RICHMOND GUIDE

Describing a leak in a Richmond house

Plaster hides a leak until it doesn’t. The brown ring on a ceiling is information. Opening the wall yourself usually is not.

By Mike M · Sources checked October 5, 2026 · How we write these guides

Meter still, or meter moving

With fixtures off, check whether the meter advances. Utilities explain their own dials; follow that, especially if the meter is in a sidewalk pit you have not opened before. Movement with the house quiet is a clue that water is leaving somewhere on your side. It does not tell you which joist bay.

Plaster and party walls

A ceiling stain under a bath often points up. In a rowhouse it may point sideways: a neighbor’s tub, a shared stack, or a line in the party wall. Ask the neighbor, politely, if they have a matching stain. Do not cut plaster to settle the question. Note the room, the floor, and whether the stain grew after a shower or after rain.

Basements and crawlspaces

Some Richmond houses have basements; some cottages have crawlspaces. A damp basement after rain can be drainage, not a pipe. A drip you can see on a supply line is a pipe. Say which you are looking at, and do not go into standing water to be sure.

Photos, then stop

Wide shot, close shot, and a shot of any valve you turned. If the ceiling is actively failing, people and pets leave the room first. Insurance paperwork can wait until the water is stopped; we are not giving insurance advice, only a documentation habit.

If you have not found the valve, use the main shutoff notes on a dry day. A stain that tracks humid weather more than a shower may be condensation, which is sorted in humid summers.