So here's something (tell me WTH this could be?)

[Guest inoubliable]

A few nights ago, DH noticed a wet spot on the carpet right next to our bed. A spot about... 5 or 6 inches in diameter. We figured one of the kids spilled some water even though we didn't see a cup in the room. What else could it have been though, you know? So we put a towel over it and dried up what we could and the fan took care of the rest. By morning it was dry.

 

It came back Tuesday night. Same thing. Dried by morning.

 

Same thing the next night.

 

I called Da to ask him what it could possibly be. I'm thinking there must be a pipe under the floor that has a leak. This stain is about 4 ft from the window with the a/c in it, so it can't be that. There's no leakage from the unit and no trail of water. Just this spot. Da says that it must be a pipe. He can't think of anything else. There's no leak from the ceiling, either. So he tells me to call the landlord (bwahahahaha!) and have him check it out. Reminds me of the time I was very very sick with asthma and allergies when an apartment that we rented once had some major water damage and mold growth in it. Ooh! So this could be the mold source that's been plaguing me for over a year now!

 

I talked to the landlord yesterday. He asks about the a/c. Nope, not it. He asks me to check for a leak from the ceiling/roof. Nope, it isn't that. He tells me that it can't be a water pipe - the pipes run from the upstairs bathroom (across the hall) straight down to the downstairs half-bath and then down into the basement where it crosses over to the kitchen (right under the bedroom). I tell him that I'm pretty sure he might be mistaken because there is a discoloration (previous water damage?) on the ceiling in the kitchen right above where the spot is in the bedroom.

 

I tell him that I'm allergic to mold and that I've been in and out of emergency rooms and urgent cares because of allergies and asthma and sinus infections for months now so he needs to get over here and check it out. He tells me "If this spot was causing mold to grow and you were getting sick from it, you'd have known months ago that it was there. Tell you what, dry it up as best you can and then if it comes back, call me and I'll come as soon as I can to see it. I've got to go." And he pretty much hung up on me.

 

So. Obviously he's not going to look at it. It dried up last night and hasn't come back yet.

 

This weekend, we're going to have to move all three boys into one room, and we're going to have to move back to the bedroom downstairs. We'll seal up this bedroom and just not use it.

 

Unless someone here has a better idea?

What else could be causing a random wet spot several nights in a row?

What are the chances that there's mold under this carpet? (Keep in mind that the entire house is hardwood floors, except for the two bedrooms up here. DH thinks it's possible he carpeted these rooms to hide evidence of previous water damage. And then there's the discoloration on the ceiling just below this wet spot. We're pretty sure there's been some long-term damage in this spot at some point.)

Is there a way we can kill off any potential mold under the carpet without tearing it up to check for it?

 

Turning the landlord in to a housing authority is not an option. If we do, he'll just give us 30 days notice and keep our security deposit out of spite. He's done it before to others.

Suing him is not an option. See above. Moving to another rental is not an option. We don't have a security deposit saved and there is nothing available on a month-to-month basis. We have to make this work for another 4 months or so until we can buy something.

[justasque]

Something coming *up* from the kitchen? Is it over the stove, where it may get some steam? How well is the carpet nailed down? Can you cut a slit and look under it? (Could be a problem if the landlord realizes you've done it. Perhaps there are carpet seams nearby, or perhaps you can carefully pull up some nails to get to it?) Can you check the kitchen ceiling for moisture daily? Can you use one of those magnetic stud finder thingys to see if there are magnetic pipes behind the ceiling? (PVC ones wouldn't be magnetic.) We've had pipes spring a leak in the wall before. The damage can be extensive if it's left too long; the wall gets soggy and can cave in.

 

Can you ask the landlord if you can remove the carpet entirely?

[MeghanL]

I would call him if it happens again and let him check it out.

I wouldn't move my bedroom and seal up the room.

I wouldn't assume he had carpet installed to hide a floor full of mold.

[Carrie12345]

Honestly? I would assume a toddler came into my room and layed down with droopy drawers, lol.

