We hope that not everything is as bad as in the above photo, but in any case, the consequences of a leak need to be eliminated. If you live in a private house, then first of all, of course, you should take care of the roof, because while the roof is leaking, it is useless to make repairs. In the case of an apartment, first of all, you need to find out the relationship with the neighbors or the management company, if you have the last floor. Only after eliminating the causes of flooding, you can start repairs.
Letโs immediately decide what kind of finish you have on the ceiling, which suffers from leaks from above in the first place. If you have a film stretch ceiling, then usually it saves the rest of the repair, โtaking the blowโ on itself. Of course, the ceiling will stretch under the weight of water, but you can even lower it yourself and the coating will regain its former appearance. In this case, the walls and floor most often do not have time to suffer, all the water is collected in a stretched film.
We strongly advise not to engage in amateur performances, do not lose the ceiling warranty and call specialists who will carefully drain the water and return the coating to its original appearance.
If you have plaster on the ceiling, on top of which wallpaper is pasted or there is a layer of paint, then you will have to carry out larger-scale work. At the first stage, you should get rid of the coating that has suffered irretrievably and cannot be restored: with a spatula, tear off the wet putty together with a layer of paint and wallpaper. The ceiling should be cleaned literally to the ground, usually the wet layer is easily removed, it is ready to fall by itself.
Now you have to wait until the wet surfaces, floors dry completely. In summer, it is easier โ you can arrange a draft, and the temperature in the room is high, the humidity is low. In rains and cold seasons, you can speed up the process with a building hair dryer, heat gun or conventional fan heater.
Important! Any leakage in places where electrical wiring runs, lamps are installed, is fraught with a short circuit. Therefore, you must first de-energize the room.!
Most likely, you will not have to clean the entire ceiling, but only the affected areas. The joints between the cleaned surface and the untouched coating must be smoothed out with sandpaper. The problem with preserving the surface untouched by flooding is that the remnants of wallpaper or the desired color of paint are not always preserved in the house. In this case, you will have to remove the entire top coating so that the ceiling is decorated in the same way. However, there is no need to clean off the plaster in the unaffected places, it is enough to peel off the paint and wallpaper.
Important! Surfaces that have suffered and are freed from the final coating should be primed after drying. This will strengthen the load-bearing coating that has already been damaged by water and improve the adhesion of the new primer to the cleaned surface..
The layer of plaster and putty in the cleaned area should correspond in thickness to the remaining finish. After the putty is dry, you can start wallpapering or painting..
Special case if plasterboard is installed on the ceiling. Most often, ordinary drywall is used for finishing the ceiling, for which moisture is destructive. As a result of a leak, the coating can be seriously damaged and the drywall will have to be removed. The damaged area can be carefully cut with a sharp knife specially designed for working with drywall.
If you have insulation under the outer layer, you will have to pull it out, removing all parts damaged by water. Do not rush to close up the cut hole โ let everything inside dry out thoroughly.
Important! You can check whether the drywall has retained its properties after a leak by sound โ by tapping the flooded area and adjacent to it. A ringing sound indicates that the gypsum coating has not suffered inside.
After replacing the insulation and the damaged area of โโdrywall, you can proceed to the usual finishing work โ sealing joints using reinforcing tape, putty, painting or wallpapering..
Can you provide any tips or recommendations for repairing the ceiling after a leak and restoring the finish?
What are the necessary steps to repair the ceiling after a leak and restore the finish?