A damp patch on a ceiling is rarely directly under the leak. Water runs along a joist, along a pipe, and comes through wherever it finds a gap, which can be a room away from the actual fault. So the first part of the work is finding it, not fixing it.
Typical culprits are a failed compression joint under a floor, a nail or screw through a pipe after flooring has gone down, a split in a pipe that has frozen over winter, or a worn seal on a waste trap that only leaks when the bath drains.
We lift what needs lifting, repair the fault properly rather than patching it, and put things back. If the leak has been running a while and there is damage to plaster or flooring, we will tell you straight what is ours to fix and what needs another trade.