[Guest inoubliable]

Something coming *up* from the kitchen? Is it over the stove, where it may get some steam? How well is the carpet nailed down? Can you cut a slit and look under it? (Could be a problem if the landlord realizes you've done it. Perhaps there are carpet seams nearby, or perhaps you can carefully pull up some nails to get to it?) Can you check the kitchen ceiling for moisture daily? Can you use one of those magnetic stud finder thingys to see if there are magnetic pipes behind the ceiling? (PVC ones wouldn't be magnetic.) We've had pipes spring a leak in the wall before. The damage can be extensive if it's left too long; the wall gets soggy and can cave in.

 

Can you ask the landlord if you can remove the carpet entirely?

 

There's nothing under the spot from the kitchen. It's sort of in the middle of the room. The carpet is cheap stuff. It's showing seams and coming apart from the wall in some places. It was installed a few days before we moved in and is a really shoddy job. I could maybe cut a slit to look but I don't know how much trouble I'd be in.

The house is old. 1940's. I don't know for sure what's been updated or not, but judging by the rest of the house I'm guessing it would be metal pipes if there are any. A stud-finder is a good idea. We'll try that tonight.

 

Yeah. The apartment we lived in before had a massive water leak. We didn't know of it for a long time. It was in the wall behind the hall closet. I was sick for months and we started staying away on weekends in another town thinking the cleaner air there was doing me some good. One weekend we came home to find the entire hardwood floor hallway buckled up. None of the doors would close. We called maintenance and they ripped up the floor - it was covered in black mold. Then they traced it back to that closet and ripped out the closet. A pipe back there had been leaking for months. The wall in the back of the closet just sort of crumbled down. It was awful. They placed fans around the apartment and refused to give us another unit to move into. We moved out the next month.

 

He won't let us remove the carpet. We asked that once before when we had a chance to get a nice bit of carpet for free. Told him that the carpet was already coming apart at the seams anyway and he said no.

[unsinkable]

(((KK)))

 

I'll think about it but I hope things don't get bad with your health again.

[Guest inoubliable]

I would call him if it happens again and let him check it out.

I wouldn't move my bedroom and seal up the room.

I wouldn't assume he had carpet installed to hide a floor full of mold.

 

I'll definitely call him again when it happens. He has a horrible track record of actually coming to check out anything or repair it. Like the three and a half weeks it took to get a working washer, dryer, and oven in here when we first moved in. He just refused to do it and told us we could use a coin-op and cook on the stovetop. Or like the time we had raw sewage come up into the dryer and flood the basement. He wouldn't pick up the phone. We had to call his secretary to get her to make him call and then he didn't want to have anyone come to look at it until Monday.

 

I would absolutely assume this guy had carpet installed to hide an ugly floor that had water damage. Not necessarily that he knew there was mold and just laid down carpet to cover evidence.

[Guest inoubliable]

Honestly? I would assume a toddler came into my room and layed down with droopy drawers, lol.

 

Eww. No toddlers here.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Honestly? I would assume you are being haunted by a wet ghost . . . maybe, given the size of the water mark, she's a one-legged ghost and stands upon one foot.

[Guest inoubliable]

Honestly? I would assume you are being haunted by a wet ghost . . . maybe, given the size of the water mark, she's a one-legged ghost and stands upon one foot.

 

Helpful. I'll call Ghostbusters straight away.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

sorry, i'm feeling saucy today. :laugh: ewww, I hope it wasn't this guy: :drool5:

 

Does the liquid have any kind of odor? metalic, urine, sweet, et c?

 

eta: or feel? slimy, grainy, colder or warmer than ambient temp?

 

Clues, girl! We need more clues!

[sparrow]

I'm not sure what could be causing it, but I wouldn't seal the room. I'd get as much air flow as possible to avoid the growth of mold.

[Guest inoubliable]

sorry, i'm feeling saucy today. :laugh: ewww, I hope it wasn't this guy: :drool5:

 

Does the liquid have any kind of odor? metalic, urine, sweet, et c?

 

eta: or feel? slimy, grainy, colder or warmer than ambient temp?

 

Clues, girl! We need more clues!

