Plumbing Question: Leak Under Bathroom Sink

[mark_wpduet]

In the master bath there is a large vanity with one sink, and I noticed a leak under there. Here is a pic: It looks like it's coming from the cold water supply on the right (circled in blue). Notice the grey hose on the right that connects to the supply for cold water? It's leaking right at the copper/grey hose connection. The fittings are tight but when the cold water is turned on, I see water dripping pretty good there, especially if the cold is on full blast, but if it's on half way, it doesn't leak nearly as bad. At any rate, is this something easy?

 

[askolover]

kinda odd

that it would leak when the water is turned on...because that connection is always under pressure.  Are you sure it isn't coming from above and running down?  We had a faucet back home that would leak if the aerator wasn't tight...it would run water through the faucet housing and drip underneath.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I don't know

It looked like it was coming exactly from that area that I circled.I even felt above that leak and it felt dry. It's interesting you mention that because I have a dental water jet, but not like a water pik, this is an adapter that connects to the sink. I took the aerator off and put the adpater on, then you connect the water jet hose to that and turn the sink on high and it sprays water through the jet to clean your teeth. It's called oral breeze I bought of Amazon a long time ago. I wonder if that's causing some kind of pressure problem? But it is definitely coming from that area that I circled.

 

[stan]

You could try

Taken that apart, wrapping the threads with teflon tape, and put back together.. Then see what happens

 

[kb0nes]

Mark,

Did you try to tighten it at all or did you just feel that it was tight by hand? I might just try to snug it up a bit.

A better approach is to take it apart and inspect then reassemble it. You could use Teflon tape too but those threads aren't what does the sealing so it would only act as a lubricant then. I use silicone grease on all compression and gasketed fittings like these.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Just checked by hand

I know I had a leak under the kitchen sink and it was one of the pipe connections that I guess vibrated a little loose from the garbage disposal. I don't even know what compression fitting means. LOL.

It's a really STRANGE leak because it doesn't happen every time someone uses the sink, only sometimes. It may in fact have something to do with the aerator. I took the adapter for the water pik off and put the aerator back on and so far I haven't seen a drip.....but like I said, with the adapter on, it didn't always leak either....so I will wait and see.

That bathroom is right up against an outside wall, and on the other side of that wall is the water supply for the garden hose. Last year, one night it got down to 21 below zero F. Even though I had a heater and doors open under there with the heater facing under the sink, the cold water STILL froze. The toilet is also up against that outside wall, and did not freeze at all. At any rate, it hasn't started leaking until recently, so something made me wonder about that water freezing back last winter if that had anything to do with the current leak I have now.

 

[mattl]

Well if it only leaks when the water is running, it's not the connection.  If it was the connection it would leak all the time.  Possible issue is the faucet itself, there may be a leak around the cartridge that supply’s the cold water, odds are you will see or feel a stream of water running down the copper pipe above the fitting.

 

  What brand is the faucet?

 

[mark_wpduet]

A long time ago it leaked

but then it totally stopped for years! Until recently........

but get this, ever since I took that adapter off and put the aerator back on carefully where water runs out of it perfectly, there's not a single drop leaking under the sink now.....

The faucet is Delta. I just ran water full blast cold, then mix/warm/cold full blast, then hot full blast, while shining a flash light underneath and there was nothing.....

Could someone explain to me how an adapter/aerator could cause a leak underneath the sink? That does not make sense to me at all, but then again, I have zero knowledge when it comes to plumbing .

 

[mark_wpduet]

I meant to add

I had the WORST freaking time trying to get that adapter off the faucet so I could put the aerator that came with it back on....I destroyed it getting it off. I don't think the adapter was on there correctly because when water was turned it, water would run down the bottom of the faucet.

 

[alr2903]

Mark I think the leak is somewhere past the faucet valve. Were any of the aerators used during this event flow restrictors? Art

 

[sudsmaster]

If it starts leaking again, try wrapping the upper part of the copper tube to the faucet tightly with a small rag. Then see if the rag ever gets damp.

 

It's possible, as others have said, that there's an internal leak in the faucet itself. A lot of these things have cosmetic shells, and then a copper pipe inside which connects with the fitment at the outlet end. The dental rinse adapter was probably causing some back pressure that went up into the shell, perhaps through a crack or insufficiently sealed join, and then down into the under-sink area.

 

Waterpik makes a nice counter top dental rinse product... The Water Flosser. It doesn't have to be connected to the water line in any way. Instead you just fill a small reservoir with lukewarm water and have at it. It's amazing how much debris it can flush out even after a thorough brushing and standard flossing.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I'm trying to remember

A few years ago, when I first got the oral breeze that connects to the faucet, I unscrewed the aerator, put it away, then put the oral breeze adapter on. I don't think I ever remember a leak before that....and I remember looking under the sink after using the oral breeze and seeing a some water, which I quickly cleaned up and I put a plastic container to catch water, which has been under there a LONG time. But months or maybe even years would go by and I periodically checked and there was no leak.....even though there had been. It was really intermittent or even rare.

I don't know what a flow restrictor looks like...The aerator was just a screen with a red plastic piece on it that fits inside the round thing you screw on.

I will try the towel to see if it gets damp, but everything under there is bone dry now.

I finally got a shower breeze which is the same thing for the shower, which is AWESOME (it puts a water pik to shame). I've always used a water pik, but the oral breeze and shower breeze are so much better. I like how there is no clean up or hardly any counter space taken up, and you get much more pressure than with a water pik unit.

