vaticanplum
11-25-2007, 07:28 PM
Ok, I am looking for a little free advice. I have been out of my apartment since Wednesday and when I came back today and started doing some work in my living room I noticed a little plinking noise that sounded like something dripping. I pinpointed it to near the bookcase by my couch and armed myself with all possible mouse-proof clothing before getting down on the ground to inspect below the bookcase (the bookcase is on little feet). Nothing. The room is carpeted and it's not wet anywhere. But as I sit here this sound is undeniable, and it sounds like it is RIGHT in the room. It's clearly not; it must be in the wall, but it's very distinct and wet-sounding.
The only sign of water I can find is up above the bookcase where the paint is bubbled a little bit. I have no idea if it's always been that way or not, and it's not the kind of bubbled paint that I've seen when i had, say, a horrible leak in my bathroom from a broken pipe (those paint bubbles moved and cracked; these do not), but it's there, just a little. There has to be some kind of leak inside the wall, and it has been raining here all day. The building is brick and I am on the first floor with one floor above me. The building is probably 1940s-ish, and it's a'ight, though I have no proof that my landlord puts any thought into any problem in this building beyond throwing some plaster (and, in one memorable case, medical gauze) onto it.
My questions are:
a) is this a typical thing to happen on a rainy day (rainy several days, really), or do I need to call my landlord whom I prefer to deal with as little as possible?
and, more pressingly, b) in the meantime, should I move my bookcase? This is a beautiful antique bookcase which is a family heirloom and to which I am quite attached. It would be a pain to move it as this is my "heavy book" bookcase and it has a big glass door that I'm always scared I'll break while moving it, so moving it would require some book moving and stacking and effort, but I'll do it if the handyfolk on the board think this leak might be something besides my own paranoia.
Thank you very much for your handy help.
The only sign of water I can find is up above the bookcase where the paint is bubbled a little bit. I have no idea if it's always been that way or not, and it's not the kind of bubbled paint that I've seen when i had, say, a horrible leak in my bathroom from a broken pipe (those paint bubbles moved and cracked; these do not), but it's there, just a little. There has to be some kind of leak inside the wall, and it has been raining here all day. The building is brick and I am on the first floor with one floor above me. The building is probably 1940s-ish, and it's a'ight, though I have no proof that my landlord puts any thought into any problem in this building beyond throwing some plaster (and, in one memorable case, medical gauze) onto it.
My questions are:
a) is this a typical thing to happen on a rainy day (rainy several days, really), or do I need to call my landlord whom I prefer to deal with as little as possible?
and, more pressingly, b) in the meantime, should I move my bookcase? This is a beautiful antique bookcase which is a family heirloom and to which I am quite attached. It would be a pain to move it as this is my "heavy book" bookcase and it has a big glass door that I'm always scared I'll break while moving it, so moving it would require some book moving and stacking and effort, but I'll do it if the handyfolk on the board think this leak might be something besides my own paranoia.
Thank you very much for your handy help.