Dave Smith wrote:
>
> All hell broke loose in my kitchen yesterday morning. I had had my
> morning shower, ate my breakfast and was on the computer when my wife
> came down after her shower and was alarmed to see water leaking from the
> kitchen ceiling. It was raining at the time. I just had a new rook
> installed last month and this was the first heavy rain to test it, but
> it wasn't raining hard enough for a leak like that.
>
> My Mr.Fixit neighbour was out so I called a plumber. Mt water pressure
> system was not kicking in, and the rate of flow was slowing, so it was
> more likely a drain than a feed line.
>
> The plumber arrived within an hour, had a look around and suggested the
> main stack to the upstairs bathroom was shot and had to be replaced.
> That is a big job and a lot of expense,... and he could not do it until
> next Tuesday. I could not wait that long. He recommended a couple guys
> who might be able to handle it right. Neither could do it. After a half
> dozen calls I found someone who could look at it after 3 pm and do the
> work this morning.
>
> The plumber showed up a couple hours early. After looking around he
> thought perhaps not the stack but he would have to cut a couple holes
> in the ceiling to look.... and he doesn't do drywall repairs. Luckily,
> he struck cold on the first hole. The drain from the sink and tub was an
> old copper pipe that had corroded and burst. That meant a much smaller
> job that he could do right away. He had to removed about a foot of pipe
> and replaced it with plastic. We checked and everything looked good. So
> the leak was fixed and the bill was only $175.
>
> This morning I ran some errands by bicycle. When I got home my wife was
> frantic about a leak in the dining room ceiling. She wanted to call the
> plumber back. I was confident that the leak was repaired, but there was
> likely some water that had leaked across to the other side of the wall.
> I drilled a small hole where the ceiling was wet and have a trickle of
> water and a pail under it. I am hoping that it stops dripping soon.

Fun stuff. Inaccessible plumbing issues are never fun to diagnose,
repair and patch up after. I would agree that it's unlikely you had two
separate leaks in such a short time and that water from the original
leak may have puddled and only shown up later.