An active leak is a race against the ceiling. What you do in the first hour determines whether this is a repair or a repair plus drywall, insulation, and paint.
1. Move what matters
Get furniture, electronics, and anything with sentimental value out of the room. Water spreads along joists and reappears far from where it entered.
2. Contain the water
Put a bucket down, and put a board or towel in the bucket — it stops the maddening drip noise and, more usefully, stops splashing onto the floor.
If water is pooling above a bulging ceiling, do not wait for it to burst.
3. Relieve a bulging ceiling on purpose
A sagging, water-filled bulge will fail eventually, and it will fail all at once.
Place a bucket beneath it and pierce the centre of the bulge with a screwdriver. Let the water drain in a controlled stream. Puncturing it deliberately does less damage than letting the whole section collapse, and it is far safer.
4. Kill the power to the affected area
If water is anywhere near a light fixture, a ceiling fan, or an outlet, switch off that circuit at the panel. Do not touch a wet fixture.
If you are unsure which circuit it is, and water is near electrics, turn off the main and call an electrician.
5. Photograph everything
Before you clean up, take photographs. Wide shots of the room, close shots of the stain and the ceiling, and pictures of any damaged possessions. Note the date and the weather.
These photographs are the foundation of any insurance claim. Cleaning first and photographing later loses evidence you cannot recreate.
6. Call for an inspection
Report the leak and book a professional inspection. A leak in the ceiling is almost never directly beneath the hole in the roof — water travels along the decking and down rafters before it drops. Finding the actual entry point takes someone on the roof.
What not to do
Do not climb onto a wet roof. Not in the rain, not afterwards, not “just to look.” Wet shingles and wet metal are extraordinarily slick, and falls from roofs are frequently fatal. Nothing on your roof is worth this.
Do not apply sealant blindly. Tar smeared over a guessed location traps water, hides the real entry point, and often voids the manufacturer’s warranty.
Do not delay because it stopped raining. A leak that appears once will appear again, and each cycle soaks more insulation and grows more mould.
Afterwards
Once the roof is repaired, deal with what the water touched. Wet insulation loses its rating and must be replaced. Damp drywall grows mould within a couple of days. A good contractor will tell you exactly what needs to come out, and will say plainly when the answer is “nothing — it dried before it did harm.”
