Who to hire for water damage to a ceiling

Short answer

Find and fix the source first — roofer, plumber or air conditioning technician depending on the cause — and only then a plasterer or builder for the ceiling. A sagging, water-filled ceiling is also an immediate safety issue: a saturated sheet of plasterboard is heavy enough to seriously hurt someone when it lets go.

Treat as urgentThis is one to act on now rather than book for next week.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Builder.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Keep everyone out from under a bulging ceiling and move furniture clear.
  2. If it is holding water, pierce it deliberately at the lowest point with a container underneath so it drains in one controlled place.
  3. Turn off the power to that area if any light fitting or downlight is in the wet zone.
  4. Photograph before and after each stage for the insurance claim.
  5. Get insulation above the affected area checked. Wet batts stay wet, hold the moisture against the ceiling and grow mould.

What to ask when you book

  • Has the source actually been confirmed, or are we assuming?
  • Is the ceiling being patched or the sheet replaced? A patched sheet that got saturated often sags again.
  • Will you check the insulation and the ceiling joists above?
  • Is a mould treatment needed before it is closed up?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Size of the affected area and whether whole sheets are replaced.
  • Whether the ceiling is a plain flat one or has cornice, decorative plaster or a textured finish to match.
  • Drying time — the repair cannot start until it is dry.
  • Painting, which almost always means the whole ceiling rather than the patch.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Repairing a ceiling is building work and may sit above a licensing threshold depending on the value and the state. The repair of the cause is licensed under whichever trade it belongs to.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for water damage to a ceiling
Find and fix the source first — roofer, plumber or air conditioning technician depending on the cause — and only then a plasterer or builder for the ceiling. A sagging, water-filled ceiling is also an immediate safety issue: a saturated sheet of plasterboard is heavy enough to seriously hurt someone when it lets go.
How long does a water-damaged ceiling take to dry?
Longer than it looks — the surface dries first and the cavity, the insulation and the timber above it hold moisture for much longer. That is why restoration contractors use meters rather than judgement, and why closing a ceiling up early is how mould gets built in.
Will painting over the stain fix it?
Not with ordinary paint. Water stains are soluble and bleed straight back through. A stain-blocking sealer first, then paint — and if the stain returns after that, the leak is still active.

Find a Builder near you

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.