What to Do About a Roof Leak Right Now

It is raining, there is a drip, and the stain is spreading while you watch. Nothing in the next hour requires you to go outside or up a ladder. Work from the inside, in this order.

• Put a bucket, pan or trash can under the drip. Lay a towel or plastic sheet around it, because drips wander. If the water is running down a wall, a towel at the base and a fan later.
• Move furniture, rugs, electronics and anything on the floor out of the drip path. The SC Department of Insurance (SC DOI) advises disconnecting electronics and relocating belongings to a safe, dry part of the house.
• If water is at or near a ceiling light, fan, smoke detector or outlet, do not touch the fixture. Switch off that circuit at the breaker panel, if you can reach the panel without standing in water. FEMA's recovery guidance says never attempt to turn power off at the breaker box if you must stand in water to do so, and to call an electrician instead.
• If you see sparks or frayed wires or smell burning, the SC Emergency Management Division's guide says to turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker and contact a licensed electrician. If you cannot do that safely, leave the room and call 911.
• Open a window or door in the room if the weather allows, to start drying. SC DOI says quick action reduces rust, rot, mold and mildew.

Water pooling above drywall or plaster makes a bulge, and a wet ceiling is heavy. Keep people and pets out from under it. Put a bucket under the lowest point of the sag and let the water find its way down. Do not stand under the bulge, and do not pull at it; a soaked section can come down all at once.

If the ceiling is sagging over a bed or a hallway you have to use, leave the room closed until a roofer or a restoration crew has looked. Ask them, when you call, whether and how the ceiling should be relieved. If a light fixture is in the sag, that circuit stays off until an electrician has checked it. SC DOI's guidance is not to use electricity until it is safe and to look for broken fixtures or exposed wiring.

The drip is rarely under the hole. Water enters at the roof, runs down the underside of the deck or along a rafter, and drops where it meets a seam or a light box. If you have an attic hatch, open it with a flashlight and look uphill from the stain for a wet streak, shiny nail heads, dark decking or daylight. Stay on the hatch or a solid floored area; do not walk on joists or insulation.

The usual suspects on a shingle roof are flashings where the roof meets a wall or chimney, pipe boots, valleys, skylights and clogged gutters that back water under the first course. On a metal roof, look toward penetrations, end laps and ridge or eave trim; on an exposed-fastener roof, toward a line of fasteners. Our posts Common Causes of Roof Leaks and 10 Causes of Roof Leaks run through these, and How Does A Skylight Leak Damage Your Anderson, SC Roof covers the skylight case.

Mark the wet spot in the attic with tape or a photo that shows a landmark, such as the chimney or a vent pipe. A roofer who knows which bay was wet finds the entry point faster. If the whole attic is damp with no single streak and no storm, the problem may be condensation and ventilation rather than a leak; say so when you call.

Before anything is cleaned up, take photos and a short video with the date and time in your phone's photo details: the drip, the stain, the bucket, the attic streak, the ceiling bulge, the damaged belongings. SC DOI says to document the damage first and to keep photos and receipts, because they will be useful if the leak becomes a claim.

Keep receipts for anything you buy to deal with the water: fans, plastic sheeting, a dehumidifier. If a storm caused the leak, the sibling guide on how to document roof storm damage turns tonight's photos into a claim file, and SC DOI's guidance says to make only temporary repairs until your insurer has advised you. If the leak is wear rather than storm, the photos still help the roofer and help you decide, later, between a repair and a replacement.

Our roof repair and maintenance page covers leak repair on shingle, metal, flat, tile and slate roofs, and we check the decking under a leak for water damage rather than only the surface. Business hours are Monday to Saturday 8:00 am to 10:00 pm and Sunday 1:30 to 6:00 pm, at (864) 287-2378, or use the contact page. Have these ready:

• The address and the type of roof: shingle, metal, flat or other, and roughly how old if you know.
• When the drip started, whether it is still raining, and whether a storm, a limb or hail came before it.
• Where the water shows inside, which room and which part of the ceiling, and what you saw at the attic hatch.
• Whether a ceiling is sagging or a fixture got wet, so the crew comes prepared and you get advice on the breaker and the ceiling.
• Whether you expect this to be an insurance claim. Our quote form asks the same question. We can inspect and document the damage with photos and an itemized estimate; you handle the claim with your insurer.
• Your photos. Ask how the office would like to receive them, so the crew sees them before the first visit.

Do not go on the roof, and do not set a ladder in the rain or wind to look. The National Roofing Contractors Association urges owners not to attempt repairs on their own and to have a professional roofing contractor assess the damage. Do not spread caulk or roof cement from a ladder; besides the fall risk, it can hide the entry point from the roofer who has to find it. Do not run a wet ceiling fan or light to see if it still works. A tarp over a leaking roof is a crew job with fall protection; ask for it when you call, and keep the invoice.

Not every ceiling stain is a roof leak. Water under a bathroom is often a supply line or a tub drain. A stain near an air handler in the attic can be a condensate line. Water at a window head during wind-driven rain can be a window or siding gap. A stain beside a chimney can be a cracked crown or failed mortar, which a mason should look at along with the flashing. Damp insulation across the attic without a storm is more often condensation than a leak. Our post When is it Just a Leak and When is it Serious? explains why any leak still earns an inspection.

Once the water is contained and the roofer has been, the next decision is whether this is a repair or the start of a replacement. The guide on roof repair vs replacement lays out the factors. If you want to know what you can safely check yourself before the visit, read DIY roof inspection vs professional inspection.