Water Leak In Your Ceiling: Here’s What To Really Do With It

Nothing can ruin your peace at home like a leaking ceiling can. Chaos immediately erupts and you start wondering: “What to do? How do I stop the leak? Do I need to worry about mold? Should I call professional help? And can I fix this myself?”.

These are all questions that will quickly stress out a homeowner.

Don’t worry though, I’m here to help. A thorough guide on what to do with a water leak in the ceiling follows. I’ll make sure to cover everything so you can have an easy time fixing the water damage.

You start with preventing the water from damaging the rest of your house. Then, dehumidifying would be a good idea in order to prevent mold. Finding out why your ceiling is leaking is the next reasonable step. In the end, you stop the leak and repair the damage done to your house.

Keep reading for the thorough explanation.

Prevent further damage

Now, I’m guessing you are here because you already noticed that your ceiling is leaking. Usually, it’s one of two cases. Either there’s dripping water from one of the walls or there’s a discoloration on the wall. If that’s the case, you already know where you need to concentrate.

However, in some situations, only mold will appear. If so, your ceiling still hasn’t started leaking, so you will need to look around for the leak. The best way to do this enter the attic or touch parts of the ceiling to check where it’s wet.

The dripping water will most likely damage some of your furniture or damage your floor. That’s why you need to take preventive steps. The first thing to do is remove objects below the water leak. Then, you need to spread out the plastic sheet over the floor. Feel free to cover the whole room.

Place a bucket or any object that can collect water at the spot where the dripping water hits the floor. Using towels is fine but only above the plastic. After some time, the towels will also be a source of water.

The next thing you need to do may sound preposterous to some but it’s the right thing to do. I’m talking about punching a hole in your ceiling. Doing this will leave you with a hole in the ceiling that you will later repair. Not doing this can cause some unrepairable issues.

Puncturing the ceiling shouldn’t be hard seeing as how all the water made it soft. A simple screwdriver will do the job. Just take it and punch a hole in the middle of the leaking spot. This will help the water clear from your ceiling.

Even if your ceiling is only discolored you still need to cover the floor with plastic sheets. When you’re puncturing the ceiling, water will come out. Having a bucket and sheets there will prevent any damage inside your home.

Be aware, if you don’t punch a hole in your ceiling, you are opening your home to some serious damage. Thing is, water may have pooled above your ceiling. The hole is a way for the water to come out. If left to sit there, the water will eventually bring the ceiling down.

In the end, use a dehumidifier to stop mold growth. The chances of mold growth are very high after water damage. You don’t want mold to be an issue for you after all these exhausting work. For those that don’t have a dehumidifier, opening in windows and doors sometimes help, not guaranteed though.

That’s it for this step. You’ve stopped the water and prevented further damages in your house, time to move on.

How to locate the leak?

Now, you need to find out why there was water in your ceiling in the first place. Fixing the hole, you just made will be useless if you don’t find the source of the problem. Doing this takes almost no effort, you’ll find the leak in no time.

Before we start, let me tell you why ceilings leak usually. The two usual suspects are a leaking roof or plumbing problems/broken or cracked pipes. Some roof repairs you can do yourself, however, I wouldn’t recommend trying to mess around with plumbing.

Checking for plumbing damages

Although the notion of damaged plumbing is terrifying, finding out if there is some damage is quite easy. There are a couple of things to look out.

The first thing to know is that water that comes out of plumbing is usually clear. It may get dirty from the ceiling sometimes. Roof leaks bring dirty water because of the dirt that picks up on the way. So, clear dripping water is a signal that the leak may be caused by bad plumbing.

However, don’t rely only on the clarity of the water alone. If the leak is from a cracked pipe and the water travels on the slope of the pipe, the water may get dirty. That is, if the pipes are rusty.

Try to remember if there are pipes above the ceiling that is leaking. If you know your house well and how it is constructed, you may eliminate this possibility immediately. You can move on to checking the roof for leaks if you’re really sure that there isn’t any plumbing near the damaged ceiling.

The next thing to look out for is the continuity of the leak. Leaks caused by plumbing damages are persistent as opposed to roof leaks which stop after the rain stops. In fact, the flow of water will be endless without you repairing the plumbing. No surprises here seeing as how plumbing pipes always have water in them.

If you are sure that the problem is with plumbing but don’t know which pipe, follow this. Turn off all valves for incoming water. Then, one by one turn them on and see which pipe causes the problem.

Remember these things before we move on to the roof issues, they will be useful for the process of elimination.

