What is this on kitchen ceiling?!

[Elisheva]

Any idea what might be causing this?

Water mark? Is bathroom above?

No, the bathroom is downstairs. There is a bedroom above.

Steam? Have you got a particularly powerful new kettle?

Leaking water pipe. Friend had this. Her kitchen ceiling crashed down in parts one night. Very messy.

It could be grease which would easily be cleaned off it is.

What's underneath the ceiling, a hob maybe & do you have an extractor fan in your kitchen? It does look like water marks/damage.

Steam from cooking.

Steam would be a brilliant answer! It’s not above the hob, but it’s a tiny kitchen. I might see if it can be scrubbed off.

You might need to treat it with a stain block for water damage then repaint over it.

Could your water pipes go up and over? We have concrete floors so despite a downstairs bathroom, the pipes go up the wall and across to get to it.

Where is the bathroom in relation to the kitchen/the stain.

Possibly steam which has condensed and formed drips. Hope so as that would be much easier to sort. Our kitchen ceiling had to be repainted after an incident with a shaken can of pop...

The kitchen, then a utility then the bathroom. The boiler is on the wall below the stain so there must be pipes there somewhere.

Oops 😬

If it's roughly over the area you cook or the kettle boils, could be that. If not, is there any reason a water pipe would be there, or possibly a heating pipe (if you've got a boiler you need to top up, check levels and keep an eye on level). As I found out our heating pipes under the kitchen doesn't run an obvious route, it zigzags!), so might not be where you think, assuming you don't know the route!

Can you lift a floorboard in the room above? To see if there is a leaking pipe or other source of water?

If it is condensation from a kettle or something, you can have a go at cleaning it off, but you will be left with a dirty smear. Sugar soap is good for cleaning before repainting (dirt on kitchen ceilings is often greasy and new paint will not stick)

You will need a stain blocker if there was a leak above, but not if it is just steam.

Looks like you need a powerful extractor too.