This might be a bit long so please bear with me and I hope I'm keeping with the rules of the forums. First off I am a new home owner and I consider myself handy enough for small projects but when I am fiddling with the leaky bathtub faucet and soon after notice water leaking from the corner baseboard onto the tile in my bathroom I look to more experienced people than I.

I have turned off the main line to the house and I turned on all the faucets to let everything drain as much as possible. The leak slowed and has finally stopped, which is good. A plumber can not be out for several days as I am going through my home warranty service and not an emergency service so we will be without water for this time. I am going to buy a med sized dehumidifier and put it in the room that the leak was in then close the room off. It is very cold out right now and I am hoping to stave off possible mold growth.

A person came out to do a free evaluation and estimate. he had a moisture meter and took some readings then announced that there was moisture around the baseboards and so forth and he would need to pull them out and the side of the tub off and dry it with fans and so forth (before the leak was fixed even) and that he guessed it had been leaking for three to four days (even though I had noticed no water until this morning. I was dubious and took his card and he left.

My question is, is there anything else I can do to prepare for the plumber when he arrives in a few days. Also, I have turned off the water to the water heater. Would it be advisable to turn on the main line( I say main line but it's just a knob in the garage to the house.) to the house again so we can have cold water at least to wash clothing? I believe the leak is coming from a hot water line to the tub. If I saw water leaking again I would of course turn it back off or would it be better to just leave well enough alone at this point and tough it out for a few days.

Thanks so much for any advise anyone can provide, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

First off....Don't have the "moisture meter" guy do the work. Hire a reputable, experienced plumber. Once the leak is repaired the moisture will dry out. They are just setting you up for a whopper of a bill, unnecessarily.

Depending on the style of faucet you are referring to, you might be able to handle the repair yourself. If you can put up a couple of good pictures showing the faucet, identifying markings, and whatever is behind the faceplate trim, there are a lot of talented people here that may be able to walk you through a repair step by step. I say may, because it could be something more severe, but nobody will know until they can see it. As paul mentioned, don't go with the moisture meter guy. Simply having a fan moving the air will prevent mold growth and dry it out.

Well I went out and bought a new cartridge for the faucet. It is a moen so it was fairly easy to find. That stopped the leaking faucet and I haven't seen any water leaking out of the wall since, though I still have the hot water turned off at the heater. I can survive on a cold head dunk to wash my hair for a day or so till the plumber gets here.

Might as well turn on the hot water and see if the leak stopped. If it is a leak in the valve body, simply using the valve will cause it to leak anyhow. Almost every single leak from a Moen that I have seen is from the cartridge, and if it gets behind the walls, it is usually running down the trim to do it. Replacing the cartridge will almost always stop all the leaks on a Moen.

WE really cannot advise you, because we do not know if the hot or cold water is leaking, or if the leak is before or after a faucet.

It's been all day with the hot water turned off and no leaks. I checked the weep holes outside to see if they still had wet around then and they are dry. I'm going to just leave the hot water off till the plumber gets here. Better safe than sorry in my opinion where possible water damage could be involved.

Thanks all for your ideas!



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