So, here's the situation: I accidentally left the faucet running in my upstairs bathroom overnight, and it caused a bit of chaos. Water pooled in the bathroom and ended up running down the air duct right below the sink, making its way to the front entrance and then into the basement.
While I'm not too worried about the basement, I'm faced with some pretty large wet spots on my first-floor plaster and drywall ceiling. I've dealt with a bit of a leak before in another bathroom where I had to cut out drywall and replaster the ceiling, which was a huge hassle. Thankfully, that was a long-term problem, so I was anxious about mold.
This current issue is just from this one incident, so I'm hoping it won't turn into a recurring nightmare. It seems like the wet patches are large, but I'm hoping that once they dry out, I might not have to cut out big pieces of the ceiling. My main question is: Am I in serious trouble with potential mold here, or can I simply paint over the stains if they persist?
3 Answers
The key is getting everything dry ASAP. Set up some fans and direct them at the wet spots. Consider drilling tiny holes in those areas to let any remaining water out. Once they're dry, you should only need to repaint as long as the drywall isn't damaged. The drying part is super crucial, don't overlook that!
You should be okay! Just make sure to use a good primer or sealer before you paint over those stains. In fact, I would recommend painting the whole ceiling with it as a precaution. It'll help seal everything up nicely.
Since it was clean water, if you dry everything out really well, you might not have to do too much! Just make sure it dries completely and then paint to match. I've seen worse situations turn out just fine over the years!