Hi. I have a question about drying and/or replacing drywall. Long story short, I used my garden hose to clear what I though was a blocked vent pipe from my roof. What I didn't know at the time, was that the pipe had broken inside the wall and when I flushed water down the pipe it went unimpeded through my walls and leaked from my 1st floor ceiling down to my basement. I ran the water for maybe 5 minutes. And it was a pretty good amount. This happened on Sat. and I have been using fans to dry the ceiling and walls. I have water stains on my living room ceiling--in 5 foot lines in two spots were the drywall sheets come together and below where the vent pipe is in the corner---it looks like there was probably a slight slope in the ceiling and the water ran to where the two lines are. My question is, do I need to replace that section of the ceiling or can I leave it and just paint over the stains? I cut the section out in the corner in order to look for the broken pipe and that section was pretty saturated, but it was the next day when I cut it out. How long do you think it will take to dry it? I'm mostly concerned about mildew and mold. Any suggestions would be apprecited. Thanks.

Hi. I have a question about drying and/or replacing drywall. Long story short, I used my garden hose to clear what I though was a blocked vent pipe from my roof. What I didn't know at the time, was that the pipe had broken inside the wall and when I flushed water down the pipe it went unimpeded through my walls and leaked from my 1st floor ceiling down to my basement. I ran the water for maybe 5 mins. and it was a pretty good amount. This happened on Sat. and I have been using fans to dry the ceiling and walls. I have water stains on my living room ceiling--in 5 foot lines in two spots were the drywall sheets come together and below where the vent pipe is in the corner---it looks like there was probably a slight slope in the ceiling and the water ran to where the two lines are. My question is, do I need to replace that section of the ceiling or can I leave it and just paint over the stains? I cut the section out in the corner in order to look for the broken pipe and that section was pretty saturated, but it was the next day when I cut it out. How long do you think it will take to dry it? I'm mostly concerned about mildew and mold. Any suggestions would be apprecited. Thanks.
You are right to be concerned about mold. That is the bigger of the problems here. The best course of action would be to replace the effected area of drywall. You really need to go on the theory of it's better to be safe then to be sorry. Not to mention water stains have a habit of bleeding through paint. Good luck.

Yep, rip down the drywall. You can't be sure how well the inside of the wall is drying, usually not very well. Wet drywall is now weakened and greg is correct about the stains bleeding. Try Zinsser 123 Bullseye as a stain blocker/primer.

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that you all wouldn't say I had to rip down the drywall, but I figured that was probably the best course of action. It is actually a pretty big section, about 8x5. My ceiling has a drip-like texture to it (not popcorn); do you know how to make the same effect on the new section. Thanks.

Go to the paint section of a big home center. They have several applications for textured ceilings that may match what you have. You will need to buy/rent an applicator but some are not expensive, $20.