Leak in my ceiling?

Question

im pretty sure its coming from the air conditioner, because there are no cracks on the roof, and its not raining.. but how would i know for sure without cutting a huge hole in the ceiling? and if i have to cut a hole, how would i patch it when im done?

i'd really rather not call a repair man, because they are too expensive, and im on a budget. if i can fix it myself, id rather do it that way.. so no answers telling to call a repair man please and thank you.

Answer 1

if you think its the air conditioning then try checking it out. is there a a floor above it?might be pipes.if not then it's most likely the roof. same thing happened to my old roof. no cracks but it turned out we ended up having to tear it up, get some wood and redo it all. it will get expensive so I suggest that you need to save up more. like 5000 or more IF its the roof.now I aint saying tear up the roof though cuz it could be nothing.

Answer 2

Go over to where your air conditioner is if it's a window type and feel around the area to see if it's wet.  If it is you probably didn't slant it out the window enough to prevent the water from coming back into the house.  I did this before and the air conditioner leaked into the center of my room because of the way the water ran down.   If there is no wet area around the air conditioner do you have plumbing that would come through if there is a pipe leaking.  Say an upstairs bathroom (sometimes the bath tub needs re-caulking and when it is used it leaks.  This is easy to repair yourself by going down to the hardware store and buying a caulking gun and caulking and re-caulk the tub so it doesn't leak.  If it is leaking when it isn't raining it sounds like one of those problems or the worst case scenario a broken pipe and then I would suggest a repair person because not repairing the damage will cost a great deal more later.  (Check your home owner insurance and see if this is covered for any water damage the occurred from the incident.)

Answer 3

if its on the roof itself then maybe you have a leak in the roof. check the roof for holes and such. try black magic roofing fix to seal it up.

Answer 4

Check the condensate drain line outside of your home.  Is the ground wet around it on a hot day when the AC is running?  If not, your condensate line plugged and the condensate pan is overflowing on your AC indoor unit.  If you have access to the attic (check a closet for a hidden access hatch), you can check the pan yourself to see if it's full.  You may be able to unclog the drain line yourself with a drain snake or a wire coat hanger.  If it is a plugged line, likely the line plugged where it is more horizontal than vertical.  Hopefully you can reach all of the vertical section with just a coat hanger.

A worse scenario is that your condensate pan inside the unit that drains to the outside condensate pan is frozen or the drain is plugged inside the unit.  If frozen, you may not be able to fix this problem yourself, if plugged you probably can.  Make sure to turn off power to the unit at the disconnect (should be adjacent to unit) or on circuit panel before proceeding looking inside though.

Good Luck!

UPDATE:  Since you say the unit is on the roof, check the condensate line to the edge of the roof to see if it's plugged.  Also check to see that anchor bolts holding the unit onto the roof are sealed because rain water could leak down those bolts onto your ceiling.