Hello There,
I live in Illinois and we just went thru a huge defrost this weekend. All the snow melted and I'm not sure my issue has anything to do with that but my wife and I found what looks like water damage spots on the ceiling on our living room and front entry way. We never noticed the spot before and first thought was the roof is leaking. I went into the attic and found no wet insulation and no damaged dry wall so it seems the damage is only on the living room-side of the ceiling. Also, the areas with the damage are coming from where the wall and ceiling meet and are directly above our front window and door. The house is never humid and I don't think moisture from inside the house is an issue. One thing I thought was that if the roof did leak at one time and damaged the ceiling and the previous owners repaired the roof and just painted the ceiling, that's the answer to what happened. But the attic-side of the drywall would've been damaged as well, which it isn't. It's not a large attic and I'm rethinking if I even saw OK dry wall but I'm almost positive I was in the right spot and saw no damage.
So I have no idea what to do... When I touch the drywall, it's cold but not moist. Anyone ever hear of a similar problem???
Please help!!!
Thanks!!!

 

Are there rain gutters over that window & door? How ofter are they cleaned. I've seen water damage from clogged gutters, exactly how you described. Tracing water damage can be tricky. Start from the top down. You went into the attic but you didn't go on the roof. If you can't climb that high, hire someone to look.

 

Pulpo is right. I've seen leaks travel under rafters. From your description, I'd think it is a small leak. Harder to find.

 

It doesn't take a lot of water to create a water stain. I've primed and painted lots of water stains where the drywall was still in good condition. Drywall can handle getting a little wet, it's when it gets soaked or a section gets wet repeatedly when the damage occurs.

Wish you luck in finding the leak

 

Thanks for all the info.
There are gutters but they're like 2-3 feet extended away from the house. That's the first thing I thought of since we had a huge defrost this weekend but I thought those are too far away to have an effect. And my thinking was that in the attic, I'd be able to see water damage from the inside of the roof to the insulation to the drywall, but didn't see anything. However, I'll definitely double-check everything again and will keep you all updated! Maybe it's the venting under the overhangs...
Thanks for the info again!!!

 

I'm not sure of your definition of damage there may not be any 'damage' you need to look for water marks on the wood or any other evidence that it's been wet. Whenever a moisture issue like this is fixed asap, there rarely is any damage other than a little cosmetic.

 

Thanks!!! The spots don't seem to be getting any worse, but they do seem to be more cosmetic then anything. Again, the drywall isn't moist or damaged, just looks bad and we definitely do not want it getting worse. I'm having a handyman friend come over this weekend to double-check the attic and what I saw before calling in a professional. It's going to be tough to get on the roof now just because it's so cold and windy and snowy.
Thanks for the advice!!!

 

A solvent based primer will seal the water stain - latex primers do a poor job of sealing water marks. Then you can either touch up or repaint the ceiling.

That takes care of the cosmetic end.The main thing is to find the source and fix it so the stains won't reappear.