Hi Everyone,

I've been having a pesky ceiling leak problem and wanted to get your advice before we start opening up our ceiling.

Quick background:
I live in a condo on the top floor. We have a roof deck above us, so our roof is flat. There are decking tiles and planters all over the roof, so it makes it really really hard to investigate the roof, which is about 7 years old. We also have a wet sprinkler system running throughout our condo, which has had some problems over the years that we've needed to repair.

Leak issue:
About a month ago I noticed water staining on the ceiling around a heating vent and sprinkler head that are really close to each other. There was also some dried water on the ground that was very rusty/brown in color.

We have a home depot ~$30 pinless moisture meter and tested the areas around the leak and it was registering around 25%.

Had a roofer come out and look at the roof. He patched a seam near the leak, but didn't seem to think it was the roof that was causing the problem. His recommendation was the sprinkler.

Sprinkler guy comes out, he says he can't do a pressure test for a leak this small, so in order to really know, he has to cut a few holes in the ceiling and see what is going on in there. None of them brought any moisture equipment to do their own testing.

My questions are:
1) Now the moisture has increased a bit to 30%, is there anything that could interfere with the moisture meter reading (pipes, heating ducts, etc?)

2) I find it odd that we've had 25-30% moisture readings for a month now, but no additional staining and no moisture coming out of the ceiling anywhere since the first time. If there was a leak, wouldn't we continue to see it?

I am really trying to avoid opening up my ceiling, as I've had to do this now several times over the years, but obviously will if this is the only option.

I'd love any thoughts or recommendations you have on my issue.

Thanks!