Staining coming from bedroom ceiling.

[bedpicnic]

We moved into this house nearly a year ago. In the first month I noticed some brown staining coming through the paint in our bedroom ceiling. I painted a streak of white paint - hence the colour difference in the photos! - over the staining to see if it was historical or a current problem. No more brown staining occurred so thought nothing of it. In the last couple of months, staining is 'seeping' out from the streak of paint I painted, plus the staining is becoming more visible through the paint streak. My OH has gone up in the attic and lifted up the insulation and it looks like there was a leak, it's between the two wood joists that join together. It doesn't appear wet now and we're hoping it's historical, but what would be causing the brown staining?

@PigletJohn or anyone else have any advice?

Thankyou.

It will probably be staining from wet wood from the leak. The insulation material might also leak colour if it's the yellow stuff. You need to double check if there is a leak, dry it out after getting it fixed, paint the ceiling with a stain blocker and maybe get it all painted. Piglet John will know more but that's what I would do.

You have a current water leak.

How many water tanks are up there, and what size are they?

Did it start after you put the heating on? Or after a period of heavy rain?

How old is the house?

Roll back the insulation so it can dry out.

Inspect the loft frequently so you have a chance of catching the fault while it is leaking.

Photos will help.

Thanks very much for replying.

The house had been empty for a couple of months before we moved
in. It coincided with us using the heating a lot to warm the house and heavy rain. The same combination with the most current staining - the heating has been on and we had a period of very heavy rain.

There are no water tanks up there.

The house is approx 70 years old.

I should add that my OH said that when he took the insulation up, the bottom bit of the insulation stuck a bit to the wood, whereas the other bits just lift up easily.

I'm trying to add photos but my computer is struggling. Will try on my OHs phone in a minute.

Thanks again.

You need to go up when it’s raining.

Lay dry paper, just a couple of sheets of A4 above and below insulation.
Check frequently, even if they are dry you should be able to tell if they've been wet in the interim

We've done the dry paper advice and it isn't wet. We've also gone up when raining and no obvious leaking.

Hi, if this is an old dry water mark on the ceiling you can either strip the paper on the ceiling if there is any or get a strong spray paint that will mask a stain. A white stain block spray. Put a few coats of this on the stain, and then paint the ceiling again once dry. The stain might eventually come back. We have an old water stain on our ceiling and spray block it every few years. It just happens.

@PigletJohn
Managed to upload photos in the above post if you get a chance to see. The 2nd photo is an area the size approx 40x40cm.

Hi again, my OH has just gone up again and seen a teaspoon of water on the paper that is sitting on top of the insulation- is this likely to be a misplaced tile or something else? Thankyou for all who have helped.

The stained patch is quite large. If there are no tanks or active pipes up there it must be a roof leak.

The ceiling appears to be plasterboard. If persistently wet it will crumble and the paper covering detach.

Pull back more of the insulation, you should see where the drips are falling. On a pitched roof water often runs down the sloping timbers before dripping off. You may see white marks.

Roof tiles lose their porous after a while so it could be a loose or leaking tile. Can he reach the tiles above where he saw the water. Have you got a membrane over the rafters which might have a hole in it. Put a bowl where the leak is.

If you put a bowl on the plasterboard, it may fall through.

You can skewer a hole through from underneath, water can then drip into your bucket which is better than pooling on top of the ceiling.

Filling the hole will be easy when you redecorate.

Thankyou so much for all your help.

Your second picture has what looks like rodent droppings

@JupiterWeb yes, we found a dead rat up there last week. Thanks for mentioning incase we didn't know. Going to get a quote for the roof and then call pest control. Lots of things to sort out and ticking off one by one.