 

:)

 

No odor. Now that's it's dry, the carpet has a darker look to it. When it was wet, it felt room temp. It was enough moisture that the carpet was squishy and if you pressed on it or stepped on it, liquid would come up out of it. The spot doesn't have a different feel to it than the rest of the carpet. It's low grade stuff so it's kinda scratchy and crunchy and flat.

 

I sometimes have a cup of water on my side of the bed overnight, but DH never does. The spot is on his side. I just can't figure out what it could be.

[Guest inoubliable]

I'm not sure what could be causing it, but I wouldn't seal the room. I'd get as much air flow as possible to avoid the growth of mold.

 

Hmm. Well, maybe not seal it up. I was thinking mostly of just shutting the door and avoiding the room in case there IS mold and that's what is making me sick. I've got an a/c, a fan, and an air purifier in here that run all the time. Is there anything else I can do to avoid any mold growth?

[Moxie]

There is no way to lift up the carpet to see under it? Honestly, given what you have written about this guy, he's keeping your security deposit anyway. I'd probably cut it or try to lift it. And, off topic, you don't have a security deposit saved but you are planning to buy??? Owning a house is SOOO expensive!!

[Guest inoubliable]

There is no way to lift up the carpet to see under it? Honestly, given what you have written about this guy, he's keeping your security deposit anyway. I'd probably cut it or try to lift it. And, off topic, you don't have a security deposit saved but you are planning to buy??? Owning a house is SOOO expensive!!

 

 

I think we're going to try to lift it up this weekend. DH just talked to a guy at his work that does carpet as a side job. He might be able to come over and check it out and put it back for us afterward. DH thinks he won't give the security deposit back, either. I don't know for sure. There's been no damage on our part, but he is sketchy. I'm more worried that if he's that insane to keep it, that he could be mean enough to try to sue us for more than the deposit is. This guy makes me paranoid.

 

The loan we'll qualify for doesn't require much down. :) We live in an area where it's still possible to get mortgages with 1% - 3% down. If I use what we have saved as a security deposit to go somewhere else, then we won't have the down payment that we want to put down. We've owned before. LOL.

[ktgrok]

http://www.lowes.com...59-56005-MMD4E_

 

get a moisture meter.

[RemsMom]

Have you tried putting a large plastic storage box over the spot? If the spot reappears and the box is dry you will know it is something leaking from under the carpet and not something from above.

[*Lulu*]

IDK what to tell you.

 

If you cannot figure out where it is coming from, and you know the landlord isn't coming to figure it out, I don't think it is a bad idea to move out of that room for awhile and see if it makes a difference in your health.

 

I also wouldn't hold your breath on the security deposit, he sounds like a gem of a guy. *rolls eyes*

[*Lulu*]

Have you tried putting a large plastic storage box over the spot? If the spot reappears and the box is dry you will know it is something leaking from under the carpet and not something from above.

 

 

That is quite brilliant!

[Guest inoubliable]

http://www.lowes.com...59-56005-MMD4E_

 

get a moisture meter.

 

 

Cool. I'll try to pick one up this weekend. Thanks!

Have you tried putting a large plastic storage box over the spot? If the spot reappears and the box is dry you will know it is something leaking from under the carpet and not something from above.

 

 

No, I hadn't thought of that. I can try that tonight. It's dry now. It seems to come back sometime in the evening and then it's dry again by morning. I don't see anything stained on the ceiling of the room, or drips. I guess this would be an easy way to rule it out for sure, though. Thanks for the idea!

IDK what to tell you.

 

If you cannot figure out where it is coming from, and you know the landlord isn't coming to figure it out, I don't think it is a bad idea to move out of that room for awhile and see if it makes a difference in your health.

 

I also wouldn't hold your breath on the security deposit, he sounds like a gem of a guy. *rolls eyes*

 

 

That's what I was thinking. Even if I can say, with proof, that there is a problem and mold is growing, I can't rely on him to fix it in any way. If he does, it would take weeks, if not months. I think we'll stick to the plan this weekend of playing Tetris and moving everyone around so that we can just avoid this room. Frustrating, though. To pay this much rent and lose yet another part of the house.

[unsinkable]

Could you (or DH's friend) remove the carpet completely and store it?

