Damaged Roof Emergency Repair
If you’ve owned your home for a number of years, and have not yet experienced an emergency situation of your roof severely leaking, it’s important to know just what steps to take to repair it – when you just don’t have time to call a professional. Whether it’s hail, harsh rain, or snow, your damaged roof will directly affect the safety of your family, as well as the stability of your home’s entire structure.
When You Don’t Have Time to Call a Roofer, Do It Yourself!
If there is ever an emergency situation with your roof, where you don’t have time to call a professional, the following steps should be taken:
1. Control water leakage: Water will damage the internal structure of your home, and it can be the cause for further damage to the roof. Remove any small pools of water from your roof, with a bucket, and if you’re experiencing leakage inside your home, place buckets on the floor to catch the leaking water.
2. Locate the exact cause of the leak: Sometimes, you will find that the leak is actually in a location other than where it appears to be. Just because water is pooling up in a specific spot on your roof, doesn’t mean that’s where the leak is. Examine your roof carefully.
3. Gather the appropriate tools: Patches, duct tape, rubber sheets, sealants and tarps all act as a temporary solution, so that a permanent repair can be done at a later time by an experienced professional roofer. Smaller leaks can be held off with lots duct tape, while larger ones might require you to use patches, sealants, etc.
4. Clean the area and apply the patching material: Dirt on the affected area will reduce the stickiness of the patch and it will wear off quickly, if not properly cleaned.
5. Make sure that there is no unattached parts of the roof lying around: Pieces of asphalt, and strips of iron and wood could be blown away by strong winds, which might hurt someone.
How Exactly Do I Appy A Patch?
1. Gather sheet metal, roof flashing, measuring tapes, plastic sheeting, caulks, tacks, hammers, nail and staple gun, hammers, tin snips and caulking guns.
2. Cut out a portion of sheet metal or roof flashing (ideally 6 inches larger than hole itself)
3. Place the edge of the sheet metal under the shingles and above the leak.
4. Attach the temporary patch with a hammer in to place, with a piece of scrap wood held against the edges.
5., For larger patches, fold the sheet of plastic in half and use a staple gun to stick the plastic on the roof over the leak. Place a bead of silicone caulk around the edges.
WARNING: Take all safety precautions when climbing on your roof (especially in harsh weather): wear a hard hat, and always walk forwards, never backwards.
Call A Professional!
Fixing your leaky roof yourself, is usually only a temporary solution. More often than not, you will need to call a roofing professional to permanently fix the leak. Don’t hesitate to contact Champion Roofing, your Chicagoland area roofing experts!
