Call a plumber... then what?

Post date: 2025-02-19 19:02:45

What do I do about a leak to the basement? Tomorrow morning I'm going to call a plumber... then what? It's below where our dishwasher/sink is so that has to be what caused the leak. There's not much water damage... but there's a bit? So what happens next?

The leak couldn't have been happening for long, probably two or three days at the most. I noticed the strange noise throughout the day and thought it was just ice melting outside, but nope... it was a leak in our basement. It coming from two spots 1) a ceiling vent in the basement and 2) a slow leak down the drainpipe that connects the sink/dishwasher to the drain. I can't tell where the leak is coming from, but it's coming from above.

I cleaned up the water as best as I could (probably not that good for 10pm on a Tuesday night, but whatever). I put a large bin under the drip from the vent, the other leak is slow and coming down close to the wall. There's not much damage from what I can tell, at most a few old records (that weren't of any sentimental value), an old broken trunk, and an old board game that probably should have been tossed years ago were damaged. I cleaned up the water as best as I could (probably not that good for 10pm on a Tuesday night, but whatever). Okay, not to bury the lede, there is a bit of damage along the wall where the leak is on the side of the leak where the paint seems to have bubbled... so I'm sure there is more damage than I think.

Our house has never had a structural leak like this before, so I'm not really sure what the next steps are. I'll call a plumber to fix it... then what do I do about the damage from the leak and now do I know how damaged it really is? Who fixes that? Does wood/the wall/whatever have to be replaced?

(I'm thinking my previous dishwasher question might have been foreshadowing to this!)

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