Roof leaks are a problem in any weather, but a roof that starts to leak during a heavy rainstorm can quickly turn into a major emergency. Unfortunately, rainy weather is when a roof leak is most likely to happen–and when roofers become inundated with calls from panicked homeowners.
Your roof is leaking and you’ve contacted a roofer for help, but if they can’t get there immediately there are some things you can do to to minimize the damage to your home’s interior as well as the roof. And since roofing companies often charge extra for emergency calls, you doing work ahead of time may save you money on your repair bill.
The Inside of Your House
The first thing you want to do, is deal with the leak inside your house so you can minimize interior damage.
Most of the time, a roof leak will form a small puddle in the attic and/or ceiling until it finds an escape route–usually something like a light fixture or heating register. Ceiling joints or corners are other spots where leaks will often occur. Sometimes these leaks happen in multiple places from one source, making it look much worse than it usually is.
If the ceiling is holding water or you see a bulge in the drywall, poke a hole in the center with a screwdriver or other similar object in the middle of it. This will drain water to that one spot, which will help lessen the damage to the ceiling and help collect the water into one stream.
Find the Source of the Roof Leak
Finding the source of the leak can be extremely frustrating, but if you don’t find the source of the leak, any repairs or temporary fixes you do are going to be useless. Water can travel far from the original source and cause damage elsewhere.
Start by locating the roof leak on the inside of your house. You want to make sure that the source of the leak is the roof and not due to a problem in other parts of your house. Some of the culprits for household leaks include plumbing, heating and cooling units, condensations, pest infestation or even clogged gutters.
Source: https://roofrevivers.com/roof-leak-during-storm/