Emergency Roof Repair

What Counts as an Emergency

Water coming through a ceiling. A tree limb through the deck. Shingles scattered across the yard with weather still moving in. A sag that wasn't there yesterday. If water is getting into the house right now, or will be the next time it rains, that's an emergency. And the cost of waiting compounds daily. A wet attic becomes wet insulation, becomes a stained ceiling, becomes mold remediation. The repair bill roughly doubles every week a live leak goes unhandled.

What We Do First

1. Stop the water. Professional-grade tarping and temporary sealing. Anchored correctly, not a blue tarp with bricks on it that's gone by the next gust.
2. Document everything. Photos of the damage before and after stabilization. If this becomes an insurance claim, this documentation is what makes it a clean one.
3. Quote the permanent fix. Once the house is dry and safe, you get a written estimate for the real repair. On your timeline, not under duress.

That order matters. A contractor who wants to sell you a full roof while water is actively dripping into your kitchen is using the worst hour of your week as leverage. Stabilize first, decide later.

While You Wait for the Truck

There's real damage control you can do from inside, no ladder involved. Move what's movable out from under the drip and get a bucket or bin under it. If the ceiling is bulging with held water, that bulge is a balloon: put the bucket underneath and poke a small hole in the center with a screwdriver to drain it on your terms. It feels wrong and it's right. A controlled pencil-stream into a bucket beats a collapsed ceiling panel at 2am. If water is anywhere near light fixtures, kill that circuit at the panel. Photograph everything as you go, timestamped, before you clean anything up.

In the attic, if access is easy and dry footing exists, a bucket at the entry point catches water three feet before it becomes a ceiling stain. Don't walk joists in the dark to get there. The roof is our job. Staying off wet surfaces is yours.

Should I call insurance before or after the tarp? After. Stabilization is mitigation, which policies expect you to do promptly. Our timestamped photos document the before, so nothing is lost by stopping the water first.

Do you charge more at night and weekends? Emergency response carries an after-hours premium and you hear the number before the truck rolls. What we don't do is invent storm pricing. The same tarp costs the same Tuesday night as Saturday night.

My contractor can't come for three weeks. Will you stabilize it anyway? Yes. We tarp roofs other companies are scheduled to fix all the time. The house shouldn't take water for three weeks out of brand loyalty.

Does a tarp hurt the shingles? Anchored our way, no. Sandbags and batten boards at the edges, no nails through the field where it can be avoided. The tarp protects; the install method decides whether it also costs you.

What should I have ready when I call? Your address, where the water is showing inside, roughly when it started, and whether the roof is pitched or flat. Thirty seconds of answers loads the right truck. Photos texted ahead help, but never climb anything to take them.