Why Did My Ceiling Turn Yellow?

Yellow is a popular interior color choice for many homeowners. Various shades of yellow can brighten up a room and boost your mood.

Of course, hiring interior house painters to turn your walls or ceiling yellow is one thing; stumbling across yellow spots and stains in your home is another thing entirely. These instances of yellow are not welcome, and they certainly won’t improve your mood. But if you didn’t paint your ceiling yellow, why did it turn yellow, exactly?

Let’s break down some possible causes, and what you can do to remove this unwanted interior jaundice.

You’ve Got Water Where You Don’t Want It

The most common cause of yellow splotches and stains on ceilings is water damage. When water escapes the confines of pipes or enters from the home’s exterior, the moisture gradually seeps into whatever porous surfaces are nearby. Eventually, this moisture builds up and damages the surfaces, breaking through to the other side. This weakens and darkens the material, often leading to a yellowish-brown color with a clear border or ring on lighter surfaces.

Water can enter your ceiling in many ways. If a pipe adjacent to or above your ceiling malfunctions, water can leak into your ceiling. Or, if there is a bathroom directly above your ceiling, loose water from baths and showers can make its way into the bathroom floor and down to the ceiling below. Ceilings can also undergo yellow staining from water damage when they’re below a leaky or poorly insulated roof or attic.

The bottom line is this: If water has access to your ceiling, it will likely turn yellow sooner or later.

You or Someone Else Smokes in the House

You may have learned at some point that smoking cigarettes can stain your teeth a yellow-brown color. As it turns out, cigarette smoke also stains walls, ceilings, and other surfaces that absorb the exhaust.

Smoking inside your home can lead to yellow ceilings, especially if the smoke is often aimed upward. Unfortunately, these stains can be difficult to remove. Interior painting services can cover up the stains to some degree, but paint alone won’t stop the stench from bleeding through. This requires deep cleaning and airing out for a prolonged period of time.

Maybe It’s Mold

Lastly, your yellow ceiling might be due to mold. Oftentimes, a moldy ceiling is directly related to water problems, as fungi tend to thrive in damp, warm environments.

Of course, some types of mold can form without an excess of moisture, too. Also, not all mold will appear yellow. Some types of mold look brown, grey, green, black, or even white.

If mold is indeed the issue, you must remove it immediately, as it can lead to respiratory issues and other health problems. Hiring residential painting services to merely cover up the stains won’t do you any good in the long run.

What Should You Do About Your Yellow Ceiling?

How to Clean Yellow Spots on a Ceiling

While it may be tempting to merely cover up yellow spots on your ceiling, the only way to truly rid your ceiling of stains is to address the underlying issue.

If there’s water damage, hire a contractor to figure out why this is occurring. Or, if nicotine smoke is the issue, stop smoking in your home and properly clean your ceiling, walls, and other surfaces. Lastly, if mold has made its way into your ceiling, properly clean all traces of it and take steps to ensure it doesn’t return. Then, and only then, should you hire local painters to give your ceiling a fresh appearance.

Perhaps you want your ceiling to be yellow. If so, do it on your own terms and hire a Nashville painting company that will do more than just conceal a deeper problem. At Nash Painting, we’re proud to help homeowners and business owners in Nashville make lasting improvements to their property beyond the cosmetic. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at (615) 829-6858 today!