How To Tell If Pipes Are Behind A Bathroom Wall

There is no way to trace the water pipe behind the walls with any certainty without using a hole in the wall.

How to tell if pipes are behind a bathroom wall.

If you do hit a pipe. A vibrating tool with a circular blade will make nice clean sharp easily patchable holes without cutting so deep as to risk cutting the pipes. Make shallow cuts in the drywall. In cases where a leak behind a wall isn t visible you may be able to detect the leak using your sense of smell.

However you won t know the exact location of the water lines in your walls until you use a pipe detector. There are easy and effective ways to know what s hiding in your home. If none exists you will have to make one plus. One of the tell tale signs of a water leak coming from a shower valve behind the wall are water stains.

One rule of thumb is to be especially careful when drilling into any walls that connect to your bathroom or kitchen basically any wall that s likely to have pipes. Most times shower valve leaks behind the wall are very slow. Musty smelling walls will often be accompanied by other signs of a leak e g discoloration. It is possible to follow the water lines from the basement or crawl space to help determine the most likely path to sinks tubs toilets radiators and washing machines.

How to fix a leaking pipe behind a wall. The water pipes and pipe connections for a shower faucet are behind the wall of the shower and a small drip or spray can go unnoticed for weeks or even months. A wall that is warped or stained for no apparent reason. Old accumulated water from a leaky pipe tends to have an odor.

Therefore you will easily see if there s a leakage or anything wrong with them. The basement is the place where the pipes are usually exposed and not behind a wall. When someone is showering you might see water dripping from the ceiling. The diy experts at stack exchange provide tips.

Drilling into a wall doesn t have to be a guessing game. And if it s behind a wall it never has a chance to dry. Since water that leaks into walls never has a chance to dry out the walls will begin to give off a humid musty odor. Peeling paint or wallpaper on your walls.