Water coming through the ceiling?
Water running out of a light fitting. A brown stain suddenly wet to the touch. A ceiling sagging under whatever is sitting above it. Deal with the next five minutes first: water off at the stopcock, power off if it is anywhere near electrics, and everyone out from under the wet patch. Then Ninja Plumbers finds where the water is really coming from and stops it there — or tells you plainly when it is a roofer you need, not a plumber.
- Fully insured and Gas Safe registered
- Engineers DBS-checked
- 24/7 emergency callouts
- Price agreed before we start
- Workmanship guaranteed
Monday – Sunday, 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM · Out-of-hours emergency? Call 020 3576 5825
Get a price for leaking ceiling
Name, phone and postcode are all we need to start. Everything else can wait.
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Expect a call back on the number you entered. For anything urgent, there is no need to wait: ring 020 3576 5825.
Included in the job
- Water dripping or pouring through a ceiling
- Supply shut off and the leak isolated first
- Leaking showers, baths, toilets and wastes on the floor above
- Failed joints and valves in the ceiling void
- Overflowing cisterns, loft tanks and cylinders
- Leaks from a neighbour’s flat, traced with their agreement
- A written note of what failed, for insurers and agents
Read this before you ring
You may find you can sort some of this yourself, without calling us. We are fine with that, and would rather you knew it.
The next five minutes
Shut the water off at the stopcock. If the water is near a light, a ceiling rose or a socket, switch off the main switch on the consumer unit without touching anything wet — and if the consumer unit itself is getting wet, leave it and ring us. Put a bucket and towels under the drip and move what you can out of the room. If the water is coming from a flat above, your stopcock will not stop it: go and knock on their door.
If the ceiling is bulging
A ceiling holding water can give way without warning, and Victorian lath and plaster comes down in heavy pieces. Keep everyone out from underneath. A small hole at the lowest point of the bulge lets the water drain into a bucket rather than bringing the ceiling down — but only with the power off, from the side with a long-handled tool, never from a chair or ladder beneath it. If the bulge is near a light or already cracking, shut the door and call; out of hours, that is our emergency plumbing line.
Finding where it is coming from
Water shows up at the lowest point it can find — a light fitting, a plasterboard joint — often a metre or more from where it got in. Under a bathroom, the usual causes are the seal round a shower tray or bath, a waste, or the connector behind the toilet. Elsewhere it is often a joint or radiator valve under the floorboards, or an overflowing cistern, tank or cylinder. A stain with no water coming through is a hidden leak, which our leak detection page deals with; a burst pipe is covered on pipe repair.
Notice when it drips
Timing is the best clue you can give us. Only when somebody showers upstairs points at the tray, seal or waste. Only after the toilet above is flushed points at its pan connector or cistern. Day and night suggests a pipe that is always under pressure. Only in heavy rain means water is getting in from outside — a slipped slate, failed flashing, a flat roof — and that is a roofer’s job. Gutters and downpipes are the exception: see our gutter repair page.
When the leak is in the flat upstairs
In a London house split into flats, your ceiling is somebody else’s floor. If the leak is in their bathroom or pipework, it has to be fixed from their side, and nobody can go in without them or whoever holds a key — if they are away, ring the managing agent or freeholder. Photograph everything and tell your insurer early. Buildings insurance in a leasehold block is usually the freeholder’s; your contents are on your own policy.
The repair, and the ceiling afterwards
Most ceiling leaks come from something small — a perished seal, a loose waste nut, a slipped pan connector — and where we can, we reach it from above, through a floorboard or a bath panel, rather than cutting into a ceiling that might still be saved. Ceilings themselves are not our trade. A wet one has to dry out fully before it is repaired or painted, and we will tell you what you need next: a plasterer, a drying specialist or a roofer.
What changes the price
When water comes through a ceiling, the cost depends first on where it is coming from and how quickly it can be stopped. Tracing and repairing the source is plumbing; repairing the ceiling itself is usually separate work.
Whose pipework it is
A leak from your own bathroom or heating pipes is fixed in your home. If it is coming from the flat above, a shared stack or the roof, the cost may fall to a neighbour, the freeholder or a roofer rather than to you.
