house inspection question

[joycenalex]

i'm getting ready to repaint the living room, and i went to wash the window sills, prepaint cleaning , and i found one small dried brown spot on the sill, the color of coffee. i know it's not dried coffee....this means there is a small leak, somewhere, roof, wall or window....how do i find out where the leak is coming from? the house is a ranch. one story style, i cannot see any obvious stuff frfom the outside looking up, and i have 2 really big fears in life, spiders and heights, so my going up a 20 foot ladder to look outside or into the deep insulation filled attic is out ( yes i know big big chicken, color me yellow) do i get a housing inspector, who can do a whole house inspection, knowing i'm planning on staying here at least 10 more years, and the inspector can take a neutral professional look, telling me if it's worth it to do the next set of planned upgrades) or call the roofing company to inspect their 5 yr old work? thanks

[Grace]

This spot is on the window sill? How big? Are you positive it is from a leak? Did you look at the window frame, directly above the spot? Is there anything showing there?

[joycenalex]

1- on the sill, totally dry, when i put the winter plastic on the interior window ledge in november, it wasn't there, drywall is totally dry, above and below frame, no other discolorations anywhere else visible. 2-1in x 3 in, very small reeally. 3-yes, no water pipes on that side of the house, for rain to come in thru that window, it'd have to be parallel to ground, so my unproved suspicion is channeling of water along the support interior framing....however, i will go outside, when someone is here to hold the ladder in place, and look along the exterior window frames on that side of the house for any other visible problems. thanks, i appreciate your questions, this helps.

[Taz_Zoee]

I would think if it were a "leak" it wouldn't be just one small spot. It sounds like it might be from condensation. The cold of outside mixed with the warmth of the house causes moisture. But I'm not an expert here.
Good luck, I hope you can get it all fixed up.

[lizbud]

I think I'd hire a inspector to check out all all possibilties. They do it for
a living & wouldn't be biased one way or another. I used one to check out
every house I thought about buying & the cost was reasonable. (150.00)

Good luck finding a answer.

[Medusa]

I think I'd call an inspector who will be impartial. If you call the roofer first, he may try to dodge the issue. Good luck.