Roof Leaking? What to Do Right Now, and How to Find the Cause

The Quick Checklist

If you only read one part of this guide, make it this:

1. Keep everyone safe and stay off the roof.
2. Keep water away from electrics.
3. Catch the water and move your belongings.
4. Check the loft, if you can do it safely.
5. Take photos and note what happened.
6. Call a roofer.
7. Let your home insurer know.
8. Make sure the cause is fixed, not just the drip.

Each step is explained below, followed by how to tell where the leak is coming from, how urgent it is, what happens when a roofer visits and how to deal with the aftermath.

What to Do in the First Hour

1. Keep Everyone Safe, and Stay Off the Roof

Don’t go up on the roof yourself. Wet tiles, moss and wind make roofs dangerous even for experienced people, and ladders are especially risky on wet ground. The leak can wait a few hours for a roofer; a fall can’t be undone. Inside, keep people and pets away from anywhere the ceiling looks wet, stained or saggy. A bulging patch of ceiling is holding water, so don’t stand underneath it.

2. Keep Water Away From Electrics

If water is dripping near light fittings, sockets or appliances, or coming through the ceiling around a light, turn off the electricity to that area at the consumer unit (fuse box), but only if you can reach it safely without touching anything wet. If you’re unsure, leave it off and speak to an electrician before switching it back on.

3. Catch the Water and Protect Your Belongings

Put a bucket, bowl or storage box under each drip, with an old towel inside to stop splashing. Move furniture, electronics, rugs and anything valuable out of the way, or cover them with plastic sheeting, and mop up standing water as you go. The less time water sits on floors and furniture, the less lasting damage it tends to cause.

4. Check the Loft, If It’s Safe To

With a torch, look for where the water is getting in. Tread only on boarded areas or the joists, never on the plasterboard between them. Look for damp timber, daylight through the roof, wet insulation or water running along a rafter, put a container under any drips and move stored items out of the wet. Anything you spot will help the roofer find the cause faster.

5. Take Photos and Note What Happened

Photograph the ceiling, the water, any damaged belongings and anything you saw in the loft. Note the date, when you first noticed the leak and what the weather was doing: heavy rain, strong wind, or neither. That last detail matters more than most people realise, as you’ll see below.

6. Call a Roofer

A roofer’s first job is to find where the water is getting in and stop more coming in. That may mean a temporary fix to make the roof weathertight, followed by a proper repair once the cause is clear and the weather allows. All Round Roofing runs a 24-hour emergency roof repair service across our local area, including Chichester, Portsmouth, Havant, Emsworth and Waterlooville, with existing customers given priority. Call 07863 768956.

7. Let Your Home Insurer Know

Many buildings insurance policies cover sudden damage, such as a storm lifting tiles, but damage caused by gradual wear and tear often isn’t covered. Call your insurer early, tell them what’s happened, and ask what they need from you before any permanent repair is carried out. Your photos and notes will help.

8. Fix the Cause, Not Just the Drip

Once the water is under control, make sure the real cause is found and put right. A stain that has been painted over, or a drip that stops when the rain does, is not a fixed leak. The next sections will help you understand what you might be dealing with.

Is It Really the Roof? Four Other Possibilities

Water coming through a ceiling isn’t always a roof problem. Before assuming the worst, ask yourself when the water appears:

• Only when it rains: most likely the roof, the flashing or the gutters.
• When it hasn’t rained at all: more likely plumbing, such as a cold water tank in the loft, a pipe, or a bathroom or shower above. Turn off the water at the stopcock and call a plumber.
• In cold weather, as droplets spread across the underside of the roof: often condensation from warm, damp air rising into a poorly ventilated loft, rather than a leak.
• After heavy rain, high on an outside wall or around a window: possibly an overflowing gutter or leaking downpipe, rather than the roof itself.
• Only in strong wind-driven rain: often a lifted tile, a gap at the edge of the roof or a weak point around a chimney that only lets water in when rain is blown sideways.

If you’re not sure, a roofer can help you tell the difference. It’s worth getting right, because the fix for condensation or plumbing is very different from the fix for a damaged roof.

Where Is the Water Appearing? What It Usually Means

Water often runs along timbers or the underlay before it drips, so the stain on your ceiling can be some way from where it gets in. Even so, the location is a useful clue, and it’s the first thing a roofer will ask about.

In the Middle of a Ceiling Below the Loft

Usually slipped, cracked or missing tiles or slates, or torn or perished underlay beneath them. On older roofs, the underlay can become brittle and let through water that the tiles would once have shed.

