Who do I call?? - House Repair

[Gord_Wappel]

I have a unique problem going on with my house. I have noticed in the main floor popcorn roof a consistent water stain and moisture from the upstairs bathroom. I am pretty sure it is from the bathtub or shower in the ensuite but my problem is who to call.

I'm not the best when it comes to even the simplest home repairs and i am wondering if there is a sort of "one stop" shop i can call to take care of all the repairs or do i need to call a general contractor and a plumber seperately. Any advice??

[ricosuave]

well, the popcorn roof is already hooped, i'd just take a claw hammer to it and open it up and see what you've got. be cautious if you notice anything that looks like mold.

best to call a plumber I think, depending on if you can see exactly where it is coming from...

[Methanolic]

Rico is correct in that your ceiling is now screwed. Hopefully your ceiling doesn't flow too far throughout the main floor as the entire ceiling will need to be re done, you cant patch stipple ceiling and have an un-noticable repair.

The leak: Check inside the cabinet of your 2nd floor bath vanity for leaks. check the supply lines, shut-offs and also run the faucet then check the abs drain line. Next step would be to cut a hole in the drywall ceiling below (a keyhole saw or even a steak knife in a pinch will work) around the water stain, you should be able to see where the leak is coming from whether its a supply line or a drain, run the tub faucet as well to check the tub drain.

Hopefully your ceiling has never been painted as this will make ceiling repair more costly. If its just sprayed on stipple it can easily be scraped off and then another application of stipple or (better yet) "knock down" ceiling texture can be applied.

[Gord_Wappel]

Thanks guys. I pretty much concluded the roof was toast and i would have to at minimum tear a big chunk out. I was more curious once it was open and accessible whether a plumber would be qualified to trace it from there or was there another route.

[Methanolic]

^ Better off you find the source of the leak yourself and get the area readily accessible for repair, then call the plumber in to fix the issue. You definitely don't want the plumber spending time searching for it at a huge hourly rate.

[#22]

Does the shower have a tiled floor? In my experience, those floors are often done incorrectly (ie. no liner), causing water to seep through over time. Unfortunately not an easy fix, so I hope it's not the case.

[Northendzone]

came in looking to make a ghostbusters joke......but sort of changed my mind.

hopefully the fix is not too painful

[Titan]

On an episode of Holmes on homes the guy had the exact same problem. However, the cause was not using a bath mat when they stepped out of the shower and the water was running into the heating vent and then pooling on the ceiling below. Could that be a cause, before you start ripping stuff out?

[surferguy]

see if you can find the leak before opening the ceiling. IF you find it and can repair the leak, it is possible to fix the ceiling (if only stained) without opening the ceiling.

IF the popcorn ceiling is not painted and only stained (no drywall damage) it can be remediated by using a mixture of 90/10 bleach/water. Spritz it on using an old windex bottle, it should start to fade within ten minutes. Once dry, repeat the process as needed.

Fixes in popcorn ceilings are do able - it is a matter of properly blending the areas. Your entire ceiling may not need to be scraped and re done. It will vary greatly depending on the position of the repair.