Sometimes damage to a home can happen suddenly. When things like a tornado or a flood takes place, it can cause sudden destruction that must be taken care of quickly and there is no question as to what caused the damage. But other types of damages can occur slowly over time and might escape a homeowners notice until the problems become obvious. One such kind of damage are water stains on ceilings inside the home. You might have one room affected, but it could be affecting several rooms at once.

When a homeowner first notices that water spots have appeared on a ceiling, usually there first thought is to wonder what caused it. That is usually easy enough to answer. It almost always is coming from your attic. The only way it can be anything besides a roof problem is if you have water pipes of some kind in the attic. Water pipes are normally not in the attic, but it is not out of the question that they could be there. When you are investigating ceiling leaks, this is the first possibility you should eliminate.

If you find that you do not have any type of plumbing in the attic, the most obvious answer is that water is coming from the roof and this is normally the reason. How to find exactly where the water is coming in can be a a little tricky, but there are fairly simple ways to track down the leak. Sometimes you can see traces of where the water has leaked in and see an obvious trail of stains. A roof leak can be in one place, but the water can run and travel along attic rafters and drip in another place entirely.

Sometimes the ceiling water stain will be directly under the leak if the water if falling straight down. These are the easiest to locate. If you are unable to see where the water is coming in, one of the best ways to find it is to wait until the next good rainfall and go into the attic. It should be well lit so that the leak can be seen easily. Once you find it, you can tell if it is leaking straight down or traveling to another area. Once you find where it has traveled to, you will usually find that it is directly over the water spot in your ceiling. Now you can proceed with having your roof repaired.

Jenna Anderson is a writer and you can visit her sites at water damage orlando and water damage miami.

Tags: home, attic, flood, water pipes, tornado, water stains, water spots, roof leak, rafters, ceiling leaks