Water-Damaged Ceiling? What to Do After a Leak (Kansas Homeowners' Guide)

1. Stop the water and stay safe

Find and stop the source (roof, plumbing, water heater, AC drain or an upstairs appliance). Then:

• Don't stand under a ceiling that is bulging or sagging. Wet drywall is heavy and can come down without warning.
• If water is near light fixtures or outlets, turn off that circuit at the breaker.
• Move furniture and put down a tarp or bucket. A small hole poked in the lowest point of a bulge lets trapped water drain in a controlled way.

2. Take photos for insurance

Before anything is cleaned up or torn out, take photos and video of the ceiling, the stains, the source of the leak and any damaged belongings. If you're filing a claim, call your insurance company early and ask what they need. We work with homeowners, landlords and insurance claims, and we can take photos of the repair as it goes.

3. Dry it out completely

Drywall, insulation and framing need to be fully dry before they're closed up again, or stains come back and mold can grow. Fans and a dehumidifier help. For a large leak, or if you see or smell mold, a water mitigation company should dry and treat the area before the drywall is replaced.

4. Repair or replace?

Once it's dry, the drywall tells you what it needs:

• Stained but solid and flat: seal the stain with a stain-blocking primer, then paint. Regular paint alone lets the stain bleed through.
• Soft, sagging, crumbling or seams that came loose: cut out the damaged section and replace it.
• Wet insulation above the ceiling: it usually needs to be replaced too.

5. How we fix it

We protect the floor and furniture, cut out the damaged drywall back to solid material, install new drywall, then tape, mud and sand. We match the texture of the rest of the ceiling, prime with a stain blocker and paint if you want it finished. The goal is that you can't tell where the leak was.

Common questions

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