[cyberman48]

A couple of weeks ago the ceiling over our kitchen table started leaking and water was dripping onto the table. Stain is about a foot in diameter. Turns out that the toilet for the hallway bathroom had overflowed and the water went under the toilet, which is direct over the kitchen table. The dripping lasted a couple of hours and then dried up. The stain has dried and I planned on fixing it later since I thought that was the end of it. However, last night the dripping started again, even though nobody had been using the toilet. The dripping (12 hours later) has basically stopped. The water stain is a little bit bigger now. I now wonder if it is a leaky pipe. Our master bath is adjacent to the hallway bath and it gets the majority of usage. What puzzles me is the fact that there was no problem for a 2 weeks, but now it's back. I have never had to fix anything like this. What should I do first?

 

[Michael Thomas]

Why did he toilet overflow, and what was done to correct the cause?

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[majakdragon]

Time to cut into the ceiling and find where the water is coming from. It may be dry on the exterior of the ceiling but soaked in-between the floors. You don't want mold growing either.

 

[cyberman48]

Leaky Ceiling - toilet overflow

One of the kids didn't pay attention and allowed the toilet to get plugged up. I thought that it was a one-time problem. A few years ago it had happened (overflow), but without any problems.

As for budget, I want to do this as cheaply as humanly possible.

As for cutting, how big of a cut do you recommend to start with?

 

[majakdragon]

Whatever size hole will allow you to see the area. Probably at least 14" square.