Water Sounds Behind Walls

Forgot to mention that there is no sign of water anywhere in or around my condo, so if there is a leak somewhere, I have no idea where it is draining. This is bizarre.

Clctcoins - hi, you need to check the pressure relief valve on top of the water heater to see if it's failed. It's mounted on top of the water heater tank and has an overflow pipe that runs from it down towards the floor. The pipe should end above the floor so you can readily see if there's water flowing from the pipe - and "should" is the operative word. (My house, built in 1980, has the pipe running down through the floor and it empties into the crawl space. The overflow pipe is copper and it was warm to the touch down by the floor, telling me the valve was failing. Once I replaced the valve, the overflow pipe became cool to the touch. This spring, I'll fix the pipe going through the floor by installing a proper drain, connecting the drain to a pipe that'll run outside the crawl space of the house, and shortening the overflow pipe a bit so I can visually see if it's draining water or not.)

Since you live in a condo, it may be that the overflow pipe is connected into the drain system and that's why you hear the water running. If the water heater's working, you should be able to touch the overflow pipe and feel the warmth from the hot water leaking out.

Replacing the pressure relief valve is fairly simple if you're handy with hand tools. If any soldering is involved (such as removing a copper overflow drain pipe from the valve), be sure to use MAPP gas (yellow bottle, same size as standard blue propane bottle). I hope this helps some - good luck! Jim D/West Point, VA

Jim makes a good point about the temperature pressure relief valve seeping. Sound can echo and be hard to locate. My first response is that we usually get these kind of reports when someone is on a concrete slab. Are you?

Yes, I am on a concrete slab.

There doesn't seem to be any water flowing through that copper pipe and it is not warm, but room temperature.

Hot water line is leaking under the concrete....commonly called a "slab-leak. erik

Erik, any idea on what I should do now? I really appreciate the help.

Thanks-

You have a couple of options...Hire a "leak-locater" service, locate the leak, break concrete and repair. Be aware that leaks under the slab can and do re-occur often... If youre going to keep the condo and want no further problems repipe the unit using either type L or type k copper (by-passing the slab). Be aware also that your homeowners insurance may help you with the repair but most likely not the repipe. Always check your local codes. erik

Just wanted to let everyone who read/replied to this post that my problem has been evaluated and diagnosed as a "slab leak", which means that a pipe under the concrete has a hole; causing the hot water to run non-stop. Lucky for me, if that can even apply in this situation, the concrete slap has kept the water outside my home (which means no money from insurance, but that's better than having a wet condo I guess). So, erik, I'm sorry to say you figured this problem correctly, so now it's drill time. The estimated cost for repair? Six hundred to $800, 4-6 hours labor (I don't drill into concrete), and the cost to build a new counter, which is oh so conveniently located directly above the leak. But hey, at least I got my health :D!

Thanks again for all the help!

John W.

It was simply common-sense from the syptoms you desribed....Again I would mention that the chances of this re-occuring is great...In my experience most home-owners wait until the "third" leak happens and then re-pipe in disgust....erik

I hear the sound of water behind the walls of both the main bathroom and the second bathroom. They are next to each other wall wise. The second bathroom used to be a laundry room.The sound is always there no matter what valves we shut off. The water bill in general is higher than I am used to but not by much.I just bought the house less than a year ago and except for tearing down walls I am at a loss.