I was called to find a plumbing leak in Folsom, I found a mystery.

 I was called to find a plumbing leak in Folsom,

I found a mystery.

Yes, I spend a lot of time looking for and fixing leaks in plumbing lines and drains. Being a contractor who specializes in water damage and dry rot repairs in the Sacramento area, I have seen many things go wrong when it comes to plumbing. Fixtures can get old, pipes can rust, pipes can break, or even clogs can all be happening in your home just waiting to be a problem soon.

I received a call from a client who had water dripping from their master bathroom ceiling below the kitchen. The leak appeared to be located directly under the island sink in the kitchen. There was no signs of water under the sink, all of the water was below the floor.

Although I did find the plumbing drain leak today, there were some things that puzzled me. Getting a photo of where the pipe was leaking would not show well in this discussion, so I will have to settle for this mystery pipe job instead.

There were two drain pipes under the small kitchen island sink. Both went through the floor and connected to each other as a part of the wet drain line. The one on the left was used by the sink and disposal, the one on the right didn’t seem to be connected to the sink.

As a contractor full of curiosity, I had to get under there to see where it was going. Remember it is an island, it can’t go up the wall. Working my way to the back of the small cabinet and cell phone in hand, I found where the pipe was going. The two pipes are connected; both go up as if it were an air gap but just loops over and connects to each other.

It gets a bit complicated from there. The disposal side (left side) is not draining correctly and the sink quickly backs up. The leak is on the right side pipe which has no water going toward it. Could the water from the disposal be traveling over the loop because it is clogged and down the right side drain? It is a mystery plumbing leak at this point.

Since it was an emergency call, I did not have the tools that I needed to fix this water leak problem today. However, I did get a temporary fix that the client was happy with until tomorrow. I will have my tools and Sherlock Holmes skills to get to the bottom of this issue.