Woman asks Reddit to identify brown marks on ceiling — to find rats and mice are the culprits rather than damp

A woman found that brown marks on her ceiling weren't caused by damp after posting a picture to a thread on social media.

After the marks kept disappearing and reappearing in different areas she sought the help of others on Reddit.  She uploaded an image with other users soon suggesting that the brown marks were rats or mice urinating on the floor void above.

After inspecting the area further, her child smelled the stains to confirm that rodents were indeed the cause.

Painting over the brown ceiling stains didn't work

The woman noticed brown stains kept reappearing on her ceiling after failing to treat the damp.

Painting over water stains was carried out multiple times, but the mother began to get concerned after seeing that the stains were reappearing in different areas.

She posted on the social media site Reddit: "The person above me says her floor isnt wet and she hasnt noticed any water getting in. 

"Maintenance just sprays ceiling paint over them each time. The spots originally were more in the corner but have moved. Always two spots about the same size."

Smell of the ceiling confirmed it was rodents

What are these spots that keep reappearing on my apartment ceiling? The ceiling doesn't feel soft or wet. from r/fixit

With the help of others online, and after smelling the area, the woman discovered the stains were rodent urine.

One commenter to her post said: "Brown stains that appear in different places is rodent pee. You could cut a hole in the ceiling and push a nutty trap up there, keep checking it. Something like Zinsser stain block will cover it."

Another stated: "If it's migrating, then it's either rodents or nicotine stains. If it's in one spot, it's either rodents or an HVAC leak. There's no fruiting bodies so it's not mould."

The woman asked if there was "a non-invasive way to test for that?" and that she wanted to fix the issue rather than just painting over the stains.

She then updated her post to say: "My kid just jumped onto a chair an smelled it. Confirmed rodent pee as he said it smelled like his hamster cage at his dad's house. :("

How can you tell if you have rats or mice?

If you don't want to smell your ceiling to check if you have rodents like this family had to then there are several telltale signs to see if you have rodents.

If you have stains on your ceiling the the easiest way to check if it is urine is to use a UV light, which will show as being bright yellow. You can find UV lights for this easily on Amazon.

Any rodent droppings, chewed-through holes, scampering noises (especially at night) or nests are more obvious signs of rodent infestations.

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