Storm and emergency roof repairs, Hornsby to Brooklyn

A branch through the tiles, a sheet lifted at the ridge, or a ceiling that has started to bulge in the middle of the night. When a roof fails suddenly the first priority is not a beautiful repair, it is stopping water getting in and keeping people out from under anything that might come down.

Call (02) 9000 1127. Describe the suburb and what you can see, and we will tell you straight away what we can do and when.

While you wait

• Do not climb up there. Wet tiles, loose sheets and a moving canopy are how people get badly hurt.
• Keep clear of a sagging ceiling. Plasterboard holding water weighs far more than it looks like it should.
• Kill the power to that area if water is anywhere near lights, fans or wiring.
• Catch what you can with buckets and towels, and lift rugs and electronics out of the way.
• Photograph everything, including the outside of the house if it is safe to stand there, before anything gets moved or cleaned up.
• Note the time and the weather, which matters more than people expect for a claim.

Make-safe comes first

The first visit is about containment: tarping the opening, fitting temporary flashing, securing or removing what is loose and likely to move again, clearing whatever is damming water, and getting the immediate ingress stopped.

Permanent repairs follow once the roof is dry enough to work on and the full extent is visible. Trying to do a proper repair in active weather produces a result that fails, and a price that has to be revisited anyway.

The damage we see most up here

Branch and limb strike. This is the dominant cause on the Upper North Shore. Mature eucalypts drop large limbs, and a limb that hits a tile roof does not just crack the tiles it lands on; it shifts the ones around it and can split a batten or a rafter underneath. The damage below the surface is often worse than the hole you can see.

Debris-blocked valleys and gutters. Wind strips the canopy, the litter lands on the roof, the valleys dam up within minutes and water goes under the tiles. Plenty of "storm leaks" are really drainage leaks that a storm triggered.

Lifted and loosened metal sheets. Fasteners that were already tired give way at the ridge or barge in strong gusts, then the sheet works itself further loose with every wind after that.

Flashing and cap displacement. Ridge caps on aged pointing move easily, and once one lifts the rest of the line becomes vulnerable.

Water tracking a long way inside. Entry point and ceiling stain can be several metres apart, which is why we trace it rather than patching the obvious spot.

Documenting it properly for a claim

Insurers ask for evidence of what happened, not just what it costs to fix. We provide dated photographs of the damage and of the make-safe, a written description of the cause and the affected areas, and an itemised repair quote.

What we will not do is guarantee an outcome with your insurer or inflate a scope to suit a claim. The documentation is accurate, and that is what makes it useful.

Call (02) 9000 1127 to get the make-safe booked.

After the weather passes

Once things dry out, it is worth having the whole roof looked at rather than only the obvious damage. Wind that lifted one sheet has usually loosened fasteners elsewhere; a limb that broke three tiles has often cracked others that will not leak until next season. A roof inspection with a written report is the sensible follow-up, and where the damage is extensive it may point toward replacement rather than piecemeal repair.

If it turns out the real culprit was a choked valley, the fix lives on the gutter and leaf guard page.

Emergency callouts across the Shire

We respond across Hornsby and the Upper North Shore: Hornsby, Waitara, Asquith and Normanhurst, out to Westleigh and Thornleigh, north through Mount Colah, Mount Kuring-gai, Berowra and Cowan, and down to Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury.

Work is carried out by established, licensed and insured roofing contractors working to NSW Fair Trading requirements, and completed repairs carry a written workmanship warranty.

Call (02) 9000 1127, or send the form if it is not urgent and you would rather write it down.