I just moved into a new condo a month ago and the water heater blew about two weeks after. I know, sucks to be me. It was located in a utility closet above the dining room (thankfully not above our neighbors as we are on the third/fourth floors). We had some major leakage coming into the dining room ceiling before we were able to shut the water off and dry up the utility closet. We then put some holes in the dining room ceiling with a screwdriver to drain out the water there. The whole thing probably took around two hours from when it started to when the last water was drained out, but there must have been a couple gallons of water up there.
I was able to replace the water heater myself the same day, but I was wondering about what repairs I would need to do in the dinning room and how soon I would need to do them. There are noticeable yellow stains over much of the ceiling drywall, but it seems to still be structurally sound. There has been no failure on the joints between sheets of drywall. This place needs a lot of other work and I am considering moving one of the dining room walls. Thus, if there is no critical hurry I would just as soon leave the crappy drywall there with maybe some sealer and touch up paint until I get to that project (at least a year). I am worried about mold and mildew though.
So, how soon do I need to address this? Is it critical to replace the drywall now, or is a single soaking not too much to worry about? Whatever it is I will probably be doing the work myself.
You don’t need to do anything. If the water had gotten into anything electrical, you’d have known it by now. Other than that, it would have just been the joists getting soaked, and they’ll dry by themselves over time, if they haven’t dried already. One-time wetness is not going to lead to rot up there, so long as the wood doesn’t remain wet. If you want, you can enlarge the holes you’ve already made, both to have a look and to facilitate drying.
After that, you can spackle over the holes and cover the area with a sealer like BIN or Kilz, and then paint. I wouldn’t be surprised if the stain ghosted through, but if you’re going to redo the room anyway, I’d leave it for now.
Don’t know the age of your unit, but IRC and UPC both require water heaters in areas that can be damaged due to leakage to be installed in a watertight pan, together with other requirements. IRC 2801, UPC 510.
Even if it’s not a code requirement, which it likely is, it’s stilll a very good idea. Even after you’ve replaced the unit, it shouldn’t be difficult to install a pan. It’s best if the pan can attache to a gravity drain leading to a safe disposal area.
You might also check to see if there’s any insulation in the void. It’s often used for sound deadening purposes in multifamily buildings. If there is insulation, it’s going to take a very long time to dry out and could eventually collapse the drywall.
I strongly disagree with Sal Ammoniac. Don’t just ignore it. Mold can get established very quickly, and it can be a long-term problem.
Unfortunately, I know far too much about the problem, as we had a burst pipe when we were gone for a three-day weekend a couple of months ago, and it caused $85,000 in damage. Of that, almost $6,000 was mold-related.
Thanks for the responses. In answer to questions, the place was built in '89. I would love to follow the UPC, if I could get my hands on a copy for less than $100. People in detached houses have it easy as all applicable codes for them are in a single manual for a lower-than-average price, but as the owner of a unit in a larger building I would need the building code, the electrical code, the plumbing code… Each of those is over $100 too. I don’t understand how the basic building requirements, which are part of the applicable laws to my area, are not freely available to the public. Anyway, that is a rant for another time.
I have a watertight pan underneath, and I attached a pipe to the T&P valve that leads down there too. No drainage from that room though, as none was built into the place. The construction of these condos were pretty crappy. One of the reasons I want to wait to fix the ceiling is that I want to install a drain up there, and I want to be sure of where the wall is going to be before I do that.
There was a pan with the previous water heater, but the thing was pouring out water so fast that it didn’t matter.
There is no insulation. This is a ceiling/floor entirely within one unit, and I doubt if they would have sprung for sound insulation between units. It definitely isn’t within units.
InvisibleWombat, mold is what I am worried about. As Sal Ammoniac said, rot really isn’t a concern. I wonder, though, if the different time frames between our two incidents might make them non-analogous as far as mold is concerned. I can’t seem to find any good information in my searches. If anyone has any information or experience with short term soaking that would be great as otherwise I am just left to guessing.
Oh, and I already have a good oil-based primer/sealer that I am confident will block the stain (it has worked on a very nasty place in the past). I am just afraid to use it before I know what else I might have to do.
Mold doesn’t require standing water or being soaked by running water over an area for a long time. Just being damp can promote mold growth.
First things first - get that place dry. Bone dry. use fans, dehumidifiers, whatever.
Next - treat for mold. Just because you don’t see or smell it doesn’t mean it might not be there. Better safe than sorry.
After that has been done - Yes, a good sealer will do the trick for a temp repair. Even for a long term stain cover in many cases. That’s what stain covers are designed for after all.
In terms of actual stain covering ability, from my experience (ymmv), I would rate the shellaq base products tops, oil (alkyds) next, then the water borne. Don’t try to mud or patch over any of your water stained drywall without first stain blocking. Kilz* first, then patch and texture.
*yeah, some of us use kilz as a verb. Applies to whatever brand we actually have on hand. (Zinser is good, too)
That’s what I would say. There’s a world of difference between a one-time event that soaked a comparatively small area that was quickly drained, and a burst pipe that continued spewing water for three days. In any event, if you’re worried, open up the area a little to have a peek. As far as mold goes, if you don’t see it, it isn’t a problem. Mold needs some serious humidity to maintain itself, and once the joists have dried out, there’s no possibility of a mold problem there.
So it looks like there is a bit of a difference of opinion. NoClueBoy, I immediately did all the drying I could, and by the next morning the ceiling of the dining room did not feel any more moist than anywhere else. When you say check for mold, do you mean rip it open a bit and look in there and if you do, what am I looking for? Would it have really grown that much in such a short time or have I just set up the right conditions? If I treat for mold do I need to open a hole and spray and ammonia solution up there, or would treating the drywall be enough?
