Water Through the Ceiling: What to Do Right Now
Stay out from under it, stop the water, and keep clear of electrics.
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THE SHORT ANSWER
In short
Keep everyone out from under a ceiling that is sagging or bulging with water: plasterboard holding water is heavy. Turn the water off at the meter tap, and if water is near a light fitting or power point, switch off at the switchboard only if you can do it safely and dry. Catch drips, move furniture, take photos, and call us on 0420 102 394.
DO THIS FIRST
Do this first
1
Stay out from under it
Keep people and pets out of the room under a sagging or bulging ceiling.
3
Keep clear of electrics
If water is near a light fitting, switch off at the switchboard only if you can reach it without standing in water; otherwise call an electrician.
4
Catch and protect
Buckets under drips; move furniture, rugs and electronics.
5
Record it
Photos and video of the ceiling and damage.
SOURCES
Where this advice comes from
WHAT IS HAPPENING
Where ceiling water really comes from
Water in a ceiling has travelled. It gets in somewhere above, runs along a joist, a pipe or the back of the plasterboard, and shows up at the lowest point it can find: often a light fitting, a cornice or the middle of a sheet. The stain you can see may be a metre or more from the actual leak.
There are three usual sources. Plumbing above: a bathroom, toilet, laundry, hot water system or a pipe in the floor or roof space. Rain: the roof, flashings, gutters or box gutters. And in apartments, the unit upstairs or the common property between floors. The pattern gives it away: a leak that only appears in rain is the roof; one that appears after someone showers upstairs is the shower, its seals or its waterproofing; one that never stops, even overnight, is a pressurised pipe.
Plasterboard soaks up water and loses its strength. A ceiling that is sagging or bulging is holding water and can come down without warning, which is why the first step is always to keep people out from under it, and not to poke it.
IS IT URGENT?
How serious is it?
| What you can see | How urgent | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling sagging, bulging or cracking | Emergency: call now | Clear the room; don’t push it up |
| Water dripping from a light fitting, fan or smoke alarm | Emergency: call now | Leave the switch alone; switchboard off only if dry and safe; an electrician too |
| Water still coming through with every tap off upstairs | Emergency: call now | A pressurised pipe: meter tap off, then call us |
| A leak only during heavy rain | Urgent: today | Buckets and towels; the NSW SES on 132 500 for serious storm damage; then roof leak repairs |
| Water appears after someone showers or bathes upstairs | Urgent: this week | Stop using that shower and book leak detection |
| A dry brown stain that isn’t growing | Can be booked | Leak detection finds the slow or old source |
DO NOT
Don’t make it worse
- Don’t stand under a bulging ceiling or try to push it up
- Don’t turn lights on in a room with water in the ceiling
- Don’t cut into the ceiling to find the leak: we find it first, then open up only where needed
- Don’t use a ceiling fan or light in a room that got wet, even after the dripping stops, until an electrician says it is dry and safe
- Don’t paint over a stain before the leak is found: it comes back, and the evidence for your claim is gone
WHY IT HAPPENED
What we usually find above the stain
Roof or gutter water entry was the cause recorded most often on our 447 roof plumbing jobs since 2019 (89 jobs). Inside the building, our leak detection records most often show: water leak (19 jobs), burst water pipe (5 jobs), worn tap washer or cartridge (3 jobs).
| Likely cause | Tell-tale signs | The usual fix |
|---|---|---|
| A shower or bath above | A stain below a bathroom, worse after showers | Leak detection, then repair the pipe, seals or failed waterproofing |
| A pipe in the ceiling or floor | A constant drip, and the meter moves with every tap off | Find it with thermal imaging, then repair the pipe |
| A hot water system upstairs or in the roof | A leak near the unit, sometimes a warm stain | Repair or replace the system |
| Roof, flashing or gutter | Only in rain, often near walls, chimneys or skylights | Roof leak repairs |
| Box gutter overflow | Heavy rain only, common in terraces and apartment buildings | Clear and repair the box gutter (why box gutters flood) |
| Air conditioner condensate drain | Drips in warm weather while the air conditioner runs | Clear or re-run the condensate drain |
WHEN WE ARRIVE
What we do when we get there
1
Make the room safe
We check the ceiling and keep clear of wet light fittings until the power is confirmed off.
2
Trace the water
Thermal imaging and moisture readings follow the water back to where it starts, so we only open up there.
3
Stop the source
The leaking pipe, fixture or fitting isolated or repaired.
4
Fixed price for the repair
You approve the price before any cutting or repair.
5
A report for everyone
Photos and a written report of the source, for your insurer, your strata manager or the owner upstairs.
WHAT IT COSTS
What finding and fixing a ceiling leak costs
Half of our 126 priced leak detection jobs since 2019 cost between $463 and $1,593, including GST, with a median of $825.
What moves it: how far the water has travelled, how many places have to be tested, and what the repair turns out to be. If the source is the roof, see roof leak repairs. Ceiling repairs usually wait until everything has dried out.
$0 call-out Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 5:00pm. After hours a call-out fee of $199 to $399 applies, confirmed by text before we dispatch.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
Who is responsible?
In an apartment, who pays depends on where the water started: from inside the unit above, usually that owner; from common property such as a shared pipe, the roof or the slab, usually the owners corporation. That is why finding the source comes before arguing about the bill (water damage between lots in NSW).
Tenants: a serious roof leak and a burst water service are both on the NSW urgent repairs list, so tell your agent the same day (tenants: what to do). Strata owners: strata: who pays.
INSURANCE
Ceiling damage and your insurer
A sudden leak, such as a pipe bursting in the ceiling, is often covered for the damage it caused. A shower that has been seeping for months is often excluded as gradual damage, and roof leaks from wear may be too, while storm damage to the roof usually falls under storm cover.
Photograph the ceiling as it is, note when you first saw the stain, and keep our report of the source. How to make a claim
NEXT TIME
Prevent it next time
- Check under baths, showers and the hot water system upstairs for slow leaks
- Keep gutters and box gutters clear before storms
- In a unit, report damp patches to the strata manager early
- Regrout and reseal showers when grout cracks or the silicone starts to lift
- Look at the ceiling under every bathroom once a season: small stains are cheap to chase, big ones are not
QUESTIONS
Ceiling leak questions
WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW
Other plumbing emergencies
MORE HELP
Emergency help
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