If you have found a leak stemming from your ceiling, you’re currently caught in a huge frenzy. Yes, everyone who has experienced this before knows how you feel. Money, time, and safety run through your head repetitively until you have run out of all ideas. The good news is you’re not alone, people have walked in your steps way before you.

A leaky roof is quite the unexpected nightmare that will continuously haunt you in your dreams. So of course, your first thought is to get it fixed immediately. Well yes, that is absolutely right, however, there are steps that need to be taken while you wait for professional help that will help lessen further damage. Below is a helpful guide for those dealing with leaky roofs who don’t know what to do or where to start:

Deal With Inside Before the Outside

The first and most important thing you need to take action on is helping your inside before the outside. In most cases, you found a leaky roof because the water found an escape route through your ceiling. Here is what you need to do once you have found the spot causing a wet ground to minimize your ceiling damage:

  • Locate the wet spot or bulge in the ceiling.
  • Poke a small hole in the middle of the bulge with a nail or knife.
  • Place a bucket on the floor underneath the hole to collect the dripping water.

Placing floor protection or a bucket beneath the area of the ceiling that may be dropping water will help avoid further unnecessary damage to your floors.

Locate The Point of Entry

The second step requires you to locate the point at which the water is entering from on the roof such as the attic. However, trying to do this in the rain will not do you any justice! Wait for a dry sunny day to climb around locating the leak. Keep in mind that the leak in the ceiling does not always match up with the leak in the roof. Water travels, so in most cases, water leaks from the roof then find the nearest joint or crease in the plywood depending on how your roof slopes.

Maintain the Situation the Best You Can Until Restoration Logistics Arrives

The last step is one of the most important things you can do to avoid further damage, and may even save you money in the long run. Maintaining the situation is extremely important while you are waiting on Restoration Logistics professional and efficient help to arrive. The most common types of temporary repair that you can do on your own are roofing tape or tarp which are available at any nearby home improvement stores.

The beauty of roofing cement or tape is that can be both applied inside and outside the roof. So if you cant find the point of damage inside your attic, then the least you can do is apply it to the outside. However, if you feel you can climb onto your roof safely, laying down a tarp is an easy and efficient option that controls further leakage until real help arrives, or until you get more money in the bank. Here is how you can easily apply a tarp to your needed spot:

  • Cut the tarp to match the shape of the damaged area.
  • Leave about four extra feet of tarp on each end of the roof damage.
  • Secure the tarp bricks, or by nailing it down with 2 x 4 boards. (nails that aren’t too long to go through the roof!)