Ceiling Water Damage Repair
Plaster ceilings under bathrooms and roofs hold water and stain, and are dried in place whenever they stay attached to the lath.
See this serviceRockwood, South Hill
Plaster, old wiring and hillside water: restoration in the Rockwood Historic District
Historic homes call for careful work. In Rockwood that means drying before demolition and matching what has to be rebuilt.
Call (509) 730-2039Answering 24/7 for Spokane, WA and North Idaho
- Answered 24/7
- Plaster and older homes
- Fire and water rebuild
Quick answer
In Rockwood we dry and repair plaster ceilings and walls after leaks, find hidden water in older homes, clean up fire and smoke damage, and rebuild with care for the original materials. Most homes here were built before 1950, so we open as little as possible. We answer 24/7 and come from our Post Falls office.
Drying plaster instead of tearing it out
Lath and plaster is heavy, dense and slow to dry, but it handles water better than drywall. When a bathroom or roof leak soaks a ceiling in a Rockwood home, our first goal is to dry it in place: vent the cavity through small holes, run dehumidifiers and track readings until it is back to normal. Plaster that has lost its grip on the lath has to be secured or replaced, and we tell you which before cutting.
Older wiring is the other issue. Knob-and-tube and early cloth-wrapped wiring do not mix with water, and they can be a fire source on their own. We do not work on wiring, but we stop and call for an electrician when wet wiring is involved. After a fire, our reconstruction work aims to match trim, doors and plaster textures where possible.
Local conditions
A historic district on a steep hillside
The Rockwood Historic District holds about 350 homes, and 285 of them were built before 1950. They line a winding boulevard on a steep part of the South Hill. That slope matters for water. Snowmelt and heavy rain run downhill toward foundations, window wells and basement walls on the uphill side of a house. Close to 49 inches of snow lands here in an average year, most of it in the dark weeks around the holidays, and it melts off over a few weeks. Plaster walls, original drains and older wiring then meet that water at the same time.
Rockwood jobs that call for a lighter touch
Five services we use most in Rockwood's older homes.
Structural Drying & Dehumidification
Dense plaster walls and old-growth framing dry slowly, so we vent cavities and log readings instead of cutting early.
See this serviceBasement Flooding Cleanup
Hillside runoff reaches basement walls and window wells on the uphill side, especially during snowmelt.
See this serviceFire Damage Restoration
Older wiring and fireplaces can start fires, and the cleanup has to protect original trim, floors and built-ins.
See this serviceReconstruction After Water & Fire Damage
Rebuild work matches plaster textures, trim profiles and old doors as closely as possible after drying or fire cleanup.
See this serviceGetting to you
Calling us from Rockwood
We answer 24/7. For a ceiling leak, shut off the source, move furniture and rugs, and do not poke a plaster bulge the way you might with drywall, since plaster can come down in large pieces. If wiring is wet or a light fixture is dripping, turn off that circuit at the panel. Crews head west on I-90, cross into Spokane and climb the hill to you; the arrival estimate comes on the call.
Water or smoke damage in Rockwood?
A real person picks up 24/7 and walks you through the first steps while a crew is lined up.
Questions from Rockwood
Usually, if it is still attached to the lath. We dry it in place by venting the cavity and running dehumidifiers. Stains are sealed and painted. If plaster sags or sounds hollow when tapped, it has lost its keys and needs to be reattached or replaced.
Turn off the affected circuit and avoid using fixtures or outlets in the wet area. Older wiring in wet walls should be checked by an electrician before it is turned back on. Other parts of the house are usually fine to use.
We dry and clean the basement, then point out where water entered: window wells, cracks, downspouts or grading. Fixing those is often a drainage or landscaping job, and we tell you what we saw so the right trade can address it.
We try. Trim and doors that can be cleaned are cleaned and kept. When pieces must be replaced, we match profiles from stock or have them milled, and match plaster textures by hand. We explain where an exact match is not possible.
Answering 24/7
Leak or fire damage in a Rockwood home?
Call any hour. We dry carefully, open only what we must and plan the rebuild with you.
Call (509) 730-2039
1876 N Teanaway Dr, Post Falls, ID 83854