"Have you noticed the little bugs in the shower?" I asked.
"No," my husband replied.
I didn't realize at the time it was a sign.
I see it now for what it was. The tiny little flies were delivering a quiet message about what was going on behind the walls. Something was wrong. The bugs were a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem.
Other signs didn't appear until the problem was much worse.
The little flies had found a water source.
We had a leak.
The water found its own direction with the help of gravity. Water is tricky like that.
The evidence of a leak appeared in the ceiling below our shower this week. Or at least, that's when we noticed it. It was unexpected as our home is only a few years old. The drywall had discoloration and puckered in places, the tape separated and what was actually happening became clear.
A trail of water the same shape as our linear drain appeared in the drywall below. This is not our first rodeo or leak. But this one was slow, not pressurized like our previous home where water gushed.
We did the most important thing first. It is always the first step.
We stopped using the shower and shutdown the source of the leak.
We started the drying process by cutting open the dry wall.
We cut out sections of wet drywall and removed damp insulation blankets
We set up cans of desiccant to collect moisture and set up dryers.
We are pretty certain we found the culprit and started fixing the problem. (More of this to come - stay tuned.) There is a giant whole in the drywall in our living room. Naturally we have company coming at the end of the week.
Remember to always prevent further damage when something like this happens. Shut off the water supply to your leak.
About the author
Hey there neighbor, I'm Julie Bennett.
I'm a homeowner turned renovator and a Seattle real estate agent. I'm a woman on a mission to make renovation easier. I had some "if I had only known" moments when renovating my homes. I started Renovator's Toolkit to help homeowners like you "know what you don't know."