the hot water. That's where the leak was at. I've removed the stem and got a replacement washer pack from Home Depot that I think will work (going to try in a few). From the looks of it, If I wanted to replace the faucet knobs and everything entirely, I'd have to find a new stem assembly--is this correct? My stem wasn't common enough to be found at Home Depot or Menards.

My stem looks similar to this: »www.plumbingparts.org/pa ··· 650.html

But it looks like on mine the threaded area is slightly longer (more threads)

It's old (like me ) You got to try the washers and valve and see.

I was built in the 50's too.

You got the hang of it now.

Probably the last job in the house that you will ever have to do.

Hopefully you're not as much of a pain in the ass as these are

I'd like to get them replaced but I'm looking at how much I want to spend now, and how much I want to spend later when I refinish the bathroom completely... I'm thinking I might just wait to replace (unless these washers don't work) to replace because it looks like I have to rip the wall out to replace the stem (or rather, the plumber I'll likely pay to replace it)

I found a nice step-by-step example on the Internet. Only thing is the washer kit doesn't appear to have a washer for the end part of the stem, just the packing part. Here's a picture of the washer I'm missing:

»www.hammerzone.com/archi ··· w19a.jpg

I have one that kind of fits in the end, but it seems a little bigger and doesn't have the groove/cup shape to it. It's just a flat rubber washer. I'm not sure that it fits well into the cup on the end of the stem...

At this point I would call a plumber so that you could stop.

Once you start tearing shit out there is no stopping.

You don't have another shower, do you?

No, just one. I'm going to see if I can get this back together and then I'll call a plumber if I can't.

Awesome. Replaced both washers at once, because I figured the other one would be just as bad. Now they both leak, instead of just one. Guess it wasn't the right part after all.

I'll call the plumber on Monday.