Water Damage Problems by Place in the Home
Start from what you see and where you see it. Pick the place in the home or building, whether the ceiling, basement, kitchen, bathroom, walls and floors, attic and roof, pipes and heating, outside or a commercial space, then the symptom that matches.
Water damage is easiest to describe by what it looks like, not by what caused it. A brown ring on the ceiling, a soft kitchen floor or water around the base of a toilet each points to a short list of likely sources, and each problem page walks through that list. You will find the warning signs to check, what to do in the first hour, what a local crew does on site and general cost ranges for that situation. Pages are grouped by place, so open the group that matches the room where you see water and pick the closest symptom.
Keep in mind that water travels. A shower leak can show up in the ceiling below, an ice dam can stain a wall far from the roof, and a slow supply line leak can soak a cabinet floor before anyone notices. If two pages seem to fit, read both. If water is still spreading, a ceiling is sagging or the water came from a drain or floodwater, skip the reading and call (203) 555-0163.
- Water Dripping From the Ceiling
- Brown Water Stain on the Ceiling
- Sagging or Bulging Ceiling
- Water Leaking From a Ceiling Light
- Wet Basement After Heavy Rain
- Water Coming Up Through the Floor Drain
- Water Seeping Through a Basement Wall
- Sump Pump Failed and the Basement Is Flooding
- Water Under the Kitchen Sink
- Water Leaking From the Dishwasher
- Water Pooling Behind the Refrigerator
- Kitchen Floor Buckling or Soft
- Water Around the Base of the Toilet
- Toilet Overflowing
- Shower Leaking Into the Room Below
- Loose or Cracked Bathroom Floor Tiles From Water
- Damp or Wet Spot on a Wall
- Bubbling or Peeling Paint From Water
- Warped or Cupping Hardwood Floor
- Wet Carpet With No Obvious Source
- Ice Dam Leaking Into the House
- Water Dripping in the Attic
- Leak Around a Skylight or Chimney
- Roof Leak After a Storm
- Burst Pipe Spraying Water
- Frozen Pipe With No Water at the Faucet
- Water Heater Leaking
- Radiator or Boiler Leaking
Is It an Emergency?
Call now if
- Call now if water is still running and you cannot find or close the shutoff.
- Call now if a ceiling is sagging, bulging or dripping in more than one spot.
- Call now if water is near outlets, cords, the breaker panel or the furnace.
- Call now if water came up through a floor drain, toilet or tub, or came in as outside floodwater.
- Call now if a fire sprinkler line is leaking, and call 911 if it is discharging; leave the sprinkler system to your fire protection contractor and fire safety plan.
It can usually wait a few hours if
- It can usually wait a few hours if the source is a small drip you have already stopped.
- It can usually wait a few hours if an old, dry stain has not grown since you last looked.
- It can usually wait a few hours if the water is clean, the wet spot is smaller than a bath mat and nothing electrical is nearby.
- It can usually wait a few hours if a musty smell is the only sign and no surface feels wet.
Still call today: hidden moisture keeps spreading while it waits.
Not Sure What You Are Looking At? Call.
Describe what you see. The dispatcher connects you with a local crew that can find the source.