Stains, sags and soaked insulation from attic equipment, hail-worn roofs and upstairs bathrooms, traced, dried and refinished.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Ceiling water damage in Dallas almost always starts above the drywall: an attic air handler or its condensate line, an attic water heater, a hail-cracked roof, or an upstairs bathroom. The work is to stop the water, open and dry the cavity, then patch and match the texture. Dallas Water Damage Restoration answers Dallas County calls 24/7.
If a ceiling is bulging or heavy with water, clear the room first. Move furniture and electronics out, keep children and pets away, and switch off the breaker that feeds the lights and fan on that ceiling, because wet drywall and a can light are a bad pairing. Wet drywall is much heavier than it looks, and a sagging seam can let go all at once.
Then look up, not down. In Dallas the water above a ceiling usually comes from one of four places: the attic air handler and its condensate pan, a tank water heater on an attic platform, a roof that has been through a hail season, or a bathroom or laundry on a second floor. During the February 2021 freeze the same ceilings took water from pipes that split in attics and exterior walls and only poured once the thaw arrived.
Ceilings here are typically drywall finished with a texture, and texture is the part people forget. A stain spreads across it fast, blown-in insulation above holds water against the board, and matching knockdown or orange-peel texture is its own small trade. Call (833) 490-5225 once the room is clear, and a crew is dispatched as fast as one comes free.
Do not stand or work under a sagging, water-filled ceiling, and turn off the breaker for any light, fan or junction box on a wet ceiling before touching it. In a pre-1980 house, leave textured ceiling material and old joint compound intact until it has been checked, and stay off an attic deck above a wet ceiling, because the framing and the walkway may not be sound.
Ceiling work is priced by the area that has to come out, the texture to be matched and the drying days in between. The rows below are estimates for planning, and the price for the emergency stage is explained and approved before work begins.
| Job | Typical range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling water damage repair (one section, incl. texture + paint) | $450–$1,800 | A single damaged section, not a whole ceiling |
| Drywall replacement: hang, tape, texture, paint (per sq ft) | $3–$7 | Larger areas priced by the square foot |
| AC condensate or air-handler leak cleanup (ceiling and wall drying, one area) | $600–$2,500 | Extraction, wet insulation removal and drying |
| Structural drying for one room (3–5 days, equipment + monitoring) | $800–$2,500 | When the water reached walls and flooring too |
| Emergency board-up or roof tarp | $250–$1,200 | Keeps the next storm out while the roofer is scheduled |
| Antimicrobial application (per sq ft) | $0.50–$2.00 | On cleaned framing where it suits the material |
Estimates for Dallas County in 2026. Repairs after drying, including texture and paint, are quoted separately from the emergency stage, and plumbing, air-conditioning and roofing repairs are billed by those trades.
The summer classic. A blocked condensate line backs water into the drain pan, the pan overflows or rusts through, and the ceiling under the air handler takes it. Often the first symptom is the system shutting itself off on a float switch. See AC condensate leak water damage.
Texas slab homes put tank heaters in attics, garages and hall closets. On an attic platform a failed tank or a pan drain that was never connected sends water straight through the ceiling below, and it keeps coming until the cold inlet valve is closed. See water heater leak cleanup.
Hail bruises and cracks shingles, and the leak frequently shows up weeks later, so a ceiling stain can be the first evidence of a storm you had already forgotten. Interior drying and an emergency tarp are restoration work; replacing the roof is a roofing contractor's job.
A supply line, a wax ring, a shower pan or a washer hose on a second floor drains into the ceiling below and runs along the joists before it appears. The stain is usually nowhere near the leak, which is why the search starts with the fixtures above and not under the mark.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent ceiling water damage, send the form and we'll call you back.
Clear and cover the room, turn off the breaker for that ceiling's lights and fan, and put a container under the lowest point. Relieving the water deliberately, from the side of the bulge and with something underneath, is better than waiting for the drywall to tear, but it is safer done by a technician.
