My Roof Is Leaking — What To Do Right Now

30-second scan

If you read nothing else:

1. Is anyone in danger? Water near electrical equipment, a sagging ceiling, a wet floor. Move people away from those areas first.
2. Do not touch wet electrical equipment, and do not walk through standing water to reach a breaker. If there is any doubt, call an electrician or emergency services.
3. Do not send anyone onto the roof — especially not while it is wet.
4. Move what you can. Cover what you cannot.
5. Photograph and video everything, with timestamps, before any cleanup.
6. Contact your insurer or broker promptly and ask what they require of you.
7. Do not sign a replacement contract today.

Immediate danger

The dangerous part of a roof leak is rarely the water.

Electricity. Ready.gov’s guidance where water is present is explicit: do not touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water, and turn off the electricity … if it is safe to do so. That last clause is the one people ignore. If the breaker panel is wet, sits in a flooded area, or can only be reached by crossing standing water, do not go to it — Ready.gov’s instruction is not to walk through flood water. Call your electrician, or your local emergency number if the situation is dangerous, and let them de-energize the area.

Sagging or bulging ceilings. A ceiling holding water is carrying a load it was never designed for, and you cannot see the condition of the structure or the wiring above it. Do not stand beneath, puncture, or disturb a sagging or bulging ceiling. Clear the area, keep people out of it, and have qualified emergency, maintenance, or restoration personnel evaluate it from a safe position.

Advice circulates — including from people who should know better — to relieve the water by making a hole in the ceiling from underneath. Do not. Any version of that instruction puts a person directly beneath an unpredictable load, in unknown structural and electrical conditions, holding something sharp. There is no safe amateur version of it. The water can wait for someone equipped to deal with it.

The roof itself. Do not access a wet, storm-damaged, or structurally uncertain roof. OSHA identifies falls as the leading cause of death in construction work and warns that roofing surfaces can become slick when wet. A roof that is leaking may also have decking that will not hold a person’s weight. Whatever is up there will still be up there when it is safe and someone trained is present.

Protect people

• Clear and cordon the affected area — including the floor directly beneath it.
• Treat any water near an electrical panel, outlet, light fitting, or powered equipment as dangerous until an electrician says otherwise.
• Put out wet-floor signage. Slip injuries are a common consequence of an interior leak.
• If tenants occupy the space, tell them now, in writing, and tell them which areas to avoid.

Protect property

Once people are safe:

• Move inventory, equipment, documents, and electronics out of the affected area — and out of the area directly below it.
• Where something cannot be moved, cover it with plastic sheeting and lift it off the floor.
• Contain the water: buckets, bins, wet-vacs, and a plan for where the overflow goes.
• Protect where the water travels to. Water runs along structure and surfaces far from the actual breach; the visible drip is often nowhere near the hole.

Document

You cannot re-create this evidence once it has been cleaned up. Before anyone mops or repairs anything:

• Photograph and video the affected areas, the water, the damaged contents, the ceiling, and the surrounding space. Wide shots for context, close shots for detail.
• Keep timestamps on. Most phones record them automatically.
• Photograph undamaged areas too — it establishes what the leak did and did not reach.
• Keep a written log: when it was discovered, who was told, what was done, when.
• Keep every receipt for anything bought or hired in response — tarps, wet-vacs, labor, temporary storage.
• If a contractor attends, photograph the condition before any work, and get the scope in writing.

Notify

• Your insurer or broker — promptly. Review your policy and contact them to ask about notice, documentation, mitigation, inspections, and repair authorization. Every policy is different. What yours requires of you, and what it will and will not pay for, is a question about your document — not about roofing in general. Ask; do not assume, and do not let a contractor tell you what your policy says.
• Building owner, landlord, or tenants, according to your lease and your obligations.
• Your roofing contractor, for emergency stabilisation — which is a different instruction from “come and quote me a new roof”.

Temporary stabilisation

Stabilisation stops the loss getting bigger. It is not a repair, and it is not the replacement decision.

• Emergency tarping or temporary patching — by people equipped to be on a roof safely, in conditions where it is safe to be there.
• Clearing blocked drains and scuppers from a safe position. Often the highest-value action available, because a blocked drain turns a small breach into a large load.
• Water extraction and drying, before secondary damage (mold, delamination, swelling) begins.
• Get the stabilisation scope in writing and keep the documentation. Ask your insurer what they expect before authorising anything beyond making the building safe.

When emergency action may not be needed

Not every stain is an emergency, and treating it as one has its own costs:

• A small, slow, historic stain that has not changed in months, in an unoccupied area with no electrical equipment nearby.
• Condensation, which is frequently mistaken for a leak — especially on cold surfaces, around ductwork, and in shoulder seasons.
• A leak that traces to a rooftop unit, plumbing, or a wall detail rather than the roof membrane. What presents as a roof leak often is not one.

In these cases the right response is a scheduled inspection, not a call-out at emergency rates.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Sending an untrained person onto a wet roof. The most dangerous thing that happens during roof leaks.
2. Puncturing or standing under a bulging ceiling. Covered above. Do not.
3. Cleaning up before documenting. The evidence is gone and does not come back.
4. Signing a full replacement contract during the emergency. Nobody can responsibly scope a replacement while water is still coming in and no moisture survey has been done.
5. Letting the party that quotes the repair be the only party that assesses the damage.
6. Signing away claim rights without reading the contract. Read every contract carefully, especially provisions that transfer claim rights, payment authority, or control of the repair process. Rules vary by state, and some arrangements may be restricted or prohibited.
7. Assuming the visible drip marks the breach. It usually does not.

The next decision

Once the building is stable and dry, the real question arrives: is this roof repairable, or is it telling you something about the whole assembly?

Decide it on evidence — a condition assessment, a moisture survey to map wet insulation, and a review of remaining warranty coverage — gathered before anyone writes you a proposal. Repair or Replace? How to Decide walks through the four tests.

The most expensive roofing decisions get made in the 48 hours after a leak, by people who are stressed, wet, and being quoted by whoever answered the phone. It is nearly always worth the two weeks it takes to gather evidence first.

Frequently asked questions

Should I turn the power off? Only if you can do it safely, from a dry and accessible location. Ready.gov’s guidance is to turn off electricity if it is safe to do so, never to touch wet electrical equipment, and not to walk through flood water. If the panel is wet, or you would have to cross standing water to reach it, call an electrician or emergency services instead.

Can I go up and tarp it myself? No. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work, and OSHA warns that roofing surfaces can become slick when wet. A leaking roof may also have decking that will not hold you.

Will my insurance cover this? That is a question about your specific policy, and we cannot answer it for you. Contact your insurer or broker promptly and ask about notice, documentation, mitigation, inspections, and repair authorization. Do not assume any cost will be reimbursed until your insurer tells you it will be.

Someone offered to handle my whole claim if I sign a form. Should I? Read it very carefully first, and consider having your broker or a lawyer read it with you. Any document that transfers your claim rights, your payment authority, or control of the repair process deserves scrutiny. Rules vary by state, and some arrangements may be restricted or prohibited.

The leak stopped. Am I done? Not necessarily. Water that entered the assembly can sit in the insulation long after the visible drip stops, and wet insulation is what turns a repair into a replacement. A moisture survey is how you find out.