Active leaks, storm damage, slipped tiles and failed flashings need dealing with before more water gets in. We cover Haverhill and the surrounding villages.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A roof that is actively leaking, shedding tiles or showing signs of storm damage needs attention before more water gets in. Every hour water is finding its way in, it is also soaking the battens and underlay and reaching the roof timbers below. A roofer should be called to arrange a visit as soon as possible.
This page covers how to keep safe and limit the damage, how to tell whether your situation is a genuine emergency, what make-safe work involves, and what happens after you call us.
Not every roof fault is an emergency, but some are. These situations should be treated as emergencies:
Blocked gutters and overflowing valleys are a surprisingly common cause of sudden interior leaks. When water cannot drain away, it backs up under the felt or tiles at the eaves and finds its way through. This is not always obvious from inside the property, which is why it is worth telling us about any overflow you have noticed, not just the leak itself.
The most important rule: do not go on the roof yourself. A wet or storm-damaged roof is unstable and slippery, and the risks are serious. Everything listed below can be done safely from inside the property or from the ground.
Put buckets or bowls under any drips and use towels or plastic sheeting to protect flooring and belongings. Move furniture and valuables away from the area below the leak. Take photographs of the damage inside and out as soon as it is safe to do so.
A ceiling that is sagging or bulging has water trapped above it and is under pressure. Keep everyone out of the room. Do not poke, prod or pierce the ceiling, because a waterlogged ceiling can come down without warning and without much force.
Do not touch any light fitting, socket, switch or appliance that is wet or that water is near. If the consumer unit (fuse box) is dry and you can reach it safely without going near the water, you can turn off the main switch. If the consumer unit is wet, near the water or you are in any doubt, do not touch it and call an electrician.
Once a roofer has been out to assess the damage, the first priority is usually to stop more water getting in. This is not the same as the permanent repair. Temporary make-safe work typically involves laying a tarpaulin or heavy-duty temporary sheeting over the affected area, secured so that it stays in place. This buys time to source materials, arrange scaffolding where needed, and carry out the full repair properly.
Whether a slipped tile can be reached with roof ladders or whether scaffolding is needed affects what the make-safe involves and what it costs. A single slipped tile on a standard pitched roof may be accessible with roof ladders. A large section of damage on a high, steep or awkward roof will usually need scaffold to do the job safely.
Storm damage to a roof is often covered by buildings insurance, but it is not automatic. Insurers commonly decline claims where they decide that a storm only exposed existing wear and tear rather than causing the damage itself. Each policy also has its own definition of what counts as a storm, and many insurers look at recorded wind speed or rainfall data when assessing a claim.
If you believe your roof has been damaged by a storm, keep your photographs and record the date they were taken. Keep all receipts for any emergency work. Contact your insurer before having major repairs carried out where possible, because some policies require you to notify them first. If your claim is refused, you can raise a formal complaint with the insurer and, if that does not resolve it, take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Slates slip when their fixing nails corrode and fail, a condition known as nail sickness. Unlike plain clay tiles, slates have no nibs and rely entirely on their nails to stay in place. Once the nails go, slates begin to slide one by one. A missing or slipped slate lets water reach the underlay beneath it, but because slates are double-lapped, a single missing piece does not usually leave a straight-through gap. However, water will still sit against the underlay and find any weakness in it.
Plain clay tiles are double-lapped, so a single missing tile does not leave a hole straight through, but water will reach the battens and underlay together. Interlocking concrete tiles are single-lapped, so a gap is more exposed. Not all older roofs have underlay under the tiles. Where there is no underlay, a missing or slipped tile means water falls directly onto the bare battens and into the roof space. Ridge tiles on older roofs are mortar-bedded, and that mortar cracks and fails over time. Lifted or loose ridge tiles are a genuine emergency because they can fall.
A split or lifted membrane on a flat roof lets water straight through. Standing water on a flat roof usually points to a blocked outlet or a roof that has too little fall. Both need dealing with, but a blocked outlet causing a pond of water is not always the same as an active leak inside the property.
Lead flashing seals the joint between a roof and a wall, chimney or roof light. Lifted lead can sometimes be dressed back into place. Cracked or split lead needs to be replaced, because patching a split rarely lasts. A failed flashing is a common cause of persistent leaks that appear to come from nowhere, because the water travels along the roof structure before it drips inside.
After a leak, the underlay, battens and roof timbers are checked as well as the obvious fault on the outside. Water that has been sitting in a roof for any length of time can cause rot in the battens and timbers, and a repair that does not account for that will not last. The extent of any hidden damage is another factor that affects the overall cost of the work.
Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers, who ring you back to talk through what has happened and arrange a visit.
When we come out, we assess the damage and talk through the options with you before any work begins. We cover Haverhill and the surrounding villages.
A roof that is actively leaking or has lost tiles after a storm will let in more water each time it rains. Call us about your roof.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
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