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Brown Spots on Ceiling - What To Do?

16 years ago

My bathroom ceiling is starting to get sticky brown spots on it that are maybe 1/4-1/2" in diameter. I am assuming this is some kind of mold/mildew from the shower. We have a very old vent fan that may not be doing much to help rid the room of the moisture. That is irrelevant because in December we will start the remodel of the bathroom.

Anyway, any advice on how to rid my self of this? Scrub with bleach or something.

Also, with the bathroom remodel, do you think we should have the ceiling removed and replaced if this is occuring? Nothing would be worse than a brand new bathroom with a moldy ceiling.

Any thoughts and advise are appreciated.

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Comments (8)

jerzeegirl
16 years ago
What is above the bathroom?
wonka27
Original Author
16 years ago
The attic.
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rjoh878646
16 years ago
First thing i would do is crawl up into the attic and see if you have a moisture problem, IE roof leak. If the ceiling above the spots is dry, then it is probably mold from poor bathroom ventilation.
wonka27
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the advice. I will have to try to determine what the underlying problem is. In the meantime, what would be the best way to clean something like this. I realize it may not be the solution, but if I could try to control it until our remodel I'd like to.
cynandjon
16 years ago
There are specific paints for covering those spots. Kiltz is one. They keep the spot from reappearing. OTherwise the brown or mold will just eat through and reappear.
We have used Kiltz and it did the job. There is a better brand but the name escapes me right now.
I agree though you need to find the source.
dgmarie
16 years ago
simply mix one part bleach to 2 parts water and put in a spray bottle. Mist (not soak) the area. Repeat as needed. If it is mold.mildew, the bleach will work very very quickly (in minutes). You might wipe first with a warm, wet sponge first assuming the ceiling is painted with an acrylic (not flat) paint. Otherwise skip this step and just mist from about 6 inches away.
wonka27
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the idea! I will try that as soon as I have some time :-)
rogerv_gw
16 years ago
I'd suggest that you also try the paint forum, since I've had spots like these in our bathrooms over the years (don't know if they were sticky, never touched them) and they were something given off by the paint, as I recall.

Of course, the ones that we've had have were removable simply by wiping with a wet sponge, so I don't know if these are the same thing that we had or not. We were able to just wipe them off, no problem. More appeared, but in different spots, and they were just able to be wiped off as well.

They've not been a problem, if they're what we've experienced.

-Roger

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