Ceiling stains can’t be a good thing!

By Kim Cox:

Recently we’re received a couple of calls from Maryland homeowners who had stains on their ceiling.

Their initial thought was maybe their roof was leaking, and asked if we could come out and do a roof inspection to find the leak.

Here are a couple of pictures people sent us…

So since we are residential roofers (and pretty darn good ones, if I don’t say so myself), we went out to their homes to figure out exactly what was going on to cause the staining.

First, we thoroughly examined the shingles and flashing on the outside to make sure there was no damage or missing shingles. Then, we headed inside, and up to the attic.

After checking out the underside of the roof (called sheathing in our business) for leaks or stains indicating a leak, we saw nothing to indicate where the ceiling stains were coming from.

It was a mystery!

But we like mysteries, and kept looking for the source, so we started looking closely at the insulation above the ceilings that were stained.

We found the stain culprit pretty quickly. But it wasn’t what the homeowner expected.

It wasn’t a leak at all. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even water.

An animal, probably squirrels were using the attic as their home, and the ceiling stains were actually urine that had soaked through the insulation and created stains on the ceiling.

We could see the nesting materials, where the animals had burrowed into the insulation, and the insulation itself reeked of urine.

Certainly gross… but true, nonetheless.

Mystery solved! The homeowners called a pest removal service to rid their home of these unwanted guests, and find where they were coming in, and block it.

I guess the moral of this story is not every stain is water, and not every cause is obvious. Mice, squirrels (especially squirrels), raccoons, and other pests find access to your attic and move in to get out of the cold.

And if you have ceiling stains, or you think you have a roof leak, call us to schedule your free, no-obligation roof analysis and we’ll figure out what’s really going on.

Whether your home is in Frederick, or Silver Spring, over to Columbia, Maryland, or any community in between, we can help!

To get your free, no-obligation roof leak analysis, or
to simply ask a question, call Kim at 301-368-3551

On Top Home Improvements, Inc.
10818 Avonlea Ridge Place
Damascus, MD 20872
Tel: 301-368-3551
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