Water coming through the ceiling is an emergency, not a next-week job. Here's exactly what to do in the first hour, and what it usually turns out to be.
If water is coming through your ceiling, deal with what's inside first. The leak will still be there tomorrow; your carpets and electronics will not.
Right Now, Inside
- Move furniture, electronics and anything valuable clear of the dripping
- Put a bucket down and towels around it — water often tracks along a joist and drips somewhere other than the actual entry point
- Do NOT pierce a bulging ceiling. If water is pooling behind plasterboard it will come down eventually, but if you open it deliberately it comes down on you and everything below
- If a light fitting is affected, turn that circuit off at the consumer unit and leave it off
- Photograph everything as it is, before you tidy — insurers want the scene
Do Not Go Up On The Roof
A wet roof is slippery, and ladders on wet ground move. Every year we're called out to people who've taken a fall trying to fix their own leak. It is not worth it — the repair will still be a small job when we get there.
What It Usually Turns Out To Be
- Slipped, cracked or missing tiles — the most common cause by a distance
- Failed flashing around a chimney, valley or skylight
- Perished mortar under ridge tiles, letting water track in
- Blocked gutters overflowing back into the roof line and into the wall
- A cracked valley on a period property — common in Rochester and Chatham
- On flat roofs, a failed seam or blocked outlet causing water to back up
A Warning To Save You Money
The entry point and the drip are often metres apart. Water running down a rafter can appear in the middle of a room with nothing obviously wrong above it. This is why "I'll just fix the tile above the stain" so often doesn't work — it needs finding properly, from inside the loft as well as on the roof.
We cover every Medway town for emergency roof repairs, and temporary protection is included in the same job as the permanent fix — never a separate charge.
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Costs and timings in this article are guides for Medway and Kent properties. Every roof is different — a survey is the only way to get an accurate figure.