I had a plumber in a few weeks ago working on some of our toilets. He
re-installed the toilet in the master bathroom and all was well. The
next day I noticed the ceiling in the laundry room (directly below the
master bathroom) had a stain on it that indicated a leak from above
it. I called the plumber back out and he said the flange was cracked
and would need to be replaced. That's all taken care of now, but the
stain on the ceiling is what I'm here to ask about. Some time after I
initially noticed the stain on the ceiling, I looked at it again and
there were little brown drops all over it, kinda looked like pancake
syrup. None of them dripped to the floor. I left it there so I could
show the plumber upon his return. I looked at the ceiling again a
couple hours later, and the drips were gone. They seem to have gone
back into the ceiling (well, they weren't on the floor).

Now what? Repaint the ceiling and forget about it?

Thanks a lot....

Mike

On Oct 30, 11:37*am, Mike wrote:
I had a plumber in a few weeks ago working on some of our toilets. *He
re-installed the toilet in the master bathroom and all was well. *The
next day I noticed the ceiling in the laundry room (directly below the
master bathroom) had a stain on it that indicated a leak from above
it. *I called the plumber back out and he said the flange was cracked
and would need to be replaced. *That's all taken care of now, but the
stain on the ceiling is what I'm here to ask about. *Some time after I
initially noticed the stain on the ceiling, I looked at it again and
there were little brown drops all over it, kinda looked like pancake
syrup. *None of them dripped to the floor. *I left it there so I could
show the plumber upon his return. *I looked at the ceiling again a
couple hours later, and the drips were gone. *They seem to have gone
back into the ceiling (well, they weren't on the floor).

Now what? *Repaint the ceiling and forget about it?

Thanks a lot....

Mike

sandpaper to remove everything loose, seal with oil based kilz or bin,
then repaint with whatever you usually use

On Oct 30, 11:37*am, Mike wrote:
I had a plumber in a few weeks ago working on some of our toilets. *He
re-installed the toilet in the master bathroom and all was well. *The
next day I noticed the ceiling in the laundry room (directly below the
master bathroom) had a stain on it that indicated a leak from above
it. *I called the plumber back out and he said the flange was cracked
and would need to be replaced. *That's all taken care of now, but the
stain on the ceiling is what I'm here to ask about. *Some time after I
initially noticed the stain on the ceiling, I looked at it again and
there were little brown drops all over it, kinda looked like pancake
syrup. *None of them dripped to the floor. *I left it there so I could
show the plumber upon his return. *I looked at the ceiling again a
couple hours later, and the drips were gone. *They seem to have gone
back into the ceiling (well, they weren't on the floor).

Now what? *Repaint the ceiling and forget about it?

Thanks a lot....

Mike

The browns drips might have been nothing more than dirt that the water
picked up as it travelled over the joists on it's way down. When ice
dams caused leaks into my house a number of years back, the water was
pretty dirty by the time it dripped out of the casing above the
windows and doors.

Consider yourself lucky that you caught your minor leak in time.

A young couple bought a house down the street from me. They were doing
a lot of remodeling so they were living at Mom's house during the week
and working on the house all weekend. They had a plumber do some work
in the upstairs bathroom on Wednesday. When they came back Friday
night there was water flowing out of the back door. They ended up
having to gut the kitchen and dining room, including the hardwood
floors, but they had to wait while the insurance companies fought it
out before they could hire contractors to do the work.

Mike wrote:
I had a plumber in a few weeks ago working on some of our toilets. He
re-installed the toilet in the master bathroom and all was well. The
next day I noticed the ceiling in the laundry room (directly below the
master bathroom) had a stain on it that indicated a leak from above
it. I called the plumber back out and he said the flange was cracked
and would need to be replaced. That's all taken care of now, but the
stain on the ceiling is what I'm here to ask about. Some time after I
initially noticed the stain on the ceiling, I looked at it again and
there were little brown drops all over it, kinda looked like pancake
syrup. None of them dripped to the floor. I left it there so I could
show the plumber upon his return. I looked at the ceiling again a
couple hours later, and the drips were gone. They seem to have gone
back into the ceiling (well, they weren't on the floor).

Now what? Repaint the ceiling and forget about it?

Thanks a lot....


Yeah, it's probably a one-hour job for you and not worth creating an uproar.

Glad you caught the symptom early.