Water Damage
Leaks from above traced to the source, dried, and repaired, stain and all.
Water Damage
A brown ring or a sagging ceiling means water is coming from above, from an upstairs unit, the roof, or a pipe, and the shape of the stain usually tells you which. We find the source, dry the cavity, address any mold, and repair the ceiling so the stain does not bleed back through.
Stained and sagging ceilings are a common call in Brooklyn brownstones and Manhattan apartment buildings.
Do You Need This?
If any of these sound familiar, call us and we will tell you honestly what you are dealing with.
Stain With No Drip
A ceiling water stain with no drip usually means a leak that comes and goes, or an old leak that was fixed but never dried and sealed.
A shower upstairs that leaks only when it’s used, or a roof that leaks only in hard rain, leaves a ring and then dries out. Sometimes it’s just cold water pipes sweating above the ceiling, which the EPA says to fix by covering them with insulation.
A leak that comes and goes still wets the cavity every time, so it’s worth finding even if the ring looks old.
In houses where two or three apartments are stacked, like many in Cypress Hills, one top-floor leak can stain every ceiling below it. Our Cypress Hills water damage page follows that path floor by floor.
Plaster and Drywall
Whether a wet ceiling is drywall or plaster decides how it gets repaired. Drywall that’s soaked through or sagging usually gets cut out, while plaster on wood lath can often be dried in place if it’s still holding tight.
Plenty of Brooklyn brownstones, row houses and prewar apartment buildings, and many older buildings in Manhattan and Queens, still have their original plaster ceilings.
Plaster grips the wood lath behind it, and a leak can loosen that grip even after the paint looks dry. That’s why we press along the stain and take readings before anything comes down.
Once it reads dry, our own crew rebuilds the ceiling, from new board or a plaster patch to paint.
What To Expect
A sagging ceiling can give way, so keep people from under it until we arrive. We trace the leak to its source, dry the ceiling cavity, address any mold, and repair and repaint so the stain does not bleed back through. Painting over it without fixing the source never lasts.
Before We Get There
Clear the room under the stain, catch the water, and leave the ceiling alone until we can look at it.
Speed matters because of mold. The EPA says to dry water-damaged areas within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth (source: EPA: A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home), and a closed ceiling is a dark, still space where it can start unseen.
Call us and we’ll start tracing the leak. All Star Restoration repairs ceiling water damage across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and Nassau County, day or night, at 646-543-2242.
How It Works
You always know what happens next, and you deal with one company the whole way.
A real person picks up 24/7 and gets the nearest crew moving to your address.
We map the full damage with moisture meters and thermal imaging, including what is hidden.
We stop the spread and dry the structure properly. Equipment goes in the same day.
We document everything for your insurer, then rebuild and restore your property to its pre-loss condition, and walk it with you before we call it done.
Related Water Damage Services
Truck-mounted extraction that pulls standing water out fast.
See Water ExtractionEmergency removal of standing water from any level.
See Water RemovalAir movers and dehumidifiers that dry to the cavity.
See Structural DryingThermal imaging and meters that find hidden water.
See Moisture DetectionA clear scope of the damage before any work begins.
See Water Damage InspectionFast cleanup and drying after a pipe lets go.
See Burst Pipe CleanupQuestions
A soft or bulging ceiling can give way, so keep people out from under it and call us. We will find the source and make it safe.
Paint bleeds back through and traps moisture, feeding mold. We fix the source and dry the cavity first, then repair.
It depends on where the water came from and your building’s rules. A pipe inside the walls is often the building’s, while a fixture in the unit above can fall on that owner. Our guide on co-op and condo leaks explains who usually pays, and we document everything for both sides.
It can. The stain means the ceiling got wet, and a damp cavity is where mold starts. We check above the stain with a meter and thermal camera, and if we find growth, we fix the moisture and remove the mold. You can see how we handle mold after a leak.
Once the leak is stopped, a drywall ceiling typically dries in a few days with the right equipment. Plaster usually takes longer because it holds more water. We take readings on every visit and only close up and paint when the ceiling reads dry.
Cost depends mostly on how far the water spread and whether the ceiling is drywall or plaster. It goes up if part of the ceiling has to come down or if mold turns up once it is opened. Repainting the whole ceiling so the repair matches also adds to the job.
Water, fire, mold, or sewage, one call starts the recovery. We show up fast and we do not leave until it is done right.
Call 646-543-2242 Request ServiceRequest Service
We'll call you right back, and give you a free estimate. For an active emergency, the fastest way to reach us is by phone, day or night.