What to Do When Your Roof Leaks
A roof leak reaches the ceiling long after the water got into the building. Right now the job is to keep a saturated ceiling from coming down on someone, and to stop the water from spreading through attic insulation and down inside the walls. Nothing on this page is worth going on a wet roof for.
Do this now
Move everything out from under the leak, then set a container down with towels around it.
If the ceiling is bulging or sagging, keep people and pets out of that room.
Saturated drywall holds a surprising amount of weight, and it does not fail gradually. It lets go all at once, in a sheet.
Relieve a bulge from a safe distance: a small hole at the low point, made with a screwdriver on a pole, draining into a bucket.
A controlled drain point is far better than a whole ceiling section failing. If you are not confident, leave the room closed and wait for us.
Cut power to the room at the breaker if water is near a light fixture, a can light, or a ceiling fan.
Water tracks along framing and enters fixtures from above, so the wet spot on the ceiling is rarely where the water actually is.
Photograph the ceiling, the exterior from the ground, and the attic if you can get to it safely.
Tarp or board only if it can be done from the ground, or by someone equipped and trained for a roof.
Wet roofing, wind, and a ladder are how people get hurt after the weather has already passed.
What makes it worse
These are the ones that turn a manageable loss into an expensive one, or cost people their claim.
Don't sign anything that assigns your insurance benefits to a contractor.
An assignment of benefits hands your claim to someone else. Read what you sign, and you're allowed to say no.
Don't sign with a crew that shows up at your door after a storm.
Storm work draws out-of-state outfits that take a deposit and are three states away before anyone inspects the job. Ask for an Idaho registration number and a physical local address before money moves.
Don't put a bucket under it and wait for the rain to stop.
What is on the ceiling is a fraction of what is in the attic. Wet blown-in insulation compresses, loses its R-value permanently, and holds water against the framing for weeks.
Don't patch or paint the ceiling before the attic side is dry.
Closing it up seals moisture against wet framing and insulation in an unventilated space. That is how a one-room repair becomes a mold remediation next spring.
Don't assume it is the roof.
Ice dams, a failed plumbing vent boot, a bath fan venting into the attic instead of outside, and condensation on uninsulated ductwork all present as the same ceiling stain. The repair is different for each one, and the wrong repair means it happens again.
The clock
Wet insulation and framing sit in an unventilated attic above a warm ceiling, which is close to ideal conditions for growth. Mold begins colonizing wet organic material in roughly 24 to 48 hours. Rain that stops does not dry what is already up there. Attic assemblies hold water for weeks without help.
Call us when
- The ceiling is stained, sagging, or actively dripping.
- Attic insulation is wet, matted, or compressed under the leak.
- Water ran down inside a wall and you can see it at an outlet, a baseboard, or a window header.
- This is the second or third time in the same spot.
If it’s past what you can handle, call.
A person answers 24 hours a day. Even if it’s just a question.