Another water leak..

ledsking

Let me start by describing the ceiling in my kitchen...There are strips of wood running along the whole ceiling, kind of a decorative thing (was done before we moved in)
There is water dropping through the wood, almost in the centre of the kitchen, so to find exactly where the leak is I need to remove these first. There is a bathroom over the kitchen and there is no obvious sign of a leak from the bath, loo, sink or rad. How can I detect what the problem is? Will I need to cut away a bit of the ceiling? any advice is appreciated as the water seems to be dropping faster, and a the puddle is getting bigger and bigger.....help

ART6

Removing a section of the ceiling might not be a good idea since the water from the leak could travel some distance before it finds a gap it can get through. I'd start in the bathroom. Make a sketch plan of the bathroom and then in the kitchen measure where the water is dripping from. Mark that on the sketch and look at the pipes that serve the batch and the sink. It might be possible by looking at them to get an idea of the direction in which they run. If the mark on the sketch appears to coincide with a pipe run, then it's a good guess that the leak is from a pipe, and you might then be able to get to it by removing a section of the floor. It's easier to replace that than a section of a ceiling. Just be careful when cutting out floorboards (or flooring board) not to hit any pipes or cables.