How long does a ceiling water leak take to dry?

Submitted by emobe_ t3_10lzjym in DIY

Long story short, I left water running in the bath and forgot about it.

Thankfully the RCD tripped for the upstairs floor which was funnily enough how I noticed.

How long should I wait until I turn back on the electricity for upstairs?

Bear in mind I do realise there's possibly structural water damage which I will get sorted. Probably electrical too though.

Just needing to know how long would be okay to wait as I kind of need it on upstairs for work.

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YolksOnU t1_j60fl08 wrote

Depends on a bunch of factors. Relative humidity. Temperature. Airflow. Volume of space.

If you don't want to work through insurance (which is why I assume you are in DIY) you have a few options but you have to move fast. Personally since it's grey water not black water, I would forgo a restoration company like ServPro and head down to your local equipment rental place and get one of their dehumidifiers and a big ass fan. Run those for 48 hours. If it were me I would also sample drywall with a moisture meter both before and after.

That's what ServPro/Octagon/restoration firm is going to do anyway. They might also tell you that they need to knock out the bottom foot of your drywall, which really isn't the case if it wasn't black water and you act now but that's what they'll tell you.

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ImmortanSteve t1_j618acc wrote

Servpro won’t flood cut the wall unless it’s necessary. The most common reason for this is that there is wet insulation or some other moisture barrier in the wall that won’t dry fast enough to prevent mold growth. If it’s not necessary they will dry it in place.

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bassboat1 t1_j608uz2 wrote

If you can get moving air to both sides, pretty fast - maybe a day or two.

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Kesshh t1_j5zz9bo wrote

There’s no set time. It depends on what got flooded and what the damage is. You should talk to your insurance company ASAP and have them bring in a remediation team.

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emobe_ OP t1_j607i6g wrote

Thought it would be something like this but was worth a shot to ask! Thankss

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Tim_the_geek t1_j604tjg wrote

Properly drying will go a long way to limit mold (which you will have). To do this requires proper fans and ventilation. Call an expert.

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Material_Swimmer2584 t1_j60w1df wrote

In winter it dries much faster because the heat system dries the air out. But if there isn’t circulation, water can get trapped and mold city.

I have opened up my ceiling to air it out because of a leak. After it happened twice I replaced it with an air vent to avoid the problem in future. If I did it again I would cut the hole to match the size of the air vent.

Hopefully helpful. GL

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