Help plse, water inside kitchen cupboard suddenly

littlewren

I have what I think is a strange problem but it's really worrying me.  Last night I went into the kitchen, the first thing I saw was that the window had completely misted up and was wet as if I'd been cooking in there.  (I don't have a problem with condensation). Then I noticed that one of the worktops was wet all over and then along from there my cooker had water on the top of it too.  Thinking it might be the kettle leaking I checked but that was ok.  Something was dripping on to my appliances on the worktop too.  I opened the kitchen cupboard door above and the shelves were wet.  I wasn't sure if there was a shadow on the ceiling so I climbed on a step ladder and a small patch of ceiling above this cupboard felt ever so slightly damp.  I haven't a clue what the problem is, obviously the ceiling feeling slightly damp indicates a problem but where would this be coming from?  If it was the loft surely it would show on the ceiling below the loft, i.e. upstairs and the ceilings there are fine, it's just the kitchen that has the problem. I can't get up into the loft unfortunately.  Does anyone have any clues as to what it could possibly be plse.  I should add that this is an outside wall and although it was raining, it wasn't heavy rain.  I understand it's difficult to say when you're just reading a post but any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated.  TIA 

NeverTooLate

What's directly above the kitchen?

lesalanos

What's directly above the kitchen? 

Possibly a radiator leaking or central heating pipe leak.  Has your boiler lost pressure recently 

littlewren

NeverTooLate said:

What's directly above the kitchen?

A bedroom is directly above the kitchen, used as a computer room.

littlewren

lesalanos said:

What's directly above the kitchen? 

Possibly a radiator leaking or central heating pipe leak.  Has your boiler lost pressure recently 

A spare bedroom is above the kitchen.  I had a problem with my boiler a week ago, the fault showed that it was the fan.  British Gas came out and replaced the fan.  I don't know about pressure with the boiler, it's only a couple of years old but seems to be working fine, apart from when the fan went.

The radiator in the room above the kitchen is ok and doesn't seem to be leaking.  How would I know if it was a central heating pipe leak plse?  Is there somewhere I should check for this?

littlewren

I should add too that the radiator (if there had been any leaks) is under the window in the room upstairs but the water I found in the kitchen cupboards and on the worktops is on a side outside wall, so nowhere in conjunction with the upstairs radiator.

As a p.s. everything looks ok at the moment but of course I'm waiting for it to start up again as I know there must be a problem somewhere.

Stompa

Could the kettle have failed to turn itself off at some point, thereby filling the kitchen with vast amounts of steam which then condensed on cold surfaces?

elsien

Do you know if any water pipes run above the affected area? 

lesalanos

The only way to tell is by lifting floorboards upstairs or cutting a hole in the ceiling.   Water can flow across the plasterboard and fall through gaps like light fittings 

Some pics of the kitchen and outside wall may help 

EssexExile

elsien said:

Do you know if any water pipes run above the affected area? 

Or anywhere else above the ceiling, the source could be far away. The water will run to the lowest point and find the easiest way out.

littlewren

Stompa said:

Could the kettle have failed to turn itself off at some point, thereby filling the kitchen with vast amounts of steam which then condensed on cold surfaces?

No unfortunately not, wish it was that