I am loathe to put a sizable hole in the ceiling if I do not have to as it has a textured surface and I would have to figure out how to match that texture when I repair it.
If there’s any mold, it’d most likely be on the back of the drywall itself. So put a swab of some kind (pipecleaner with a moist tissue on it, maybe) up through the hole you’ve made, and swab around. I continue to think the mold worry is overblown in this case, particularly since the area feels dry to you, but you can have a swab to be sure. Anyway, it’s not getting any wetter up there, only drier, so even on the off chance mold had started, it’s hardly going to thrive.
Call your city plumbing/electrical/building inspector and they’ll come and take a look, if they charge you anything, it probably won’t be much.
The problem with that is, if they find something wrong, you HAVE to fix it.
Dry everything as well as possible,inside and out. I had a basement backup many years ago. The rust damage on the inside of the furnace did not show for a couple years. The insurance company refused to pay saying they pay damage up to 6 months. They agreed it was flood damage ,but said tuff.Some damage does not show for quite a while.
I also disagree with Sal and agree with the Wombat. I had a flood in my old place and had to replace my ceiling drywall a couple weeks later. Too late! The drywall had a thick carpet of black mold by then and they had to get rid of a lot more drywall than expected. And that was so very, very much more difficult to deal with. Luckily it was my landlord who had to shell out $10,000 to fix it. I just moved out.
At your local hardware and many paint stores, you can buy an inexpensive mold test kit. Yes, mold can grow quickly. Doesn’t mean it always will, but, as I said above, better safe than sorry.
It doesn’t take much work to be relatively sure. Follow the instructions on the mold test kit and go from there. A 1:1 solution of bleach and water, sprayed with a small spray bottle often will do a good enough job of remediation. I’ve never used ammonia, just bleach. (DO NOT MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA) Sometimes, tho, you have to tear out and go with new materials. I doubt you will have to go that far.
Some people seem absolutely phobic about mold possibilities. Some ignore it all together. What I’m saying is, it’s easy enough to take decent precautions, just in case. Sure, maybe 9 out of 10 times it’s not even neccessary. What happens if you’re # 10? :dubious:
(Also note that there are few absolutes in the real world when dealing with repairs in the home.)
As for your texture pattern worries, post a pic somewhere and link us to it. We can probably guide you to the right tool and technique.
Bingo, that is just what I was looking for. I was not aware such a thing existed. I will pick one up this weekend. Even if it comes out negative I figure I’ll use a spray bottle to mist some beach up there before I patch the little holes.
Thanks. I discovered that the local library has copies, though they are reference material only. I worked with and as a handy man while in college so I am familiar with most residential electrical code, but not so much for plumbing.
Note that mold growth has a lot to do with environmental humidity. Live in Miami? Mold can grow anywhere everywhere very quickly for almost any reason or no reason. Live in Las Vegas? Mold almost can’t get started and if it does it almost can’t grow.
So differing advice from various posters may have a lot to do with their differing locales. NNVA sounds like middle ground in terms of mold spawning & sustaining weather.
Yeah, I figure I am right in the middle. It probably won’t start on it’s own, but given a chance (a flood, say) it will take off.
Anyway, I got one of those home mold kits. I took the cotton swab, stuck it through one of the holes in my ceiling and rubbed it around up there, then rubbed it on half of the mold growth medium they give you. I then repeated the process with another hole and the other half. It has been a day so far with no results, so I might be OK. I need to let it incubate a bit longer to be sure though.
Unfortunately I have noticed that one of the tape lines is damaged and there is a little bulge in one spot, so it will not be unnoticeable if I paint it over. At least I do not have to do it immediately. Thanks for all your help everyone.
Just for reference’s sake I’ll point out that the cost of replacing a drywall ceiling is pretty minimal. Including drywall, tape, mud, tools and renting a panel lifter you’re talking maybe $100-$200 tops (assuming that you don’t have a gigantic room to do). If you can replace a water heater you can certainly do the ceiling and you’ll know that it’s been done right and nothing is lurking up there. You also won’t have to worry about matching texture on parts of the ceiling.
Clear the room, put down plastic tarps, take down the old drywall. Make sure it’s dry (leave the ceiling off for couple days, run fans and heaters, you can also apply mold killer if needed), check that all your electrical is OK, install new drywall, tape, mud, texture, paint. If you work on the weekends you can do the demo one weekend, fix any electrical or other issues same day, leave it open all week to get bone dry, then re-sheetrock the following weekend.
If I’d had many gallons of water leak into my ceiling I’d think seriously about doing this.
Don’t worry, I absolutely plan on doing just that. It is just that there are other more pressing issues with this place at the moment, and since I am going to have to rip out the ceiling anyway, I would like combine that with the movement of one of the walls and some plumbing I am going to need to do that will require tearing down part of the ceiling. It would suck to put it up, wait a couple months, and then tear it back down again.
One of the things I will be doing is including proper drainage in the utility closet, if possible.
Oh, and you try to convince my GF that it is a good idea for there to be no ceiling in the dining room for at least a week. I am still working on the gaping holes in the living room from when we had to locate exactly where in the walls the previous owner had decided to cut the phone line.
Sounds like the way to put it to her isn’t to ask WHETHER she minds no ceiling but WHEN she wants it done and how awful it will be - sooner and at the time of your choosing, when it’s just damp drywall (and the knowledge that she’ll have a dry, secure ceiling over her head), or “sometime later” when the Mold Men From Planet Yuck may have set up a colony overhead and she’ll be spending months wondering if waterlogged sheetrock is about to fall on somebody’s skull.
Not that I give that 100% chance of working, of course
