Rant: found a dime-sized soft spot behind a kitchen backsplash yesterday

I was on a job in a 1990s split-level outside Akron, pulling off old tile in a kitchen remodel. The plaster was hiding a soft spot right where the dish line ran down from the sink. Dang thing was wet clear through the stud bay, and I had to cut out three feet of drywall to find the leak. The homeowner said it had been like that for a couple years, but she never noticed because the tile looked normal. Has anyone else run into hidden water damage like this and ended up tearing out more than you bid for?

2 comments

2 Comments

wadepalmer3d ago

Plaster doesn't hide water damage, drywall does.

luna_wells573d ago

Adding to that, plaster is a lot harder to patch and match up if you do have water damage. With drywall you can cut out the wet section and tape and mud a new piece in pretty easy. But plaster tends to crack and crumble in bigger chunks, and getting the texture to look right again takes more skill and time.