# Bathroom Spots

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 1, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868 "2016-04-01T21:22:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wolverine71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3da27b/32.png) [@Wolverine71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine71)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868/1 "2016-04-01T21:22:26Z")

</div>

I have yellow stains with red spots behind my toilet and in the closet where the water heater is. There are the same red spots(not as big,without the yellow) around the whole apartment. I just moved in and the maintnace guy painted the walls. I was thinking meth lab residue, humidity, or smoking cigs. This is my first post, not sure how to add pics.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868/2 "2016-04-01T22:31:21Z")

</div>

Can’t post pics here. You’re expected to post them to something like Flikr or other photo sharing site then post links here to the pix stored there.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wolverine71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3da27b/32.png) [@Wolverine71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine71)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868/3 "2016-04-01T23:25:24Z")

</div>

I’m gong to post pics in a hour. Thank you

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868/4 "2016-04-02T03:51:22Z")

</div>

> [@Wolverine71](#):
>
> I have yellow stains with red spots behind my toilet and in the closet where the water heater is. There are the same red spots(not as big,without the yellow) around the whole apartment. I just moved in and the maintnace guy painted the walls. I was thinking meth lab residue, humidity, or smoking cigs. This is my first post, not sure how to add pics.

How about something less heinous, like kids with crayons?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-spots/750868/5 "2016-04-02T14:41:21Z")

</div>

As a wild guess I’d say mold. How well does it wipe off? The terms “red” and “yellow” are throwing me off some, I wonder if there’s any brown involved?

My logic here is maintenance guy didn’t wash the walls before he painted, and he used a particularly cheap paint. If this is true, then it’s unlikely the maintenance guy is keeping the roof in good shape and this will be the water source.

The landlord screened you, did you screen the landlord? This smells like a typical “rental-unit-from-hell” scenario, it may be easier to find another place to live than fight with these guys.