You and your family are sitting in the living room next to the fireplace, keeping safe and warm during a horrific thunderstorm outside. All of you are relaxing and enjoying the time together, when all of a sudden you hear a dripping noise coming from a nearby room. Your heart sinks a little bit because you just moved into your new home a few months ago. So what do you do now? What do you do when you, indeed, have a leaky roof? Well, there are a few things you can do when you realize that your roof has a leak.
We all know that you want your home to be safe from Mother Nature's elements, especially when that big thunderstorm arrives. No homeowner wants to hear that dreadful dripping sound coming from your ceiling.
So if you hear the dripping sound that might indicate a leaky roof, here are some things you should do immediately after detecting a roof leak:
- The first thing to do is to go to the area where you hear the dripping sound, and locate the exact location of the drip. If it is not dripping at a quick rate, this step may require you to have some patience!
- After you locate the leak, you should clean up the water that is on the floor and the surrounding areas.
- Once the area is as dry as possible, place a bucket underneath the drip and the leak so that the water can go inside of it. Also, it is a good idea to put a towel down on the floor underneath the bucket. This will ensure that when the water drip into the bucket and gets full, that it will not splash onto the surrounding areas (which may cause additional water damage).
- Once you know that the water is dripping into the bucket, you should call a professional roofing contractor. Ask them to come to your home as soon as possible because you suspect a roof leak. When they come to your home, they will complete a thorough inspection to determine the source of the leak, why it is leaking, and, most importantly, how to fix it.
- Lastly, the roofing contractor will repair your roof (or replace it if there is extensive damage) so that you and your family can continue being dry and worry-free before the next thunderstorm hits.
It is very important to follow these steps immediately after suspecting a leaky roof. Acting on it immediately will prevent extensive water damage and further damage to your roof and ceiling, too.