Spot on ceiling but no visible leaks in attic

E

El_Guapo

500+ Posts
I recently noticed a small area of discoloration on the ceiling in my dining room. It's maybe 6-9 inches across, the pattern would sorta suggest a water leak although it doesn't really have the darker edges that water leaks typically make. And it seems more of a discoloration than a leak - basically a pale yellowish splotch on an acoustic white popcorn ceiling, which was repainted not quite two years ago.

Yesterday, during one of our never ending thunderstorms, I went up in the attic to look for the leak. The location of the splotch is directlly on the other side of a wall from my oven vent, so I figured the vent was probably leaking. However, during said downpour, I saw no sign of either a leak in progress nor any signs of past leakage. Granted, due to the slope of the roof I was unable to physically get position directly next to the vent and a small area was blocked from my vision, but again, I saw no sign of a current or prior leak in the attic in the area near the ceiling leak.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions before I call in a repairman?
 
get a hose on the roof. Let water run for a while. Feel for wet insulation/look for water/listen for dripping. The source of the leak is often far away from where you see it since any leakage will run downslope for some distance before dripping.

The vent does indeed sound like a likely culprit. Sometimes, though, the water must be blown by wind, which might or might not have been strong wnough/from the right direction, etc yesterday. Can't hurt to get some roofing caulk and try to seal the roof jack/vent pipe joint and even squirt some of the stuff under the roof jack.

Good luck. Can be a real P.I.T.A. to find this stuff sometimes.
 
Silly me - thinking that the maintenance on MY home was somehow MY responsibility.

Thanks for the tip, Mr. Lawyer.
 
Just trying to highlight the fact that accidents happen in the homes of even the most brilliant, handsome and responsible people. How do you spell Mr. Wonderful?
 
dimes to dollars there is a problem with the flashing or the seal between the shingles and the oven vent. With the high winds we ahve had recently the flashing may be being clown open enough to allow some water entry.

Had the exact same problem with my chimney, and went to ome depot and bought a tuble of that black tar stuff put it in the gun and sealed up every crevice I could find up top. I also ran an bead edge under the shingles as well.
 
Old Man Frosh is spot on with the assessment of the stain not necessarily being above or close to the actual leak. I second or third the suggestion to caulk the hell out of the area around the vent, though.
 
I just did the exact same thing Horn4Life did because of a leak in my kid's room. Then I found a product by KILZ. It is spray paint for ceilings. it sprays almost straight up and it is the same off-white color as most ceilings. Worked great and I can't even see where the spot was.

And so far, after 3 inches of recent rain, no more leak.
 
Yeah, the thought of critters did cross my mind. I didn't see any evidence of anything up there, though.

I guess I'm gonna have to figure out a way to squeeze my fat *** self down to a foot and a half and crawl over there this weekend to take a closer look.

Or, I could just ignore it and sue my insurance company for $32 million next year when my house rots away.
 
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