A wet patch in the kitchen ceiling. Water coming down in the garage. A stain upstairs that's bigger than it was this morning. Ceiling damage is the part you can see of something happening above it.
Call (206) 813-0805Put a bucket under the drip and move furniture, rugs and electronics out from under the wet area.
If the water is coming through or near a light fixture, don't use that light. Switch off that circuit at the panel if you can reach it without standing in water.
If the ceiling is sagging or bulging, keep everyone out from under it. Drywall holding water is heavy, and it gives way without much warning. Don't push on it.
If you know it's a pipe — not the roof — shut off the water at the main.
Water runs along joists, pipes and the top of drywall before it finds a way down. The stain is where it ended up, which can be several feet from where it got in. A ceiling patched before the source is found gets wet again.
And a ceiling that looks dry isn't always dry above. Insulation holds water on top of the drywall, out of sight, and that's where mold starts.
Under a bathroom — the toilet's wax seal, the shower pan or tub drain, grout or caulk around the tub, a supply line to the sink.
Under the kitchen or laundry — the dishwasher connection, the washing machine hoses, the fridge's ice-maker line, the sink drain.
Under an attic water heater or furnace — the tank, its drain pan, or the lines running to it.
Top-floor ceiling, only when it rains — the roof itself, flashing around a chimney, vent or skylight.
Near an outside wall, after heavy rain — gutters overflowing, or a blocked downspout drain backing roof water up against the house, where it can get behind siding and into the wall.
In winter, with no rain — condensation in a poorly ventilated attic, or a pipe in an exterior wall or the attic.
None of these is certain from below. They're where a pro looks first.
The source gets found and stopped first — a plumber for a pipe, a roofer for the roof. Then what's above the ceiling gets dried or removed: wet insulation almost always comes out. Moisture readings confirm the joists and drywall are dry. Only then is the ceiling cut back, replaced, finished and painted.
If the stain came back after an earlier patch, the source was never fixed, and there may already be mold above the drywall.
One local note. In Burien, drainage on your lot is yours to maintain — down to the roof downspout drains, up to where they connect to the city's system. If water keeps getting in near an outside wall after heavy rain, a blocked downspout drain is worth checking before the ceiling is repaired.
Not for long. A wet patch with no drip usually means water is pooling on top of the drywall or in the insulation, and it will either come through or sit there and grow mold. Turn off any water-using appliance above it if you can work out which one, and get it looked at while the damage is still a patch.
Find the source if it's obvious — a water heater, a laundry hookup or a pipe above — and shut off the water to it or to the whole house. Keep clear of the garage door opener, lights and any outlets the water is near. Then move what you can out of the way; garage ceilings often have no insulation to slow the water down.
It'll slow the damage, not stop it. If the leak is from a pipe or a water heater, shut off the water to it. If it's the roof, a bucket or tray is better than a towel, which saturates and passes water straight through. Either way, the insulation under it is probably wet and will need to come out.
Both, usually. A roofer fixes the roof. The restoration company deals with what the water did inside — the attic insulation, the ceiling, anything below. Ask on the call whether they can put a temporary cover on the roof until the roofer gets there.
The line is answered any hour, including nights and weekends. How soon someone can come depends on what the local restoration company has on, and they'll tell you on the call.
Call (206) 813-0805. Answered any hour, across Burien.