Inspecting the roof for leaks

In order for this to be successful you need to have access to your roof. Usually, most houses have an attic or a crawl space. Contractors know that every home needs regular maintenance so even if an attic is not in the plan, they will leave a crawl space.

Start by asking yourself, was it raining in the past week? A damaged roof can’t be the source of the leak by itself, water must come from somewhere. A leak bad enough to have dripping water signifies that there may be a hole in the roof. Not necessarily though, sometimes it’s just a crack that causes the leak.

Roofs leak for a number of reasons, some really bad some not that bad. Common issues are a cracked tile or shingle. These things are easily repairable. The leak can also be caused by damaged leak preventers or a damaged chimney. All these are usual suspects that you must consider. An old roof and a heavy storm are also a bad combination. As you can see the possibilities are many.

Another usual suspects are clogged gutters. The ceiling will be leaking on the sides or edges if this is the issue. You will know immediately if the gutters are the issue.

I’m guessing most of you know your houses pretty well, so just hearing one of the things above can give you an idea as to why your ceiling is leaking. Nonetheless, it’s still the best if you check every possible object.

First, enter your attic or crawl space during the day. The sunlight may give away the leak immediately; it will shine through the hole. Look for the usual suspects I listed before. Or, start above the spot where the ceiling is damaged and follow the water. This way you can see from where the water entered your roof.

As I said before, the dripping water from the roof will be muddy. Also, if the leak isn’t visible and you can’t find it, check if the air is moist or there is moisture in some spots of the roof.

After you have located the leak, you’re one step closer to solving your problems. You need to repair your roof in order to prevent reoccurrence. Then, you can move on to fixing the hole you made in your ceiling.

How to repair the damaged roof?

Now, the process of repairing depends on the object that is damaged in your roof. For instance, repairing a shingle or a tile is quite easy. A damaged chimney on the other hand, requires professional help. Of course, if you feel confident in your skills, you can even do that yourself.

A damaged tile can be fixed from inside your house. All you need is a replacement tile and some roofing sealant. Remove the damaged tile with a crowbar and add the new one. The same goes with a damaged shingle.

Asphalt flat roofs holes can be easily covered with a primer and some patching. Damaged leak preventers are also easy to fix by adding new parts. Problem is, you have to go outside and stand on your roof which is not that safe.

For a thorough guide on how to repair roof leaks visit: How To Fix A Leak From The Inside. Don’t forget, these are only temporary fixes, I highly recommend calling a professional.

Covering the hole in the ceiling

After you have located the leak and stopped it, you need to cover the hole in the ceiling. If you don’t want to do this yourself and call for help, just cover it with a tarp. Fixing this is not that hard, it’s just work.

First, you need to cut a square hole that will cover all of the damaged parts of the ceiling. Be careful though, don’t start cutting without making sure you won’t damage something above the ceiling. You can check inside the ceiling by looking through the hole you made with the screwdriver. Use a flashlight and a small mirror to look around.

If you’re sure that it’s safe, proceed to cutting the square. Use something to guide your saw, you don’t want your square to be an unidentified figure.

Once you’re done with that, remove the damaged part of the ceiling and clean out any remaining water or debris.

Now, you need to get 2 pieces of plywood that will help the replacement drywall fit in nicely. Place the plywood horizontally so they should lay flat over the hole. Install some female screw sockets in the plywood, so you can join them together with the drywall later.

Measure the size of the square hole and get a drywall with that size. Some decide to go with 2 inches bigger but that’s not necessary.

Once you have the drywall ready, place it in the hole and screw it onto the sockets of the plywood. It should be all good now, finish it by applying compound with a trowel along the edges.

That’s about it folks, hope I helped you with your problem. Stay safe.

Related questions

Should I wait for the leak to stop?

It depends on why you are waiting. If you’re waiting for the leak to stop so you can call professional help it’s not that bad of an idea. Also, waiting for the leak to stop to see if rain is the problem is also a good idea. However, make sure to cover your floor with plastic sheets and place a bucket under the dripping point. Don’t wait for the leak to go away on itself, do something or call for help. Also, don’t wait too long or water may form a pool above your ceiling.

Will a ceiling dry after a leak?

If the source of the leak is stopped then the ceiling will dry after 2-4 weeks. Using a dehumidifier certainly helps. Also, it depends on the size of the area that got wet. If the damage is small, and the leak is stopped, feel free to wait for the ceiling to dry. However, make sure you take precautions against mold growth.