The roof is arguably the most decisive feature in your home since it protects the inhabitants of a house and their properties. It is a line of defense from natural elements such as rain, wind, snow, the sun, and hail. As such, roofs are exposed continuously to the harshness of the weather all year round, and this slowly dents the sturdiness and function of these features leading to emergency roof repair situations.
What Causes The Need For Emergency Roof Repairs?
An overly damaged roof is out rightly an emergency that needs tending to, but other situations may not be as dire as this yet qualify as emergencies. More often than not, the damage may be due to any number of things and knowing this helps most homeowners understand the measures they can take to mitigate the situation (to repair the roof themselves or do minor repairs) before the roofing experts come to fix the problem.
For instance, would you know what do if a tree fell and tore through the roof in the middle of a violent storm? What would you do if high winds ripped your roof apart in the middle of the night or if it caved in during heavy rains? How would you address these emergency situations?
What You Should Do During Roofing Emergencies
The measures you can take for other roofing problems such as warping or missing shingles may not suffice for a leaking roof that has been overwhelmed by heavy rains. In as much as such emergencies may be scary, there are several things that you can do to remedy the situation.
- Panicking may be an involuntary response given the situation. However, you should try and avoid panicking because there is little that you can do in the middle of the storm. The damage to the roof has already happened, and all you can now do is to try to salvage the situation as much as you can and to protect your family and valuables.
- You should assess the weather to know if it is safe for you to take the necessary actions or you have to wait it out. A blizzard, hail storm, strong winds, and monsoon storms are not to be undermined; hence, it would be wise to allow them to pass and preferably take the necessary actions and do not do things in a rush putting your life at risk.
- Do a quick inspection assessing the extent of the damage to be sure that you can still manage to find ways of accessing the roof. Call roofing companies in Cincinnati Ohioif things are worse off, but you can put a bit of your DIY roof repair expertise to use if the damages are minor. Also, call your insurer and inform them of the situation and have them send a representative who will come and confirm your claim, document the damage paving the way for the claims process.
- Before starting any repairs, try to see if you can establish temporary protection for your loved ones and valuables. Consider throwing a tarp or some sort of protective cover over the exposed areas where the roof’s damaged. If this is not possible, then try and move the things in that section of the house to another safer and secure place as you wait for the roof repair company to come to your aid.
- As you look into what can be done to offer some temporary protection for your family and valuables, you should consider some preventive measures that will stop further damage to your roof. For instance, if rainwater extensively damaged the section of the roof that is leaking, then you should get rid of the puddle of water before any other thing can be done. If its structural integrity has been weakened, you can try and place some support beams under it to temporarily secure it before the roofing professionals arrive to address the roofing emergency.
- Call in the experts; this is not only when emergency roof repairs are beyond your areas of expertise but also when you have managed to address the situation. You need a second and professional opinion about your work to ensure that everything checks out and there are no other hidden problems.
Do the six things mentioned above, and you will have done your part regarding emergency roof repairs. Leave the rest to the experts. Again, most roofing companies have a team of roofers that have years of experience in dealing with different roof emergencies. But how do they handle such calls?
Let the Roof Repair Experts Handle Things
Understand that these are professionals that will do their best to defend your home from devastating weather conditions, but they often start with protecting themselves. As such, do not expect the roofers to rush out in the middle of a blizzard any other violent weather to solve your problem. Nothing much can be done for damaged roofs in the middle of a devastating storm. The roofers will wait for the storm to pass, then handle the many emergency calls they have and try to schedule their crews accordingly.
The actions and methods employed by the roofers will depend on the nature of the damages with a particular consideration given to cause of the damages. For instance, if the cause fire, then the roofing professionals will not employ the same approached used if the cause was rainwater. Nonetheless, the any damaged roof is considered structural unstable; therefore, the roofer will first assess the structural integrity of property before they go up the roof to ensure that it can support the roofing technicians and their equipment.
Below are some tips you should keep in mind when looking for roofing professionals to handle your emergency roof repairs.
- Only give the job to reputable contractors. Watch out for storm chasers; they never want to miss an opportunity to make money soon after a devastating storm preying on the stressed and emotionally distort people seeking emergency roof repair services for their unexpectedly damaged homes.
- Only work with licensed and bonded roofers that have years of experience referred to you by trustworthy community residents.
- Do not allow the work to start without a written agreement.
- Give the final payment and sign a completion form only when you are satisfied with the roofers’ work.