[Moxie]

Could you (or DH's friend) remove the carpet completely and store it?

 

Yeah, if it isn't put in correctly already, how can you hurt it? KK, please come back when you solve the mystery. I'm so curious!!

[Amy in NH]

Has it been raining a lot lately? We have a couple of spots in our roof that leak through the ceiling, again only in spots, and only when it rains hard.

[elegantlion]

I would pull up the carpet, if it's cheap stuff you could probably stick it back on the tack strips without issue. I hate carpet. That sucks. I would also document everything with pictures. I'd also document your illnesses as well. Not that you would blackmail him for your security deposit, but just in case you wanted to.

[Robin M]

If it were me and I had a didn't care landlord, I would pull up the carpet, see what the problem is, have it fixed and replace the carpet with new. Since the landlord doesn't care, he probably wouldn't even really notice the difference. If it's a major problem, then he will have to deal with it. You can provide him with receipts and tell him you fixed the problem and he can take the difference off your rent. Sorry you are going through so much hassle. Now I'm curious what's causing the mystery spot.

[UrbanSue]

I've rented from someone like your landlord except that he was also rich and locally powerful and well-known. Total. Nightmare. So, I feel for you. I'd assume you aren't getting a deposit back but I would cover your butt anyway while doing what you need to do to take care of your health. Investigate the problem causing as little damage as possible and take pictures before and after.

 

He might go after you for more than your deposit but my guess is he won't formally sue you unless you are lying to us and you've really trashed the place :) I've never rented in VA but the law is typically firmly on the side of tenants. Look up your rights so you are well-versed but if he sends you a bill you can send back a nice, fat dossier of stuff and at least avoid giving him any more money.

 

Also, to repeat someone else's question: have you had massive rain lately? Roof leaks can travel in weird ways. That would be my first guess, especially if there is old water damage below in the kitchen. We had a problem like this once and it turned out to be our tub leaking into our basement but the wet spot was showing up not in an obvious spot and it wasn't obvious that it was coming from the ceiling. We only figured it out based on the timing of the problem.

 

Keep us posted!

[unfrumpable.]

That's really odd. I'm assuming you don't let your guinea pigs run loose through the house? :)

[Mergath]

My guess would be that pipes actually do run under there, and he's lying because he doesn't have the money to fix a leaking pipe. My mom and stepdad just had some kind of inner pipe run through another pipe because it had tree roots growing into it or something, and it cost them five grand. Pipes are expensive. Sleazy landlord doubtless knows this, and is giving you the runaround so you don't demand that he have it fixed. I'd rip up the carpet and figure out exactly what I'm dealing with. To hell with the landlord.

 

:grouphug:

[kitten18]

I've rented from someone like your landlord except that he was also rich and locally powerful and well-known. Total. Nightmare. So, I feel for you. I'd assume you aren't getting a deposit back but I would cover your butt anyway while doing what you need to do to take care of your health. Investigate the problem causing as little damage as possible and take pictures before and after.

 

He might go after you for more than your deposit but my guess is he won't formally sue you unless you are lying to us and you've really trashed the place :) I've never rented in VA but the law is typically firmly on the side of tenants. Look up your rights so you are well-versed but if he sends you a bill you can send back a nice, fat dossier of stuff and at least avoid giving him any more money.

 

Also, to repeat someone else's question: have you had massive rain lately? Roof leaks can travel in weird ways. That would be my first guess, especially if there is old water damage below in the kitchen. We had a problem like this once and it turned out to be our tub leaking into our basement but the wet spot was showing up not in an obvious spot and it wasn't obvious that it was coming from the ceiling. We only figured it out based on the timing of the problem.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Window leaks can also show up in strange places.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Well, I would definitely not assume that the liquid is hitting the carpet right where you find it. If the floor is at all uneven, even with the pad and carpet, the water will travel and settle in the low spot.

 

I'm thinking you need to look near the bathroom, sink, window, ac or something. Can you discern a trail?