 

[sudsmaster]

The Water Pik counter-top Water Flosser has plenty of power... it has pump motor driven pulsing, with ten different power levels. It's powerful enough that when starting out with it, I had to choose the lower power levels and gradually work up to the higher levels. I think I currently have it set on "8" and that is sufficient.

 

Haven't heard of either the Oral Breeze or Shower Breeze products.

 

I've gone through a number of hand-held shower massagers over the years. Either they haven't been powerful enough, or their selection collars bind up and they become impossible to change. Currently have the "latest" Waterpik, the one with a very large head. It's powerful enough to clean shampoo down to scalp level but it's not got much of a massage action. That's ok, because after a couple of years it still adjusts easily. Of course I routinely remove the water restrictors in the feed line because I save water by turning the faucet off... not by a wimpy output...

 

Another good shower massage has been the Interbath stuff (made in Australia at one point). but those collars eventually become hard to adjust. They do have a more powerful massage function than the Waterpik, though.

 

 

[mattl]

My hunch is that the aerator or adapter you installed had a leak that flowed down INSIDE the faucet body and traveled to the  water line. 

 

[mark_wpduet]

Matt -

you may be right. I will give it a few days and if I see no water under there, that HAD TO BE THE PROBLEM!

About the water pik. I own one that is maybe 4 years old. I used it a long time but it's stored in the closet. Water Pik's are great. But I always would have to stop, fill, turn on, stop, fill, turn on. With these, you get high pressure water (adjustable) coming out until you are done and in the shower, no splashing mess. There are several types. I think I'm going to get one called shower floss for the other bathroom shower.

Speaking of shower heads. Any time I ever move in to a place, I always change the shower head to a portable shower head. I hate LOW water pressure too. We have great city water pressure here, and I'm sure the newest shower head I bought about 6 months ago has a flow restrictor in it, but the pressure is perfect and not skimpy at all. I had to read a lot of reviews on amazon before I bought it. The last portable I had lasted 11 years

 

[sudsmaster]

When I did 3-4 business trips out of state a year, requiring hotel stays, I would bring a crescent wrench with me to disassemble the shower heads and pull the flow restrictor... OK I'm bad, but as a paying guest I think the hotel can afford more than an anemic trickle.

 

The only problem I've had with the Water Pik Water Flosser has been that the stiff plastic little tube from the pump base to the hand held spigot broke off, so I had to order a new one from Water Pik for $15.... It's probably been about five years since I bought it. I will try to be more gentle with it in future, but I suspect the problem is the hard plastic the tube is made from is the problem. It probably has to be hard in order to transmit the pulses with full force... but I'll be looking for a substitute hose for next time.

 

 

 

[delaneymeegan]

As you've figured out now, the aerator connection will leak down the inside of the faucet and underneath. Another test to prove that is loosen the aerator a least a full turn, put a rag over the entire faucet (to contain water spray) and turn on the water. You'll notice a definite leak underneath.

What may have been happening originally, was the water was dripping from above from one of the holes in the counter under the faucet, down unto the connection you suspected. Without the trail of water down the pipe, it lead you to believe it was the fitting.

Even a puddle of water on the counter, next to the faucet, can leak under the faucet mount and through the holes, and cause water under the cabinet.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well

I've definitely learned something from this. A leak under the sink can be caused from where the water comes out of the faucet improperly! I would have never guessed this....but the faucet is just a shell, under that is plumbing, I just never thought of that. It's interesting that in ALL of the places I've lived, I've rarely had to deal with leaks. But, other than where I grew up, this is the longest time I've lived in one house, over 11 years now.

I have some peel and stick black and white tiles that, a long time ago, I put them under the kitchen sink so if there was ever a leak, it would be waterproof to an extent. Whatever type of plastic wood material that is under the sink is not waterproof at all. I have some left over tiles and I think I'm going to put them under the bathroom sink. I was going to do this a long time ago but I got lazy and didn't do it. It won't protect it from a flood, but it will still help somewhat.

 

[circlew]

I much prefer a faucet that has a solid tubular spout over the kind that has a "shell", especially if something is to connect to it.

I had trouble with a Delta single-handle model when I would hold my hands to close to the aerator when washing them. I thought it was leaking, as I found water under the washbasin. One day I left the cabinet open and turned the water on, and it didn't leak until I put my hand under the faucet.

 

[dartman]

I lived in a cheap rental for 22 years and seeing how for most of that time the rent was dirt cheap I replaced and fixed things I could myself and owner left me alone and kept rent cheap.
Bought a nice looking two handle kitchen faucet at a garage sale that looked brand new for real cheap to replace the noisy bad one we had.
Hooked it up and it worked great but water came out under the body. Looked it over and the hot side had a bad solder joint in the tube that connected to the washer less cartridge setup.
I pulled the guts out and resoldered the whole tube and it never leaked there again though the chrome on that side blued a bit from the heat.
The washerless designs almost all use the same rubber cup things that slide and shutoff the water and they are dirt cheap to buy and easy to replace when they start refusing to stop dripping when at the stop.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Still no leak

I wasn't 100 percent sure since it was intermittent, but this most latest leak was NOT intermittent at all, but occurred every time someone used the sink. And a week later, still not a drop of water......so it definitely was the adapter causing it, not the aerator

 

[askolover]

Sounds like you found the culprit!

 

[polkanut]

My wife had quite a surprise yesterday afternoon when she was at the kitchen sink washing her hands.  The rug was soaking wet, and water was dripping from under the left cabinet door.  After 53 years of use, the drain pipe coming out of the garbage disposal rusted through right above the elbow.  The plumber is coming this morning to replace all of the piping.  The joys of owning a 90 year old home!