When you notice the brownish stain, bubbling, sagging ceiling, dripping water on your ceiling, it is a sign of leakage occurring.
If homeowners underestimate a leaking ceiling and don’t repair it early, letting them unattended, can be dangerous, especially for a long period. Water will seep through the wiring and cause potential electric shocks. Some may encounter collapse of your ceilings board and infestations of inserts and bugs. More severe will be the growth of mold or mildew. This can cause health problems, particularly to people with asthma or allergies.
If you noticed that the water is only dripping when it rains, it is most likely due to a leaking roof. If the leak dries out after rain, this is a good indication that the leak starts on the roof. Call for a contractor to gain access to the attic and find out where is the source of the leak. Check the gutters, flashing around chimneys, vents, shingles, or visible holes, as water might be getting under roof flashing and causing the leak. You should know who to call for a ceiling leak.
But if you have a constant leaking ceiling, it would be much harder to diagnose, the leak probably comes from a water supply area.
Homeowners can narrow down the finding, check the nearby fixtures for broken or damaged parts such as water heater, air condition pipe, water pipe, or drainage pipe. Get a professional plumber and call for a ceiling leak professional which are mostly waterproofing companies to fix it.
If there is no moisture on the pipe area, look further to the concrete ceiling above to find out more about the cause of a ceiling leak. Some of the symptoms of ceiling leaks include discoloration patches on the concrete ceiling and slab, moist watermark stains. An upstairs unit might be the source of a leaking ceiling in the apartment, due to their worn-off waterproofing membranes and cement screed in the concrete floor slab, choke pipes, and more. Inter-floor leakage from upstairs may weaken the structure building as well.
Therefore, it is important to approach your neighbour above to find out the source of the leak that had caused damage to your ceiling. Some neighbours might not realize they have a water leak in their apartment.
If you are staying in a condominium, apartment or private landed estate and experience a ceiling leak issue, homeowners will have to repair the leak at their own cost or to work out with your neighbour.
If you are staying in an HDB flat where there is a ceiling leak through the concrete floor slab. You may either approach your neighbour to discuss the repair needs. This phenomenon is more common in older buildings and typically occurs in wet areas such as open balconies, toilets, bathrooms, and kitchens.
HDB flat owners of upper and lower floor units have a shared responsibility in maintaining the structure of their respective flats. This includes the floor and ceiling slabs. If the slabs need to be repaired, both neighbours must arrange for the repair work and spilt the cost. Both owners would need to agree to resolve the issue by calling for a ceiling leak professional also known as waterproofing contractor to carry out an inspection. You must inform your neighbour upstairs if you encounter early signs of leaks so that they can be resolved quickly before the situation escalates. Nevertheless, you should inform your town council and/or HDB as they may help to assist in the investigation. Highly encourage the neighbours to be cooperative and resolve their issues amicably.
P.S. If either party call for a ceiling leak, you can request for a simple thermal analysis and detect the fault to better decide on the outcome of ceiling leak repair. SWC Construction provide LeakDetect™ solution.
There are several methods to address ceiling leaks, depending on the severity of the leak and the needs of the upper floor. Re-screeding and relaying of new tiles are the recommended option which typically takes a longer time to work out and repair. Hacking of tiles will be required for such repair.
However, there are other methods to resolve water leakages. Other methods include the flood infusion method and polyurethane (PU) injection method.
SWC Construction highly recommends the Polyurethane (PU) Injection method. This method solves ceiling leak issues without the need for the hacking of existing tiles and is mess-free. This effectively seals all leakage including thin crack lines in the concrete. The repair work can be completed within a day or more subject to the condition of the leakage.
Contact us online or call us for a free consultation to find out the best solution to fix your ceiling leak.