Hi /r/DIY.Over the past few weeks, a water stain has started to appear on the ceiling in our kitchen. There's no noticeable moisture to it, or softening of the ceiling. It's in the general area of the two upstairs bathrooms above, however it's precise location is below the middle of the upstairs hallway.We've done some careful looks over both bathrooms and don't see any obvious issues (obvious water leakage from visible sources, missing or damaged grout, caulk, etc).One thing I did notice (although only after the stain appeared) is that the paint on the kitchen ceiling around the stain is noticeably different than the rest of the ceiling. This leads me to believe some water damage was probably painted over in this spot by the previous owner.Is it possible this is just the original stain coming through, and that I have no current water issue at all? If so, how would I prove that to myself? We've been in the house for a couple of years, though, and my (admittedly brief) research suggests improperly painted-over water stains tend to show through in a couple weeks, not a couple years.The bathrooms were both renovated by the previous owner relatively recently before our purchase. I want to consider this as more evidence that this is old damage (perhaps they reno'd to fix that issue), but the opposite could be true as well: perhaps the reno was poorly executed and some inaccessible joint has worked itself loose somewhere.Anyway, in the event that I'm not lucky enough to just be seeing an old resolved problem, I guess I'm looking for advice on next steps.My nightmare, of course, is that my only option is to rip out both bathrooms back to the studs looking for the source of the leak. And, even worse, what if I do that and don't find anything?Thanks in advance for any help! via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2zbmEQB