[kiwik]

If it is a 1940s house with an upstairs the pipes may be nowhere near where he thinks they are or the plans say. Someone could have altered something without recording it at any time. If you can get into the roof space and have a look. The mark in the kitchen could be from above. Can you borrow a dehumidifier? Do deposits not have to be lodged with a I dependant authority over there?

[justasque]

>>>>It seems to come back sometime in the evening and then it's dry again by morning.

 

Do you take showers in the evening? Or run other sources of water that don't run at other times?

 

We have copper pipes, and in one particular area the pipe developed a leak. The pipe was made in such a way that it was a little thinner in one spot, and over the past 50 years the water had worn through it, so that there was a teeny-tiny pinhole. It started leaking, which started as a slow drip. Then it got worse and there was a "water spraying" sound, which clued us in. We fixed the leaky spot, and a month or so later it happened again in a nearby part of the pipe.

 

Also- sometimes, when there's a drip, the drip will travel down the pipe a ways before actually dropping, if you see what I mean. So the hole/leak can be in a different location than the wetness.

 

And - I don't know a whole lot about carpet, but perhaps you could YouTube some videos on how to put down carpet, to get an idea of how you could lift it up without damaging it. Even if the carpet itself is dry, the underlay layer may not be.

[Tap]

You have some good suggestions to look at re the pipes and water traveling, here are a few less likely ones. I agree that water travels and it can be from pipes several feet away. We had an upstairs sink overflow once and the water traveled across the downstairs ceiling and drained out of the frame to a nearby door. It traveled 4-5 feet before finding an exit. Another thing to look at is is to make sure you don't have condensation dripping from the ceiling (actually touch the ceiling don't just go by the look of it, or water dripping from a light fixture. We once had a roof leak that found its exit though a light fixture. We only noticed because it was an unfinished room with bare wood floors. The floor was darker in that area, and that was the clue to look up. You couldn't see the random drip on the light fixture but It was wet. Our leak was an improperly installed roof vent by the builder. Another thought is hoping you do not have a sleep walking kid who may be using the floor for a bathroom.

[Happy]

We had a phantom wet area at one time, too. Baffled me...sometimes appeared when it had rained heavily. Sometimes not. Sometimes appeared in the hottest part of the summer. We looked at the AC unit in the attic above--may that's the problem. Fixed on it....then the wet reappeared. we finally pulled up the piece of carpet and opened up the sheetrock on the wall next to the area. Guess what...we found a small crack in a pipe just as it went into the slab. That pipe is fed from dh's sink in the master (the other side of the wall.) Since dh travels a lot, his sink gets random use...thus the on again/off again nature of the leak. Since we buttoned up that crack our floor has been blissfully dry. Your landlord sounds like a real loser...I hope you get to buy your own home very soon. It's way more fun to deal with your OWN cracks and leaks and such. :)

[sparrow]

Soooo, any update?! I'm curious now ;) .

[Guest inoubliable]

Thanks for all the ideas and things to try! I really appreciate it. :)

 

No real update. The spot hasn't come back.

 

The a/c is leaking a bit down the wall, though. I don't know that it was leaking all this time. It didn't last year. Or the year before. And we didn't see it until last night. We put an old pillow under it last night. Sure enough, this morning we saw that the pillow was wet where it rested against the wall. I don't know if this could be causing the spot or not. The spot is about three feet from the wall and a/c (window unit).

 

It was raining pretty heavily the other night when that line of storms came through. I guess a leak in the roof could be the issue, but wouldn't there be some sort of stain or crack visible on the ceiling? We don't see anything like that at all.

 

DH is going to be pulling up some of the carpet in a couple of hours. We're still moving things around to fit everyone in the two other bedrooms in the house. We'll see then if there's anything icky going on.

[LAS in LA]

Reading through the thread, the a/c kept coming to mind so your last post doesn't surprise me. We have an a/c that leaks down into the wall (and onto an outlet :ohmy: ) with no obvious signs on the wall. The carpet just gets wet. Could you stop running the a/c for awhile and see if the spot reappears?

[Guest inoubliable]

Busy weekend around here!

 

Pulled up some of the carpet. No mold, but the wood floor under it looks like it was damaged before. Water, maybe a pet's urine. There are other large, dark spots on the wood floors in other places in the house and we've been told those are the results of a dog peeing on the floor and the mess not being wiped up quick enough. Gross.

