A bizarre plumbing puzzler

[Alex Franke]

You ready for a strange one? My brother in law has a truly odd plumbing problem -- I don't have a clue what's going on and I hope someone here can help! Here's goes:

The oven in the kitchen backs up to a wall. On the other side of that wall is a bedroom closet, and water tends to pool on the floor in that closet, from under the wall, right behind the electric oven, when the oven is turned on. (Yeah, I really did mean to say that.)

It's as if the water is coming up through the concrete floor under the wall. There are no pipes in the wall, the insides of the drywall and the studs are all dry, and the top of the bottom 2x4 (of the wall) is pretty dry. Apparently, from the bottom of the 2x4 out about a foot into the closet a small puddle starts to form about 30 minutes after the electric oven is turned on and dries up 12 or so hours after it's turned off.

Everything is dry on the kitchen side, and the oven doesn't have any water attached. The fridge nearly has a line for the ice maker in that wall but it's about 3 feet away and all bone dry. If they don't use the oven for a few days, it'll be dry for a few days.

It's a 20-year-old townhouse and the water meter seems to be completely still while the puddle forms.

Any ideas?

[Ed62]

I had to look to make sure April first didn't sneak up on me real quick. I'd really be interested to know what the cause is if he finds out.

Ed

[cgallery]

Do they have a dog w/ a sense of humor?

[toolguy1000]

what is the fuel source of the oven...nat.gas, propane gas or electric?

[Mr__Bill]

Time for those SciFi ghost hunters to come it.....

Is this a gas or electric oven?
If gas it may be vented such that the water vapor from the gas is condensing in the wall or closet.

If electric, perhaps it's hydro power



Bill
over here where all water falls from the sky or leaches up through the slab...

[guycox]

Gas Range?

One of the products of combustion is H2O.

[guycox]

Mr Bill and I must have been writing our replies about the same time -- He beat me by a minute. My wife had asked me a question that thought it wise to respond to..

[Alex Franke]

It's an electric oven. I'll add that to the original post for clarity.

Do they have a dog w/ a sense of humor?

That was hilarious! They do have a dog -- I never asked what the water smelled like, but I don't think that's the problem. Thanks for the laugh!

[Mr__Bill]

It's an electric oven. I'll add that to the original post for clarity.

Oh sure, make us look like dolts for asking now...


I think I'll vote dog now.


Bill

[twistsol]

We had a rental that was in a flood. We thought that the oven survived and cleaned it up and it worked. We found that when it was on for a while, the heat would push water out of the insulation surrounding the oven box and inside the oven door. The water was black and nasty. That's everything in my experience even remotely close.

[Uncle Cracker]

I often get water on my cooktop when I use the oven, particularly if I am using a water bath with the roast. This is from the oven vent exhausting water-filled vapor onto the cool cooktop, where the moisture condenses. If that water had a place to run off, it would wind up on the floor. Perhaps this may have something to do with your problem...

[phi1l]

I'll take a WAG ...

This sounds similar to a situation I had in an old house.

I would not be surprised if you opened up the wall & found a drain line in the wall, left over from when the closet was a bathroom. When they took out the plumbing fixtures, there wasn't enough room to put a plug in the drain line, so they just wadded up some news paper & jammed it into the drain line.

What is happening now is, there is a partial drain line blockage not far down stream from the open drain. When you cook you normally also run a lot of water in the kitchen, as well as use the oven, so it seems like the wetness is related to oven usage. Actually the wetness is from a sewer line backup due to heavy water usage in the kitchen.

In my case there was no water, but there was an odor growing is strength from behind a knotty pine paneled wall. I pulled a couple of the boards off the wall & instead of a large decaying rodent, I found the offending plumbing. The drain line was iron pipe terminated with a right angle fitting that was flush against the drywall on the other side. There was no room to put in a proper plug so they just waded up a some news paper & jammed it in the opening before putting up the drywall in the (now) closet on the other side of the wall.


Like I said .. just a WAG..

[cabinetman]

It's as if the water is coming up through the concrete floor under the wall. There are no pipes in the wall, the insides of the drywall and the studs are all dry, and the top of the bottom 2x4 (of the wall) is pretty dry.

How do you know this...did you open up the wall?
.

[Rand]

Sounds like condensation to me. What happens if you turn the oven on but leave the door open?

[JimD]

It seems important to know if the oven has a vent. Mine does not, there is a microwave with a filter and fan but no real vent. If this oven vents into the slab, that could be an important clue. The water source may be something else but the heat from the vent could be causing the moisture to come up through the slab.

I also agree with the other comments about the inside of the walls. If you have not opened them up already, I would buy a little drywall for the patch and take the wall board out. It is surprisingly easy to fix and impossible to guess acurately what is inside the wall. While the moisture appears to be coming up from the slab, drains or vents going through the wall seem like a strong potential source for the moisture.

Jim