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Ceiling leaks

Water coming through the ceiling?

Water running out of a light fitting. A brown stain suddenly wet to the touch. A ceiling sagging under whatever is sitting above it. Deal with the next five minutes first: water off at the stopcock, power off if it is anywhere near electrics, and everyone out from under the wet patch. Then Ninja Plumbers finds where the water is really coming from and stops it there — or tells you plainly when it is a roofer you need, not a plumber.

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  • DBS-checked engineers
  • Emergency callout available 24/7
  • Price agreed before work starts
  • Workmanship guaranteed

Monday – Sunday, 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM · Out-of-hours emergency? Call 020 3576 5825

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What we cover

What this includes

  • Water dripping or pouring through a ceiling
  • Supply shut off and the leak isolated first
  • Leaking showers, baths, toilets and wastes on the floor above
  • Failed joints and valves in the ceiling void
  • Overflowing cisterns, loft tanks and cylinders
  • Leaks from a neighbour’s flat, traced with their agreement
  • A written note of what failed, for insurers and agents
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Before you call

Worth knowing first

A little of this might mean you do not need to call us at all — we would still rather you knew it.

The next five minutes

Shut the water off at the stopcock. If the water is near a light, a ceiling rose or a socket, switch off the main switch on the consumer unit without touching anything wet — and if the consumer unit itself is getting wet, leave it and ring us. Put a bucket and towels under the drip and move what you can out of the room. If the water is coming from a flat above, your stopcock will not stop it: go and knock on their door.

If the ceiling is bulging

A ceiling holding water can give way without warning, and Victorian lath and plaster comes down in heavy pieces. Keep everyone out from underneath. A small hole at the lowest point of the bulge lets the water drain into a bucket rather than bringing the ceiling down — but only with the power off, from the side with a long-handled tool, never from a chair or ladder beneath it. If the bulge is near a light or already cracking, shut the door and call; out of hours, that is our emergency plumbing line.

Finding where it is coming from

Water shows up at the lowest point it can find — a light fitting, a plasterboard joint — often a metre or more from where it got in. Under a bathroom, the usual causes are the seal round a shower tray or bath, a waste, or the connector behind the toilet. Elsewhere it is often a joint or radiator valve under the floorboards, or an overflowing cistern, tank or cylinder. A stain with no water coming through is a hidden leak, which our leak detection page deals with; a burst pipe is covered on pipe repair.

Notice when it drips

Timing is the best clue you can give us. Only when somebody showers upstairs points at the tray, seal or waste. Only after the toilet above is flushed points at its pan connector or cistern. Day and night suggests a pipe that is always under pressure. Only in heavy rain means water is getting in from outside — a slipped slate, failed flashing, a flat roof — and that is a roofer’s job. Gutters and downpipes are the exception: see our gutter repair page.

When the leak is in the flat upstairs

In a London house split into flats, your ceiling is somebody else’s floor. If the leak is in their bathroom or pipework, it has to be fixed from their side, and nobody can go in without them or whoever holds a key — if they are away, ring the managing agent or freeholder. Photograph everything and tell your insurer early. Buildings insurance in a leasehold block is usually the freeholder’s; your contents are on your own policy.

The repair, and the ceiling afterwards

Most ceiling leaks come from something small — a perished seal, a loose waste nut, a slipped pan connector — and where we can, we reach it from above, through a floorboard or a bath panel, rather than cutting into a ceiling that might still be saved. Ceilings themselves are not our trade. A wet one has to dry out fully before it is repaired or painted, and we will tell you what you need next: a plasterer, a drying specialist or a roofer.

Pricing

What affects the price

When water comes through a ceiling, the cost depends first on where it is coming from and how quickly it can be stopped. Tracing and repairing the source is plumbing; repairing the ceiling itself is usually separate work.

Whose pipework it is

A leak from your own bathroom or heating pipes is fixed in your home. If it is coming from the flat above, a shared stack or the roof, the cost may fall to a neighbour, the freeholder or a roofer rather than to you.

Getting into the room above

The source is on the floor above, though not always directly over the stain, so the engineer needs access to that room. If it is a neighbour’s flat and nobody is home, time goes on getting keys or permission from the managing agent first.

A bulging ceiling

Plasterboard holding a pocket of water can give way without warning. Draining it in a controlled way through a small hole, and cutting an inspection opening to see the pipe above, is often needed before the repair itself and adds to the job.

Tonight, or tomorrow

If the water is still coming and cannot be stopped at the stopcock, it is an emergency. Once it is isolated and the ceiling is safe, tracing and repairing it can often wait for a normal daytime booking, which costs less.

The price is agreed before any work starts. We take card and cash.

Questions

Common questions

Is water through the ceiling an emergency?

If it is dripping now, spreading, or the ceiling is sagging, treat it as one and ring us — emergency callout runs 24/7. A dry stain that has stopped growing can usually be booked in as a normal job.

Can I turn the lights back on?

Not in that room until the fitting and the ceiling round it have dried out and been checked by an electrician, which we can do once the leak is fixed. Water inside a light fitting is not something to test with the switch.

The leak is from upstairs and nobody is answering. What now?

Try the managing agent or freeholder, who may have an out-of-hours number or a key. In some converted houses one stopcock feeds every flat, so turning it off cuts everyone’s water — do it only if the damage demands it, and tell the neighbours.

Who pays if the leak came from the flat above?

Usually whoever owns the fitting that failed pays to fix it, and the damage goes through insurance. Leases differ, so check yours or ask the managing agent. We can put in writing what failed and where.

How long does a wet ceiling take to dry?

It depends how much water went in and what the ceiling is made of. Plasterboard after a short soaking can dry in days; lath and plaster that held water for hours takes much longer. A moisture reading says when it is ready, not the look of it.

Will you repair the ceiling afterwards?

No. We stop the water and fix what caused it, then tell you honestly what the ceiling needs and who to call — usually a plasterer, once it has properly dried.

Other services

More plumbing work we take on

See every service we offer

Need leaking ceiling in London?

Describe the problem and give us your area, and we’ll tell you the price before anyone starts work.

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