Since we'd already told the boys that we'd be changing rooms, and they were so into it, we did. Three bedrooms moved around and the living room rearranged in about 4 hours yesterday - furniture, an a/c unit, clothes, books, etc. All in four hours. Yay for being minimalists.

 

I think we have a bigger problem now, though. DS12 had been nursing a rash on his arm for a few months now. He does have eczema. All the boys do, in different places. We figured it was just another outbreak and he was putting itch creme on it. Yesterday, though, the skin was breaking open. Double gross. We ran up to the pharmacist and at first he thought poison ivy but he told us to wait a few minutes until he could come out from behind the counter and look at it better. When he did, he asked if we'd recently gotten any pets. No.... we just have guinea pigs. That we've had since last summer... So he asks DS12 if he handles the piggies and DS12 says he does and that they're usually in his room. (Right now, they're in between the living room and dining room until we figure this new development out.) He asks DS12 to demonstrate how he holds the pigs. *sigh* The pigs put their heads in the crook of his arm, right where the rash it. Pharmacist said that we'd need an allergy test to be 100% sure, but he's 99% positive that DS12 is allergic to the guinea pig saliva. We knew that we were allergic to most bedding already. It took us a few months to find CareFresh and we've been using it for about a year now. Pharmacist has been involved with my own allergy/asthma issues and said I should definitely bring this up to the allergist when/if *I* go in. DH heard all of this and is now pretty adamant about rehoming the piggies.

 

The boys are devastated. :( DH is upset, too. Those pigs are sooo much fun. They've really gotten attached to us! DH walks in the door and they start screaming for him to come visit them! As soon as he walks into the room and says "Hi boys!", they climb up the walls and screech and wheek at him. They love for the kids to feed them treats and hold them. They'll fall asleep on our laps while we watch TV. We even bought a bunch of travel stuff so that we can take them with us whenever we're gone overnight. None of us really want to see them go. Every time I need my inhaler or I see DS's arm, though... I really don't like it when we have to use Elidel for DS. The rash is getting to that point, though. If we can't get it to clear up by the end of the week, I'll have to take him in.

 

Any ideas on the guinea pigs? It doesn't seem fair to keep them if our reality is that the allergies mean we can't handle them at all.

[kitten18]

Do guinea pigs wash themselves like cats? If not, I would keep them and just be more careful in how you handle them. I would only hold them when you have on a long sleeved shirt then when their put away, the shirt goes straight to the wash and hands get washed.

[Caitilin]

KK, there are cavvy-specific rescues out there, if it ends up you have to rehome them. :( But, could ds commit to always wearing a sweatshirt to spend time with the piggies? :grouphug:

[Guest inoubliable]

Do guinea pigs wash themselves like cats? If not, I would keep them and just be more careful in how you handle them. I would only hold them when you have on a long sleeved shirt then when their put away, the shirt goes straight to the wash and hands get washed.

 

They don't.

We actually have a specific shampoo from the vet to give them baths with. They're supposed to get these baths once a month at the most, though. Something about their skin drying out if you bathe the more often.

 

We'll be doing the long sleeved shirt and washing until we figure out what to do permanently, for sure.

[Guest inoubliable]

KK, there are cavvy-specific rescues out there, if it ends up you have to rehome them. :( But, could ds commit to always wearing a sweatshirt to spend time with the piggies? :grouphug:

 

Ah, I forgot that there are rescues! Thank you! I was really not digging the idea of rehoming them via Craigslist.

We're going to try the long-sleeved shirt bit. He usually does wear one but since the weather had warmed up, he wasn't. We washed all of his bedding last night. We have two air purifiers in the house, but we'll probably pick up a few more. We moved down into his room yesterday and we mopped the floor and washed the walls before we brought any of our stuff in. I really hope we can figure something out and keep them.

[Ravin]

Bummer about the guineas. I remember when my mom developed an allergy to our parakeet--having never been allergic to birds previously, just everything with fur--and having togive it up.

 

How about a reptile?