Getting into the room above
The source is on the floor above, though not always directly over the stain, so the engineer needs access to that room. If it is a neighbour’s flat and nobody is home, time goes on getting keys or permission from the managing agent first.
A bulging ceiling
Plasterboard holding a pocket of water can give way without warning. Draining it in a controlled way through a small hole, and cutting an inspection opening to see the pipe above, is often needed before the repair itself and adds to the job.
Tonight, or tomorrow
If the water is still coming and cannot be stopped at the stopcock, it is an emergency. Once it is isolated and the ceiling is safe, tracing and repairing it can often wait for a normal daytime booking, which costs less.
We agree the price with you before any work begins, and accept both card and cash.
Questions we often get
Is water through the ceiling an emergency?
If it is dripping now, spreading, or the ceiling is sagging, treat it as one and ring us — emergency callout runs 24/7. A dry stain that has stopped growing can usually be booked in as a normal job.
Can I turn the lights back on?
Not in that room until the fitting and the ceiling round it have dried out and been checked by an electrician, which we can do once the leak is fixed. Water inside a light fitting is not something to test with the switch.
The leak is from upstairs and nobody is answering. What now?
Try the managing agent or freeholder, who may have an out-of-hours number or a key. In some converted houses one stopcock feeds every flat, so turning it off cuts everyone’s water — do it only if the damage demands it, and tell the neighbours.
Who pays if the leak came from the flat above?
Usually whoever owns the fitting that failed pays to fix it, and the damage goes through insurance. Leases differ, so check yours or ask the managing agent. We can put in writing what failed and where.
How long does a wet ceiling take to dry?
It depends how much water went in and what the ceiling is made of. Plasterboard after a short soaking can dry in days; lath and plaster that held water for hours takes much longer. A moisture reading says when it is ready, not the look of it.
Will you repair the ceiling afterwards?
No. We stop the water and fix what caused it, then tell you honestly what the ceiling needs and who to call — usually a plasterer, once it has properly dried.
Other plumbing jobs we do
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Emergency Plumbing
For burst pipes, serious leaks or a house with no water. The phone is answered at any hour and an engineer is sent out.
Read about Emergency Plumbing -
General Plumbing
Radiators, pipework, taps and toilets: the small jobs that keep getting put off.
Read about General Plumbing -
Leak Repair
Leaks you can see — dripping joints, weeping valves, perished hoses, overflows running outside — isolated, repaired and checked properly afterwards.
Read about Leak Repair -
Leak Detection
Acoustic and thermal equipment to trace hidden leaks before any floor is lifted.
Read about Leak Detection -
Toilet Repair
Toilets that will not flush, keep running, fill slowly or leak onto the floor. Usually one worn part, replaced without needing a new toilet.
Read about Toilet Repair -
Tap Repair and Replacement
Dripping, stiff and leaking taps repaired, and tired ones swapped for new.
Read about Tap Repair and Replacement -
Pipe Repair
Burst, split, frozen and corroded pipework repaired — or replaced where patching it would be pointless.
Read about Pipe Repair -
Low Water Pressure
Weak taps and showers diagnosed by testing, not by swapping parts and hoping.
Read about Low Water Pressure -
Lead Pipe Replacement
Old lead supply pipes replaced with new, from the boundary into the house.
Read about Lead Pipe Replacement -
Commercial Plumbing
Plumbing for offices, restaurants, shops and blocks of flats, timed to fit the hours you open.
Read about Commercial Plumbing -
Gas Safety Certificates
Your landlord gas safety certificate, checked and issued by a Gas Safe registered engineer and emailed over the same day.
Read about Gas Safety Certificates -
TMV Servicing & Testing
Thermostatic mixing valves tested, cleaned and reset, with a record for every valve, for schools, nurseries, care and business premises.
Read about TMV Servicing & Testing
Businesses use us for leaking ceiling too, among them shops and retail, landlords and letting agents, blocks of flats and managing agents and pharmacies.
Looking for leaking ceiling in London?
Tell us what is wrong and where you are, and you will have the price before any work begins.