Storm Damage to Your Roof: What to Do

First: stay safe

Before anything else, people come first. A storm-damaged roof is a genuinely hazardous place — loose and lifted sheets, hidden structural damage, wet and slippery surfaces, and potentially live wiring if water has got into the electrics.

Stay off the roof and off ladders. Keep everyone clear of any area where the ceiling is sagging or where water is near lights and power points. If you're worried about electrical safety, switch off power to the affected area at the board, and if a ceiling is bulging with water, keep well away from it — it can come down without warning. No piece of roofing is worth a fall or a shock.

Make-safe vs a permanent fix

There are two separate jobs after a storm, and it helps to think of them separately. The first is the make-safe: a temporary measure to stop further water getting in and to secure anything that could cause more damage or danger — covering a hole, securing a lifted sheet, clearing a fallen branch. The second is the permanent repair, done properly once the weather has passed and the full extent of the damage is clear.

The make-safe is about limiting the damage right now; the permanent fix is about putting it right for good. Both are roofer's work in storm conditions — a temporary cover thrown over a roof in a gale by someone untrained does more harm than good, and risks a nasty accident.

Document everything

Before any repairs happen, and as soon as it's safe to do so from the ground, record the damage. Good documentation protects you — it makes any insurance claim far smoother and gives everyone a clear picture of what happened.

• Take plenty of photos and video from ground level — the overall roof, the specific damage, and anything inside the house that's been affected.
• Note the date and roughly what the weather did (the wind, the hail, the fallen tree).
• Keep a list of damaged belongings and any water damage inside.
• Hang on to receipts for any emergency make-safe work or anything you buy to limit the damage.
• Don't throw out damaged materials until you've been told it's fine to — they can be evidence.

A word on insurance

We're roofers, not your insurer, so treat this as general pointers rather than advice on your specific policy. Storm damage is commonly covered by home insurance, but the detail is entirely down to your policy and your insurer, so the most useful thing you can do is talk to them early.

In general terms, it's worth contacting your insurer promptly to understand your cover and excess and how they want the claim handled, keeping all your documentation and receipts together, and asking whether they need to assess the damage before permanent repairs start (make-safe work to prevent further damage is usually fine to do straight away). A clear, well-documented assessment of the damage from a roofer helps the whole process along. For anything about what your policy covers, your insurer is the one to ask.

Get it assessed fast

Storm damage has a way of getting worse. A lifted sheet or a cracked tile that seems minor lets water into the structure, and every day it sits unaddressed, that water does quiet damage to timber, insulation and ceilings. Moving quickly on an assessment limits the knock-on cost.

A proper assessment also catches the damage you can't see from the ground. What looks like one lifted sheet from the driveway can come with loosened fixings, strained flashings or stressed framing across a wider area. Getting a roofer to look properly means the repair addresses the whole problem, not just the obvious bit.

Common Waikato storm damage

The Waikato gets its share of wild weather, and certain kinds of storm damage come up again and again on local roofs:

• Lifted and peeled sheets — strong winds getting under the edge of long-run or iron and lifting or peeling it back.
• Fallen branches and tree debris — a real one around here given how many properties have mature trees, ranging from debris blocking valleys to a branch straight through the roof.
• Damaged and dislodged flashings — wind working ridge, barge and wall flashings loose, which then let water in.
• Blocked and overflowing gutters and valleys — heavy rain plus storm debris damming things up, forcing water in under the roofing.
• Cracked and slipped tiles — wind and impact breaking or shifting tiles on tile roofs.
• Hail damage — less common but it happens, dinting and marking roofing and sometimes cracking tiles.

Storm damage? Call us

After a storm, the fastest way to limit the damage and get back to normal is to get an experienced local roofer on it — someone who can make the roof safe, assess the full extent properly, and give you clear documentation for your insurer.

Paul Makuch Roofing has been looking after Waikato roofs through plenty of storms since 1997, across Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu and the wider region. We're a Licensed Building Practitioner, fully insured and owner-operated from Pirongia, so Paul assesses the damage himself and tells you straight what's needed. If a storm's hit your roof, keep everyone safe and off the roof, then call Paul on 07 847 9785 — we usually reply the same day.