What to do right now
- Get people and pets away from any sagging ceiling. Trapped water is heavy and ceilings fail suddenly.
- Move furniture and electronics out from under the leak, and put down buckets and towels.
- If a ceiling is visibly bulging, a small relief hole over a container drains the water and prevents a far larger collapse.
- Kill power to affected circuits if water is anywhere near fixtures or outlets.
- Photograph everything before and after. You'll want it for the claim.
- Stay off the roof. Wet, storm-damaged roofing is genuinely dangerous, and falls are far more common than people think.
What we do when we arrive
- Locate the actual entry point — which is usually not directly above the stain
- Emergency tarp or dry-in to stop further water intrusion
- Photograph and document damage for your insurance claim
- Give you a written assessment of what the permanent repair requires
- Schedule the permanent work, and handle the claim process if it's storm related
Common emergency causes here
In the Hill Country, the emergency calls we get cluster around a handful of causes: wind lifting and removing shingles at ridges and rakes, hail opening up already-aged roofs, cracked pipe boots finally letting go during a heavy rain, failed chimney or wall flashing, and limbs coming down on the roof during storms. Our leak warning signs guide covers the earlier symptoms that usually precede an emergency by months.
After the emergency
Once the water's stopped, the question becomes whether this is a repair or a claim. The Storm Center walks through Texas claim process and deadlines, and our roof repair page covers permanent repair work.