The reason to be careful is what sits in the cavity: wiring, junction boxes, the can light housings and sometimes ductwork. A broom handle through the middle of a bulge can hit any of them, and it makes the hole bigger than the cut a crew would have made. If the bulge is over a bed, a sofa or a television, move those first and worry about the ceiling second.
Photograph everything before anything is moved or drained. Those pictures are the clearest record of the damage, and the crew can add moisture readings to them; coverage itself is decided by your insurer.
Because paint treats the symptom. A water stain is dissolved material carried to the surface as the board dries, and it bleeds through ordinary paint until a stain-blocking primer seals it. More importantly, a stain that reappears or grows usually means the leak above is still active and the drywall is still being wet.
There is a simple test. Mark the edge of the stain with a pencil and a date. If the line is still the outer edge in a week of ordinary weather, and again after a heavy rain and a hot AC day, the leak may genuinely be over. If the stain passes the pencil, something above is still leaking.
Painted-over ceilings are also the reason a stain in a house for sale deserves a closer look. See mold inspection and testing for what a moisture check finds behind a fresh coat.
Because the equipment lives up there. In slab-on-grade homes with no basement, the air handler, the ductwork and often a tank water heater sit on an attic platform directly above finished ceilings. Add a hail-worn roof and blown-in insulation that hides a drip for weeks, and the attic becomes the usual suspect.
Summer and storm season both feed it. From June into September the air conditioner runs almost without a break and the condensate it produces has to leave through a narrow drain line; a clog puts that water in the pan and then on your ceiling. Spring hail cracks shingles, and because the leak often appears later, the stain shows up long after the storm has been forgotten.
Access makes attic leaks sneakier than wall leaks. Insulation soaks up the first of the water and holds it against the back of the board, so by the time a mark appears below, a square yard of insulation may already be saturated. That is why wet insulation comes out instead of being dried in place.
The hail roof leak guide covers what to check after a storm and why a late stain is normal here.
It depends on the cause and on your policy. Most Texas homeowner policies cover sudden and accidental water damage, such as a pipe that split or a tank that failed, while gradual leaks and seepage are usually excluded. Hail and wind damage may fall under a separate deductible. Ask your agent, because your insurer decides coverage.
Check the declarations page before you file. Many Texas policies carry a separate wind and hail deductible, which can be a percentage rather than a flat figure, and that changes the arithmetic on a smaller roof-related claim. The Texas Department of Insurance can answer coverage questions and take complaints.
Be careful with anyone who offers to cover your deductible for you. Under Texas Insurance Code Chapter 707 the policyholder has to pay the deductible, and a contractor may not waive, rebate, absorb, credit or offset it, so an offer like that is a reason to walk away rather than a discount. What the crew can honestly provide is documentation: photos, moisture readings and a drying log.
When the framing reads dry, not when the surface looks dry. The joists, the top plate and the wall below are checked against untouched framing elsewhere, and board goes back up only once those figures land. For one ceiling section that is often a few days of drying.
Closing a wet cavity is the one mistake that turns a small repair into a second job. The EPA's guidance is to dry water-damaged areas within 24 to 48 hours to limit mold, and sealed-in damp insulation and framing is the opposite of that. Wet insulation is replaced rather than dried, which also restores the attic's R-value.
Texture and paint come last for a practical reason: fresh joint compound adds its own moisture, and a patch painted too early shows through. See structural drying for how the readings that gate this step are taken.
The area under the ceiling is cleared and covered, and power to the ceiling lights and fan on that circuit is switched off. If the drywall is holding water, a technician relieves it in a controlled way over containment rather than letting it find its own exit.
The attic gets walked where it can be walked safely: the air handler and its primary and emergency pans, the condensate line, the water heater pan, supply lines, and the roof deck for daylight or staining. A thermal camera and meters narrow it down from below when the attic is not accessible.
A Texas-licensed plumber repairs a pipe or replaces the water heater, an air-conditioning contractor clears a condensate line or replaces a pan, and a roofer handles the roof itself. The crew stops the flow where it safely can, tarps an opening if needed, and dries what the water reached.
