Emergency Roof Tarping and Leak ResponseBased in Cleburne, TX

The Difference

What to know before you decide.

Hanging a tarp that holds takes some care. The tarp has to extend well past the damaged area and, where the roof allows, up and over the ridge, so water running down the slope flows over it instead of getting under the top edge. It is held down with wood battens fastened through the tarp into the roof, because a tarp pinned at a few points will catch the next gust and flap until it shreds. The coverage also has to follow the water, since a stain on your ceiling often shows up several feet away from the hole that caused it.

While you wait, a few things inside the house will limit the damage. Move furniture and electronics out from under the drip and put down a bucket or towels. If a patch of ceiling drywall is sagging with water, it is usually safer to poke a small hole at the lowest point and let it drain into a bucket than to let the weight bring the whole section down. Turn off the breaker for any light fixture or ceiling fan near the water. Before you clean anything up, take photos of the ceiling, the wet areas and anything that was damaged, because those pictures matter to the claim later.

Most homeowner policies in Texas expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage after a loss, and emergency tarping is the textbook example. Keep the invoice. The cost of temporary protection is commonly included in the claim when the underlying damage is covered. There is no need to wait for an adjuster before protecting the house, and after a large hail event adjusters can take days or weeks to arrive. We help homeowners with the insurance claim process on storm, hail and water damage once the roof is protected.

A tarp is a temporary fix. Depending on how it was installed and what the weather does, it may hold for a few weeks or a couple of months, and the Texas sun breaks down cheap poly tarps faster than most people expect. Once the storm passes, the roof needs a full inspection, since a storm strong enough to open one section usually did other damage that is harder to see from the ground. That inspection is free, and it tells you whether the answer is a repair to the damaged area or a new roof.

Emergency tarping in North Texas typically runs from a few hundred dollars for a small section to well over a thousand for a large, steep or multi-slope roof. Those are general market ranges, and the price for your house depends on the roof and the size of the damage. When the leak comes from covered storm damage, that cost tends to become part of the claim. Ask for an itemized invoice that shows the date, the area covered and the materials used, since an adjuster reading the file weeks later will want to match the tarp to the damage it was protecting.

One last thing, and it is the most important: stay off a wet roof. People get hurt every storm season climbing onto slick shingles in the dark to cover a leak themselves, and a fall costs far more than a tarp. Protect what you can inside, call (817) 558-6997, and leave the roof to a roofing crew.