Help a layman understand plumbing/moisture issues
What about it?
I’m about to move into a new place and a bit concerned about moisture issues. It’s a 4 unit row house with all the bathrooms along the back wall. For a long time the previous tenant had complained that after her bath that the floor in the adjacent room would get moisture on the wood laminate floor. This is the room on the other side of the wall from the foot of the bathtub. Also, it is an old style home perhaps from the 50s that has an ironing board built into the wall in that same bedroom. Pulling down the ironing board revealed that the ironing board had some mold on it. Also, it seems that the neighboring units have also experienced moisture mostly along that back wall, but also even in the closets of that same back room.
Prior to me moving in, the landlord finally went to address the issue and found that the drain from the bathtub had a crack, and had been leaking into the concrete foundation for who knows how long but at least two years. Also should be noted that many small roots were found in the pipes at that location. To properly address the problem, the entire bathtub and shower had to be ripped out which revealed much moisture, some mold, and damage to the wood in the walls. See attached photo.
Currently, the landlord is assuring me that once he fixes this issue at the drain, there will be no more moisture problems. But I must admit, I am skeptical.
I’m not sure if this is enough information for anyone to go on, but I’m just wondering if I’m stepping into a nightmare. I’m not sure I need to be a plumber to know that roots are a major issue and my fear is that the roots problem is spread across many different places underneath all the units, causing cracks and leaks into the concrete foundation. Is this a likely scenario? Am I over reacting? Is there a much larger problem that the landlord is aware of but just doesn’t want to fix?
I’d appreciate any input, thoughts, experience with issues like this. I am just a civilian and don’t really understand if that main drain pipe is embedded in concrete or not or what’s actually going on under there. Thank you so much to anyone who might be able to help. Thanks!