# My vanity sink is "sweating"



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

Dear friends, I would like to pick your brains and see if you can suggest some solution for this "strange" problem. In my bathroom I have a vanity sink which is sweating. The sink has no cracks and the connections are all in good shape without any visible leak. Nevertheless, if I touch underneath the sink I get my hand wet. All the towels located un a drawer under the sink are humid and I cannot put anything there because of the humidity in such environment. I have tried to locate the cause of the leak and cannot find any dripping. Beside of this and if there is a leak I cannot imagine the water going upwards and moistening the whalo sink. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Porcelain sink?
Forced-air heat probably propane?
No ventilation or exhaust fan?
Need to know more.


----------



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

*My sink is sweating*

Thanks for your answer Bud
Yes you are right, there is no ventilation in the bathroom.
Nevertheless In the morning I dried all the sink carefully and wanted to see what happens. After several hours, (nobody used the bathroom, no vapor from the hot shower or anything else) when I checked in the afternoon it was wet again.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Thanks for your answer Bud



Well, those weren't intended to be answers, they were supposed to be questions as noted by my use of the question-marks. Just testing some theories but without answers it is all for naught..


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

Hi, the leak may be behind the wall or/and check your "angle stops". Heat rises molecules speed up H2o "water" sticks to the air molecules and the water will rise with the air. angle stops have a compression ring which compresses to the copper stub-out so moisture my be slipping out from ring. So get some channel locks and a crescent wrench and grab the angle stop from the "in side" with channel locks and tighten "big" nut with crescent wrench "just a quick errt"/ "{{{{NOT TOO TIGHT}}}}". also give the small nut one too "connected to line". they are brass so it may have loosed up over time. Also TURN "ON" FAUCET TO RELIEVE PRESSURE while working!

Licensed plumber!


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Now there's a leak???


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

there is moisture. like if you where boiling water and put a lid over it then pressure will built but up the steam needs a way to escape so it pushes the "(lid)ring in angle stop" to the side, walla steam. But since it's a pressurized water pipe there is always pressure, so water is always trying to escape. The ring is brass on a copper pipe and when you put one on the water is off "i hope:whistling2: " and it does not fit properly until hot water gets past it and again molecules speed up therefore pipe fitting expands then cools down."puts a lot of wear on it " kinda like bending a piece of metal back and forth until it snaps it gets warm from the friction causing the molecules to expand then separate. so ring may have got warm then cold then.etc.. "it gets loose and vapor comes out."


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

I ain't buyin' none of that in this case.:laughing:

There are billions of those types of connections in this country alone. If that was the case 70% of the connections in the entire country would be leaking on a daily basis. No sale!:no:


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

I have been a plumber for 26 years i have worked with problems related to this tons of times. Im not saying this is a guarantee fix but it is the first thing i would do. It can also be a connection error with stub-out in the hold rite where "pex/zurn?" fitting is attached "BEHIND DRYWALL" where it is crooked.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Can't argue with you just don't think this is the case this time. I've been married for 35 years but that doesn't make me a good husband.:whistling2:


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

sorry, i type like i am angry but you cant really show expressions while typing so please forgive my typing.


----------



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

One cause of that problem occurs with the cultured marble tops is this---

Sometimes the overflow channel that runs from the little hole in the sink down to the drain will begin to seep- 

I've only run into this twice--but it does happen---the casting was thin on one and eventually gave out---the other was a tiny crack hidden by the thin plastic mold that was used to form the sink.

Both sinks were old and began leaking after a number of trouble free years.


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

*TO: Oh'mike*

nobody used the bathroom.


----------



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

plumbing said:


> *TO: Oh'mike*
> 
> nobody used the bathroom.


 What are you talking about? OP has a wet sink bottom--

I am trying to find the problem--the water is coming from somewhere--


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

I understand but how would water come from overflow when there is no water being ran.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> I understand but how would water come from overflow when there is no water being ran.


*Con-den-say-shun* maybe.

This why I asked the questions I asked that seems to have gone over everyone's heads and remains unanswered by the OP.


----------



## TheEplumber (Jul 20, 2010)

Bud Cline said:


> *Con-den-say-shun* maybe.
> 
> This why I asked the questions I asked that seems to have gone over everyone's heads and remains unanswered by the OP.


Don't you love it when the OP asks a question and everyone kicks in their 2 cents(no matter how far out in left field they are) but the OP is AOL- lol


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

if he hasn't used it than it should be room temp before it starts to condense, that's why i am thinking that it's an angle stop.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Don't you love it when the OP asks a question and everyone kicks in their 2 cents(no matter how far out in left field they are) but the OP is AOL- lol


And that is exactly why I (and you may have noticed this) almost always ask a question or two before I waste a lot of my time spilling my guts for someone that may never return or never give a damn about my effort. I ask questions and wait for them to respond. If they are interested they will be back in a few hours, if they are flying-by never intending to return then I haven't wasted a lot of my time.

I get a kick out of the threads that go viral with scores of speculative BS with only five words from the OP in the very first post. Some of the evergreen threads just amaze me at how gullible some participants can be, and for what. Just to see their name on the Internet I guess.


----------



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

*My sink is "sweating"*

Dear Bud, plumbing, TheEplumber and oh Mike, 
Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions. You are right, nobody used the bathroom and the sink was wet in the afternoon. The sink is a Villeroi & Bosh sink and the first thing I have done last week is to change the drain pipe supposing that there may be some leak at the joint underneath the sink. This did not help. Taking into account that the sink was not used and no change in environmental temperature has ocurred, I discard the possibility of condensation. 
Regards to all

Bernard


----------



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Post a picture of the sink---and let us know what material it is made of--also the under cabinet piping.


