Water Damage Restoration for Your Ceiling

Whether caused by leaks or condensation, water damage can do more than cause unsightly stains on your ceiling. It can cause the structure of your office building or restaurant to be permanently damaged. Don't take lightly any dripping coming from your ceiling. When faced with a dripping ceiling be sure to give it the attention that it needs.

There are a few basic things you should do to repair the water damage to your ceiling:

• Find and repair the leak
• If the area is small enough you can use a straight edge to cut out the area that is ruined. Water can flow a considerable distance on hard ceilings. Thoroughly inspect the entire ceiling (even adjacent rooms) to be sure you didn't miss anything.
• Remove any wet or even moist insulation.
• Leave the ceiling open for several days so that it can completely dry out.
• Replace any insulation that was removed with new insulation.
• Buy a piece of drywall and cut it to replace the area that was cut out.
• Give it several coats of mud and sand between each coat.
• When everything is dry, prime (with KILZ) and paint. You probably will have to paint the whole ceiling in order to get the paint to match

Here's an article related to Water Damage Restoration for Your Ceiling.

Here are some additional tips for ceiling water damage restoration:

• If water damage has caused a drywall ceiling to sag, reattach it along the seam. Press up and nail the drywall to the joist.
• To stop water stains from bleeding through a repair, apply a coat of stain-sealing, shellac-based primer.
• To match the texture of the repaired area with the surrounding texture, use a roller to apply a mixture of drywall compound thinned with water.
• While still wet, add texture to it with a short-handled stomping brush.
• If roof or plumbing leaks have caused yellow or brown water stains on your ceiling, don't try to paint right over the stains. They are likely to show through. Seal the stain with a stain sealer before repainting.

Unless you have experience with repairing ceilings (or have a good janitorial service) your best bet is to get a professional to do the work for you. A local damage restoration service should be able to help.

If your establishment is in the tri-state area (NJ, PA, DE) you are in our area. But even if you are not in our area you may contact us. We have experience with water damage restoration for ceilings, walls and floors.