Soaked blown-in or batt insulation is bagged and taken out, because wet insulation holds water against the board and loses its value anyway. Drywall is cut back to dry material and to the nearest joists, and the texture edge is feathered for the patch to come.
Air movers and a dehumidifier work on the joists, the top plate and whatever ran down the wall, and the framing is read against untouched framing elsewhere in the house. An open cavity dries in a fraction of the time a closed one takes.
New board goes up once the framing reads dry, then tape, texture to match and a stain-blocking primer before paint. Rebuild is quoted separately from the emergency stage, and your contractor should tell you which city permits apply.
The upstairs-bathroom call is a two-story slab subdivision problem. DeSoto, Red Bird, Lancaster, Duncanville, Sunnyvale and newer Irving were largely built from the 1970s into the 2000s, with full baths and sometimes a laundry upstairs, so a wax ring or a supply line puts water on a main-floor ceiling and then on the slab.
The hail calendar drives the roof-related stains. Severe weather builds from March, peaks in April and May and returns in the fall, and the October 20, 2019 EF3 tornado that came down near Love Field and tracked along Walnut Hill Lane toward Central Expressway tore roofs off large houses in Preston Hollow before it crossed northeast Dallas toward Richardson and Garland. Roof water finds the ceiling long after the wind has gone.
In pre-1980 neighborhoods, the ceiling itself needs care. Oak Cliff, Lakewood and East Dallas, South Dallas, Cockrell Hill and older Garland, Richardson and Mesquite houses may have textured ceilings and joint compound from an era when asbestos was used in those products. Do not sand or break them out before the material has been checked; the state asbestos program at the Texas Department of State Health Services and your city can tell you what applies.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Clogged drain lines and overflowing attic drain pans soak Dallas ceilings all summer. The water side is extracted, dried and documented.
Interior drying and a temporary tarp after a roof lets rain into a Dallas attic, ceiling or wall. The roof itself goes to a roofer.
Extraction and drying after an attic, garage or closet tank lets go, while a licensed plumber handles the heater itself.
Drying slab floors, wall cavities and framing to a measured standard, with readings logged daily instead of guessed.
North Texas pipes burst because hard freezes are rare here and houses are built for heat: supply lines run through vented attics, garage walls and brick veneer.
Hail seldom soaks a house on the day it falls.
Texas licenses mold work through TDLR.
A section can, and wet drywall gives very little warning. Sagging between joists, a cracked tape seam or popped screws all mean the board has lost strength. Clear the area under it, keep people out, and have the water relieved and the loose material taken down in a controlled way rather than waiting.
Call whoever can stop the water. If you can see a plumbing fixture or a water heater above the stain, a Texas-licensed plumber is the right first call, and the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners lists licensed plumbers. If it is summer and the stain is under the air handler, an air-conditioning contractor is. Either way the restoration crew can start on the ceiling while that repair is scheduled.
Usually not, and it is rarely worth trying. Soaked blown-in and batt insulation mats down, holds water against the back of the drywall and loses much of its insulating value, so it comes out with the wet board. New insulation goes back after the framing reads dry.
Hail bruises and cracks shingles without necessarily opening a hole, so the roof can pass water slowly for a while before anything shows inside. Decking and insulation absorb the first of it. That delay is normal here, which is why a stain with no plumbing above it sends the search up to the roof.
Not automatically. It depends on how long the material stayed wet and how warm and humid the space was, and the EPA's 24 to 48 hour guidance is the reason speed matters. If growth is found, Texas licenses mold work through TDLR once the affected area reaches 25 contiguous square feet, with the assessment and the remediation done by separate license holders.
A good patch gets very close, and a whole-ceiling repaint hides the rest. Knockdown, orange peel and older hand-applied textures all have a particular look, and the match depends on getting the spray and the knife right and then painting the full ceiling plane rather than just the patch. Ask to see the texture tested on a scrap first.