Hendricus, I'm not sure we'd be successful--probably somebody would get carried away. Also, whatever this is, it's a seep, not a stream. it's happening INSIDE somewhere. Brody, that's not a bad idea--but I just applied one of those "caulking" strips, and it still *looks* pretty well sealed. I'll remember it, though, when we get to the final "put it all back together" stage. No roof leaks, decker173; this is a second-floor apartment, and the water arrives after a shower, not after a rainstorm. I'm trying to get a hose that attaches to the tub spigot--but of course, if the valve is leaking, the hose won't help much. I don't know what other source of water to use, though--not sure how to get a hose to attach to the bathroom sink, and I can't get one long enough to reach around the apartment building, up to the second floor, and in to the bathroom. Well, maybe I could--but I'd need 2 floors worth of hose. I tried testing the assumption that this is splash water from the wall, that runs down to the tub, and then out and over the edge (bcs there's a tiny slant to the tub). So I caulked a dam at the edge of the tub. Water has built up there, but it's not THAT much, and the pathway down is still wet. I'm justing having a hard time believing that THAT much dampness can arrive on the wall below the tub from THAT source. I *finally* got DH to agree to take the escutcheon plate off the valve part of the fixture, to see if the valve is leaking. It turns out that, since there was no water or wetness or anything behind the cement board, he thought that meant it couldn't be the valve. So I'll try that. Once I said, "of course not; the cement board is impervious, no water CAN get behind it. But it can run down the FRONT of it, between the cement board and the Swanstone."

Thanks again. Message received loud and clear! The drain will be covered. BTW, I guess should clarify what I mean by "impulsively hired some drywall guys". (Warning - this will probably tick some folks off). Original plan was to hang it all myself (600 s.f. total, 4 rooms and a hall) and then hire someone to finish. I've done just a couple rooms in the past. Anyway, while halfway through the hanging, I was picking up another dozen sheets or so and a day laborer helped me load and asked if I needed help. My back was hurting, he seemed knowledgeable, so one thing leads to another. Anyway, what a fun 4 days it's become. This guy had a different second man every day. The best was today when he showed up with a one-armed guy with a huge scar across his face. I say to the other "how's he going to do this with one arm?" Reply: "he's going to help me- he's my brother". Looks like he had a bad car accident at some point. So I stuck with them, they're now on the second coat and motoring on. Looking pretty good, too. (My apologies to the drywall trade pros.)

Thank you everyone. I'll make a general reply to everyone. The damaged areas have all been drywalled, taped, textured and primed, but I'm still struggling with paint colors in that area so we've been painting bedrooms instead. (whole house reno.). Basically, all the drywall was done and over. Some of the damaged areas were on walls with a flat texture (i.e. no texture) and some on walls with a sprayed orange peel. I wouldn't feel comfortable patching either kinds of texture myself. If you patch an orange peel area, how do you get the texture back on the flat patch you just did? Our painting company is called Breezy DH, Inc. We're DIYing where we can, and wall and ceiling paint is certainly doable. No painters fixing holes. :( We did decide to have our trim and doors professionally caulked, sanded, and sprayed as it would take DH many months to do that painstaking, detailed work with his schedule. I am the GC so it does fall to me to take care of this. I finally heard back from the flooring company. My rep will be stopping by in the morning to take a look at the walls. He did give me some slight bs about damage below the trim, but agreed that there shouldn't be damage above. Accidents happen, but I know they were moving very fast and didn't seem that careful when I watched them several times during the first two days. I will not have the floor installers do the repairs. Didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. :)

for what it's worth, my current kitchen (which I am ripping out shortly) has the counter/backsplash material running up the wall on the end like you are thinking. Mine doesn't run down to the floor because the cabinets are right up to the edge of the door, but I hate it. It could be because I hate the counter/backsplash, but something about the fact that it continues onto that side wall really bothers me. I love the look of the backsplash continuing up above cabinets or range hoods, but only if it's on the same wall.