Interior wall leak--what should I do?

Today I heard a dripping sound in a wall. Turns out there was a drip from up in the wall at the washer connection that was dripping down onto the base of the wall. As you can see in the pictures, there is wet drywall for several inches up, and the entire area between the studs is wet. I believe I caught this leak within its first 48 hours.

I put a cup in there to catch the drips which are slow thankfully, so I have some time to work on this. Currently there is a fan, heater, and dehumidifier in the laundry room drying it out. I know that I need to extend the drywall removal at least into the next stud on both sides.

I also included a picture directly opposite in the room over. The flooring is subfloor, plastic underlayment, laminate planks. I have several questions.

1) Is it enough to remove further drywall on the laundry room side until I get to dryness on both sides and dry it out for several days? Do I need to remove the drywall that is wet on the opposite wall? I'm drying it out now and it feels pretty solid still. It isn't spongy.

2) In regards to the laminate, should I pop the trim and try to let that air dry? If there is some wetness under it, will it eventually dry out? I really do not want to pull any of the floor as I laid it from this wall to the other end of the room. I suppose I could slip something under the edge and try to lift it to promote some air flow.

Third leak in 18 months...seriously considering just getting the entire house repiped in pex. the CPVC/Copper thing I have going on is a serious pain in the butt.

 

The best thing you could do is run all the box fans you've got and run a dehumidifier if you have one. If not you can crack open a window since its dry in the fall. Drywall can tolerate short perids of dampness if you can dry it out before it starts to get moldy.

Pop baseboard and baseshoe off so it can dry behind. Can't do much about the laminate except pry it up as much as you can and maybe leave a couple pry bars under the edge so the fan can circulate air. If it starts to cup or curl it's shot.

 

First off is the leak fixed and exactly what was the source?

I dont think the area on the opposite side looks too bad, the drywall probably has soaked up the water so I doubt it even got to the floor so I would just concentrate on the open side.

 

The drywall is most likely OK just give it time to dry.

I would check the other side of the wall for water under the laminate.
If there is water pry it up as best you can and let it dry out. This will take at least a week minimum.

What happens with laminate is that the edges swell leaving ridges. Flat laminate is the worst and V-groove is better but it can still happen. It take moisture and time for this to happen so if you can get it dry fairly quickly the laminate should be OK.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. The leak is at the valve where the washer hose connects in the wall. It drips down right onto the wall plate. I pulled the trim on the opposite room, and it is all dry, so the wall must have taken it all. I'm also lucky to have plywood flooring and not OSB. I've got fans running on both sides for probably a week while I shop around for repipe bids. Nothing like a surprise $4000+ project.