Can I use the cold water supply to supply toilet

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SaNdS

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Good day and nice quick registration and a great looking forum.

I have a 3 story home and a shower and toilet on top floor. Found some water coming down the stack, the more I investigated it appeared to be coming from the toilet supply line on the top floor bathroom. I had to open the main floor bathroom ceiling to take a peek and found a large and long time water damage that must have been leaking for awhile and whatever was leaking has now let go further. I have narrowed it down to the toilet supply on the top floor bathroom. However after further examination I can not get close to seeing the connection nor being able to repair it so my question is:

Can I replace the T going to shower and toilet to run straight to the shower, open the wall and tap into the cold water before the ruffin for the shower and use that to supply the toilet?

Thx in advance.... right now we have no water for shower.
 

Widgit Maker

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It is hard to visualize your piping form your description except to say that your piping for the shower on the third floor goes to and through the ceiling of the second floor. There it goes to the shower and branches off to the toilet. Pictures would help. You don't say what kind of piping you have. Certainly you can cut the branch to the toilet and cap it off.
You also seem to be assuming that the leak is at a joint somewhere.
From your description I am assuming that you have copper pipe and it has sprung a pin hole leak. A leak that is no longer pin hole size. Therefore the leak may not be at a joint.

open the wall and tap into the cold water before the ruffin for the shower and use that to supply the toilet?

I don't know what that means. If it means going into the shower wall and teeing into the cold water supply before the shower valve, certainly you can do that. But that would most likely create more work repairing the wall than cutting out a section of the ceiling to repair the leak.
If I have guessed correctly and the leak is the result of a pin hole leak, I would replace that entire section of pipe.
 

SaNdS

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Visualize the main 'copper' coming up from the basement supplying the main floor which is still all good and then supplying the upstairs bathroom. The branch right there under the floor to supply the shower and the toilet there is a visable 'T' one goes to the shower the other goes to the toilet. From that T' to the toilet is where there leak is which I can not access or inspect, or for that matter repair.

Like you said probably just a pinhole but now the joint has let go. The only solution without ripping up the flooring and running new lines again my question is removing the the T and running straight to the shower and from insides the bathroom opening up the wall to putting a new T there before the shower to supply the toilet.
 
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The only solution without ripping up the flooring and running new lines again
Because you can't open the drywall on the ceiling from the floor below?

I guarantee once you do that, you will see exactly where it leaks.

You don't have to tear out the entire ceiling. Just one joist width, where the supply is aboutish.

You need to confirm without a doubt the exact layout of your copper, or else you are guessing and that never works out.

Drywall is cheap and easy to cut and replace and patch up.
 
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