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Its going to be very difficult to pick one to be removed (floor or ceiling) without knowing more about the architecture of your home, plumbing, type of flooring, subfloor structure, etc.

Regardless of how they diagnose and fix the problem you'll most likely want to open up and air out the space between the bathroom floor and kitchen ceiling to resolve current (or eliminate potential future) mold concerns. Letting any potential mold issues go unchecked can risk the health of your family and your ability to sell the home in the future.

A plumber can diagnose and fix the leak and a drywall contractor / handyman can replace any flooring or ceiling that needs to be removed.

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Mold can begin to produce spores in a dark moist environment within 24 hours so opening up the area between the floor and ceiling is imperitive. I'm sure you have this fixed by now but make sure no mold is evident before it is sealed back up. A handyman opening the ceiling below the problem could save money over a plumber's hourly rate. Once the handyman has found the leak source the plumber could be called in to fix the leak, reducing the amount of time he is on the job site. After everything has been left to dry for about a week and no evidence of mold has appeared the handyman can then close the ceiling back up. Everything must be thoroughly dry before closing the space up.

Hopefully you've gotten this remedied by now but if not get that ceiling open and keep that mold from taking off.

Todd Shell
Todd's Home Services
www.thomeservices.com

You're talking about a couple of different things. Your toilet leak is probably traveling through the floor and dripping onto the top of the kitchen drywall. Same with any leaks coming from the shower, whether from over spilled water, or from water leaking around the drain.

You also mention leaking pipes. If they're leaking it's either inside the ceiling or one of the upstairs walls. Unfortunately, you won't know which until you start to remove drywall and look for a leaky pipe. I'd start with the kitchen ceiling because of the mold possibility mentioned above. If you find a wet pipe, but also find that the water is running down a vertical pipe, then you'll have to open up the 2nd floor wall too.