Emergency roof repairs in Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Thetford

How emergency roof repairs works

An emergency call out is two jobs, not one, and it is worth knowing that before you ring anybody. The first job is stopping the water tonight. The second is repairing the roof properly, in daylight, when it is safe to be up there. Anyone who tells you they will do both at ten at night in a gale is not being straight with you.

The most useful thing you can do before we arrive is get a photograph from the ground and move what is underneath the leak inside the house. We will handle the rest. Do not go up a ladder in wind to look, which is how most of the serious injuries in this trade happen to homeowners rather than roofers.

If the damage came from a storm there is usually an insurance claim in it, and the thing that decides claims is evidence. We photograph the damage before we touch anything, date it, and write up what caused it. That report is yours whether we do the permanent repair or somebody else does.

Not everything that feels like an emergency is one, and we would rather tell you that on the phone than charge you to find out. A slipped tile with no water coming in can wait for a proper survey in daylight. Water actively coming through a ceiling cannot. Ring and describe it, and we will tell you honestly which one you have.

Temporary does not mean careless. A properly fitted tarpaulin, weighted and lapped so water runs off it rather than under it, will hold for weeks if it has to. What does not hold is a sheet thrown over a roof and tucked under a ridge tile, which is why we would rather do it in daylight than at midnight if the water is not coming in yet.

What the job includes

• Make safe: anything loose taken down before it comes down on its own
• Temporary weatherproofing so the water stops getting in tonight
• Dated photographs of the damage for your insurer
• A written quote for the permanent repair, separate from the call out
• The permanent repair booked in as soon as the weather allows

Signs you need it looking at

• Tiles or slates on the ground after wind
• Water coming through a ceiling now rather than slowly
• A ridge tile or chimney pot visibly moved
• Lead flashing lifted or peeled back
• A fallen branch or aerial that has gone through the covering