What causes ceiling stains?

You finally get home to relax, kick off the shoes andAnd, are there any smokers in the home? Usually,
lay down flat on the couch. Then you open your eyespeople who smoke have a few preferred places to sit
and see the weird circular patch on the ceiling. Funnyand smoke, if they smoke inside the home at all. They
– you don’t remember even spilling coffee oncan often leave some ceiling stains that generally fade
the ceiling before. And then you remember the law ofaround the stain's edge. These can vary in color from
gravity and know that those stains on the ceiling can'ta light tan to black coffee. These also can be cleaned
be from a spilled drink. Just what are those ceilingwith soap and water.
stains and what caused them?What About Mold?
Where Is The Stain?The big fear whenever a ceiling stain creeps up is that
If the ceiling stain is around a trapdoor or air vent, thenthe stain is caused by mold, which can potentially
it's more than likely that they have been caused byweaken the ceiling structure. The moisture gets in
some kind of moisture. Once the moisture takes hold,usually through either a roof leak or a problem in the
bacteria sets in and spreads out into menacing shapesceiling where condensation is not drying out as it
and stains. If the stains are really dark and look moreshould. Although there are a lot of products sold that
like streaks than drink-spills, then the problem could becan fix the stain, they won’t get rid of the mold.
dirt. When was the last time you cleaned the air filterSo, how can you tell if there is a roof leak or
or had the furnace serviced?condensation problem in the roof causing the stains?
Also, is the dark stain on the ceiling right above whereUsually, roof leak stains will be located in the edges of
you often burn candles and is nowhere else on thefixtures like lights or fans or even the edges of ceiling
ceiling? It's very possible that the stain isn’tpanels or tiles. Condensation stains usually come in
dangerous mold but is a permanent discolorationgroups, so that your ceiling suddenly turns into an
caused by burning candles at that spot. Sooty darkAppaloosa horse.
stains can often show up on the ceilings of rooms withThe big problem now is to find the leak, fix the problem
fireplaces. They can usually be cleaned off with plainand then work on cleaning the ceiling stains.
soap and water.