You have just got your house painted for New Year and now you’ve found a huge ugly stain on the ceiling of your bathroom. You may think brushing the area with some more paint will solve the problem. But if you don’t want the problem to recur, try finding the real reason behind it. One of the most common causes of ceiling stain is roof leakage.
In case of ceiling stains in the bathroom, it has usually something to do with one of the pipes inside the bathroom walls. There is one that continues upwards through the house to the roof. It is basically a plumbing vent for sewer gases. At the point where this pipe perforates the roofing, a rubber boot is fitted tightly to create a water seal against precipitation of any kind.
However, gradually the rubber degenerates and leaves a gaping crack on the roof that allows rainwater and snow to dribble down the pipe leading up to the ceiling. A wet stain is the kind to look out for in this case. The same vent can cause similar stains in other rooms through leakage at the individual particular pipe fittings. A ceiling stain will form in your bedroom if the fitting is located above it.
If you don’t have the time and don’t want the headache, simply seal the rubber boot with a caulking gun. But this is hardly a permanent solution. To make the problem go away completely, wait till you need a new roofing to replace the damaged rubber boot with a new one.