----------



## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

Bernie....you discount the possibility of condensation but in your original post you say the sink is sweating. If you take a shower in morning or at nite, the warm moist air will still linger long after showers are completed and will eventually find a cooler surface to condense onto. And you do say there is no exhaust fan. Even though you cannot sense no change in environmental temperature, the humidity is still there after a shower.

Is the underneath of the sink inside the vanity or is this one of the sinks that surface mount and the underside of the sink is actually on top the vanity? LIke photo below?

Also is this bathroom on 2nd floor? Is kitchen underneath? 

Do you have a range vent hood in kitchen not be properly vented to outside and into a joist cavity and traveling into bath wall area?

Like Mike mentioned a couple pics might assist.

Just my 2 cents.


*****HARD TO SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE WHEN YOU'RE FLYING WITH TURKEYS****


----------



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

*My sink is Sweating*

Thanks Hammerlane

Here I am attaching a picture of the sink which is underneath the vanity.
As I previously said, I did dry out completely the sink in the morning and took a shower in my other bathroom. Nevertheless at approximately 05:00 PM the sink was wet and nobody has used it that day. We have a skylight in the bathroom but it is closed. Only light goes in from the roof (I live in the last floor of this building [8th.]).
Have a nice weekend all of you and thanks again.

Bernie41


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Like I said...
It's a porcelain sink and those things can experience condensation on a regular basis. There are other questions to be answered also but the OP hasn't bothered.


----------



## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

Looks like a definite humidity issue.
How long has this been occurring?
Has this only started happening since the weather has gotten cooler? 
Did this occur in the summer/fall when weather was warmer?
Besides the skylight, are there glass windows in this bathroom and do they have condensation on them?


----------



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

*My vanity sink is sweating!*

Dear Hammerline and Bud Cline

Even though the weather here is entering into the cold part of the year, this "sweating" has occurred during the last 2 weeks. Lets suppose that it is "condensayshun" could I maybe coat the sink with some material (paint / coating) to isolate the coolness of the sink and preventing the hot air to condense? Just an idea which may be a solution to such enoying problem. The bath room has no windows and has a huge mirror which is dry (!) when the bathroom is not used. It is only wet during and after we take a shower and just for some 10 minutes after the shower.
Have a nice Sunday!! Thanks in advance.

Bernie41


----------



## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

Bernie41 said:


> could I maybe coat the sink with some material (paint / coating) to isolate the coolness of the sink and preventing the hot air to condense?
> 
> Bernie41


Anything you can do to provide a thermal break between the surface of the sink and the air will help. Maybe some sort of spray on rustproofing material?

Try this first. If you have a space heater, place it in the middle of the bathroom and open vanity doors. Leave it on about 1/2 hour before you start your shower to 2 hours after the shower is done. If this rise in air temperature prevents further water on underside of sink you will kind of know its a humidity problem.


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Stainless steel kitchen sinks have a terrible condensation problem for some reason and a lot of them (most of them) today come with a thermal break painted on to the bottom of each well. It looks to me like the same product used to spray-coat (undercoat) automobiles or maybe truck bed liners. Maybe that would help maybe it wouldn't.

From Post number 2: (Post #2 mind you)



> Porcelain sink?


CHECK - Got that right.



> Forced-air heat probably propane?


Still no response from OP.



> No ventilation or exhaust fan?


CHECK - Got that right.



> Need to know more.


Gonna need to make a dental appointment.


----------



## oldhouseguy (Sep 7, 2011)

Maybe everyone is overlooking the obvious. 

http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weepingstatuesandicons.htm

I am sorry in advance, but I keep reading this thread and I am mystified, which as Bud can attest to, doesn't take much!


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Heard on the national news a few days ago that some golden colored heavy liquid has begun dripping/running down the inside wall of a church for several days now. One inquisitive sole decided to taste the liquid and said it tasted like honey.

The minister of the church said that it was not honey but instead it was obviously a message from God.

I wonder how many snakes he has.


----------



## Bernie41 (Dec 8, 2011)

*My vanity sink is sweating*

Dear Houseguy, Bud Cline and others..

Houseguy, sorry I said "sweating" no "bleeding" nor "weeping":no:, I dont want to convert my bathroom in some sort of pilgrimage place, even though there is enough place for 3-4 people standing :laughing: and one seated....:whistling2:. Sweating, that's all, and like Bud Cline said con-den-say-shun!! Dear Bud, one not answered question: there is no forced air heating fan. I will try to put some spray coating paint and see what happens. Dear friends, thank you for your suggestions, you were very kind and helped me to somehow see in which direction I shall solve this problem. Thanks again to all of you who participated in this solution.

Bernie41


----------



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Bernie41 said:


> Dear Houseguy, Bud Cline and others..
> 
> Houseguy, sorry I said "sweating" no "bleeding" nor "weeping":no:, I dont want to convert my bathroom in some sort of pilgrimage place, even though there is enough place for 3-4 people standing :laughing: and one seated....:whistling2:. Sweating, that's all, and like Bud Cline said con-den-say-shun!! Dear Bud, one not answered question: there is no forced air heating fan. I will try to put some spray coating paint and see what happens. Dear friends, thank you for your suggestions, you were very kind and helped me to somehow see in which direction I shall solve this problem. Thanks again to all of you who participated in this solution.
> 
> Bernie41


God bless you my son!


----------



## plumbing (Dec 3, 2011)

my question is there is only 1 stub out for HOT? no cold?


----------

