Leak in loft, came through ceiling - need to do anything?

[David Hearn]

On Saturday around 6pm I went up to our son's bedroom and noticed water dripping from the light fitting onto the bed below. A large wet patch was visible on the bed (ie. it hadn't just started).

Went into loft and saw a large area splashed with water - this appeared to have come from an expansion pipe directed at the cold water tank - but the tank had managed to get itself covered with insulation - meaning when water came out the expansion pipe - it hit the insulation and splashed over the loft area.

The expansion pipe was hot, but no water was coming out it. It seemed to have stopped.

I then went down into the bedroom again and into the airing cupboard to work out which of the pipes the water had come out of. I noticed that the cupboard was VERY warm - usually warm. I checked the immersion heater plug and it was plugged in and turned on. We never use our immersion heater (no need for it and only used it briefly once or twice shortly after we moved in a few years ago) but we had used the socket in the cupboard earlier - turned out rather than plugging the bedside light back in, we'd plugged in the immersion heater.

So, immersion heater had been on for about 4-5 hours generating VERY hot water. I'm guessing that the thermostat doesn't work on it and it caused hot water to spew into the loft, splashing around and eventually coming through the light fitting (only hole in the ceiling in that room). The loft is insulated to rafter depth and partially boarded - house is 1930's semi.

Now, it stopped dripping by mid-evening on Saturday and all looked fine. However today we've noticed some brownish water marking in the area where it got wet, but didn't leak through, which we hadn't noticed before. Is this just it drying out - or would the marking have been present immediately it got wet?

Is there anything we should do to try and dry it all out? It would involve lifting much of the boarding (some of which has things stored on it), and possibly removing the insulation. Will it dry out by itself given time? The loft is very airy as we do not have sarking under the tiles, so huge amounts of ventilation!

Thanks

D

[Dave Fawthrop]

| On Saturday around 6pm I went up to our son's bedroom and noticed water= =20 | dripping from the light fitting onto the bed below. A large wet patch=20 | was visible on the bed (ie. it hadn't just started).

*First* Make a hole in the ceiling to let the water into the bucket you have conveniently placed to catch it.=20

Water collecting on a plasterboard ceiling can quickly bring it down.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop Sick of Premium SMS scams, SMS marketing, Direct marketing phone calls, Silent phone calls?=20 Register with

they work :-)

[Hzatph]

In my experience of water ingress, redecorating can be a pain - emulsion paint does not cover the marks on the ceiling. You may be adviosed to use primer or an oil based paint to sel it (when it it dry obviously) and then you can use emulsion over the top.

[Andrew]

...or seal with diluted PVA first. This will stop the water stain coming through the new paint.

Andrew

[John Stumbles]

IME plasterboard is quite resistant to water pulling it down and if the OP's leak had stopped by the time he discovered it and the water had soaked into insulation rather than pooling on the board then it's unlikely to make much difference putting a hole in it (but no harm in doing so either). It sounds as if much of it has found its way down through the light fitting anyway.

Now lath and plaster is a different kettle of fish altogether

[David Hearn]

Not quite sure whether it is plasterboard or laths. Most, if not all, is lath/plaster - but this particular room has confused me for a while. I think it has laths in the loft, but looking at it from inside the room, I've always been able to see lines which look like edges of plasterboard.

I'll probably drill a hole or two to see if any water comes out - but so far, no more water has come out the light fitting, and I'm guessing that the water marks are just as it dries out.

Thanks for the help

D

[Chris Bacon]

It's a dodgy P&L ceiling that's been overboarded with PB using long clouts to hold it on.

[David Hearn]

Well, the ceiling is still up, 3 days after this happened. Drilled 3 holes where the water marks are, and nothing came out, although it was noticably soft.

Shame it's not the summer, but I'm sure it'll dry out.

Thanks

D

[Set Square]

Allow it to dry completely before trying to paint it. Then use an oil-based paint first, to cover up any brown stains before painting with emulsion. If you just use emulsion, the stains will show through. You can buy proper stain-block paint - but white oil-based undercoat is just as good.