Ceiling Leak and Water Damage Repairs

Why a stained ceiling is rarely just a stain

A brown ring on a ceiling tells you water has been sitting above it for a while. Plasterboard soaks up moisture like a sponge, loses its strength and eventually sags between the joists. Lath and plaster ceilings in older houses behave differently: the plaster can let go of the laths without much warning. Either way, the mark you can see is usually smaller than the wet area you cannot.

That is why we never start with a tin of stain block. We start by finding out where the water came from, whether it has stopped, and how far it has travelled along the joists before it showed itself.

How we run the repair from start to finish

Most people end up booking a plumber, then a plasterer, then a decorator, each on a different week and each blaming the last for the finish. Because plumbing, plastering and decorating all sit within our own team, we handle the whole sequence and you deal with one person throughout.

• Trace the source: failed shower seal, overflowing cistern, weeping compression joint, roof or gutter
• Make safe: isolate water or electrics where needed and take down any board that is bellying
• Repair the cause so the new ceiling is not ruined by the same fault
• Leave the void open to dry properly rather than boarding over damp timber
• Reboard, tape and skim, then seal and redecorate to match the room

Drying time is the part people want to skip

Closing up a ceiling over wet joists and insulation traps the moisture, and it comes back as mould, a musty smell or a second stain months later. We would rather tell you honestly that the void needs a few more days than hand over a ceiling that fails. Wet insulation is normally removed and replaced rather than left to dry, because it rarely recovers its performance.

Once the timbers are dry we check them. Joists that have softened, or ceiling fixings that have rusted through, are dealt with before any new board goes up.

Getting the finish to disappear

The test of a good ceiling repair is that nobody can find it. On a patch we feather the skim well past the joint and use a stain blocking primer before the top coats, because water marks have a habit of bleeding through ordinary emulsion. Where a patch would always show, for example on a textured or badly cracked old ceiling, we will suggest overboarding the whole room instead and explain why.

When it happens out of hours

Water coming through a light fitting or a ceiling that has started to drop cannot wait until Monday. Our 24/7 call outs cover leaks, water damage and make safe work, and we tell you plainly how quickly we can attend before we set off. The permanent ceiling repair is then booked in once the area has dried.

Landlords, agents and insurance

For rented and managed properties we photograph the damage, the cause and the finished repair, so the landlord, the agent and any insurer see the same record. Written quotes are free, and our workmanship carries our 1-year warranty.