Spent Saturday patching a ceiling that caved in from an old leak

I was working on a remodel in Phoenix last week and the homeowner said the water damage was just cosmetic, but three screws later the whole section dropped on my head lol. Turns out the previous guy used regular sheetrock in a bathroom with no vent fan so the moisture rotted through the paper. Anyone dealt with a ceiling fail like that and found a way to spot it before you start cutting?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_drew8d ago

Did you check if the drywall tape was peeling away from the seams anywhere first? That's usually the telltale sign that the paper's been cooked from moisture. I've seen bathrooms where the whole ceiling was basically being held up by paint and good intentions. Man, getting hit in the head with a soggy drywall slab is a rite of passage I guess. At least you got a free hardhat reminder. The real trick is to poke a small hole in the corner with a screwdriver first, if the paper crumbles like wet cardboard you know you're in for a bad time.

sanchez.mary8d ago

Respectfully, that tape trick works for some ceilings but not the droopy kind where the whole panel buckles under its own weight.