Around a Chimney Breast

One of the most common leak points. Likely causes include worn or lifted lead flashing where the chimney meets the roof, cracked mortar in the chimney stack, or a damaged cap on top of the stack letting rain straight down inside.

Where a Ceiling Meets an Outside Wall

Often water getting in at the eaves: an overflowing or blocked gutter, rotten or damaged fascia boards, or a problem where the roof covering finishes at the edge. Check whether the gutter above that spot overflows in heavy rain.

Around a Velux or Rooflight

Usually the flashing kit around the window frame, a failed seal, or debris blocking the channels that carry water around the window. Condensation on the glass can also run down and look like a leak.

Under a Flat Roof on an Extension, Garage or Dormer

Flat roofs leak most often at splits or blisters in the covering, at joints and seams, or where the flat roof meets a wall. Ponding water that sits on the roof after rain puts extra strain on these weak points. Our flat roofing page explains the main types of covering.

Along the Top-Floor Ceiling Below the Ridge

Often loose or cracked ridge tiles along the top of the roof, or mortar that has broken down, letting water run in along the ridge line.

Around a Bay Window or Porch

Small roofs over bays and porches often have their own lead or flat coverings, and where they meet the main wall is a frequent weak point. A leak here can easily be mistaken for a problem with the window itself.

How Urgent Is It?

Every leak needs fixing, but not every leak needs a roofer in the middle of the night. As a rough guide:

• Call straight away: water coming in fast, water near electrics, a sagging or bulging ceiling, or visible storm damage such as missing tiles or a damaged chimney.
• Call the same day or next: a steady drip that you can catch safely, or a leak that only appears in heavy rain.
• Book a visit soon: a stain that has appeared or grown slowly, a musty smell in the loft, or damp patches that come and go.

Slow leaks are easy to put off, but they can do a lot of hidden damage, soaking insulation and timbers for weeks before anything shows below.

What Happens When a Roofer Comes Out

A good roofer will usually look at the problem from inside and outside: the loft, the ceiling where the water appears, and the roof itself. They should explain what they’ve found in plain language, show you where the problem is, and tell you whether it can be repaired or whether something bigger is needed, and why. If a temporary fix is needed first, they should tell you what it is and how long it’s designed to last.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Our guide to the questions to ask when hiring a roofer covers what to check before you agree to any work, and our guide on when to call a roofer covers the warning signs worth acting on.

Repair or Replacement?

Many leaks can be fixed with a repair: replacing a few tiles, renewing a section of flashing, re-bedding ridge tiles or patching a flat roof. A wider replacement is more likely to come up when a roof keeps leaking in different places, when the underlay has perished across large areas, or when a flat roof covering has reached the end of its life. If that’s the case, your roofer should explain why a repair won’t last. Our guide to what affects the cost of a roof replacement explains the factors involved.

After the Leak: Drying Out and Hidden Damage

Once the leak is fixed, the aftermath still needs attention:

• Dry the area out. Keep the room warm and ventilated, and use a dehumidifier if you have one. Ceilings and timbers can take days or weeks to dry fully.
• Check the loft insulation. Wet insulation loses much of its effectiveness and can hold moisture against timbers, so badly soaked sections are usually best replaced.
• Watch for mould. A musty smell or dark spots on the ceiling or in the loft are signs that damp is lingering.
• Deal with ceiling damage properly. Water stains usually need a stain-blocking primer before repainting, or they bleed through. Plasterboard that sagged or softened may need replacing, which is a job for a plasterer or builder once everything is dry.

How to Reduce the Risk of Another Leak

Most leaks start as small problems that are easy to catch early. A little routine checking goes a long way:

• After a storm, look at your roof from the ground (binoculars help) for tiles out of line, gaps or anything lying in the garden.
• Keep gutters and downpipes clear, especially in autumn, so rainwater can’t back up under the roof edge.
• Have a look in the loft with a torch a couple of times a year, ideally after heavy rain.
• Keep an eye on heavy moss, which can wash into gutters and block outlets and downpipes.
• Cut back branches that touch or overhang the roof.
• Have the roof checked by a roofer if it’s older, or if you’ve had leaks before.

Regular maintenance is also covered on our Roof Repairs & Maintenance page, and our New Gutters & Repairs page covers gutter problems in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a leaking roof an emergency?

It can be. If water is coming in quickly, near electrics, or through a sagging ceiling, treat it as urgent and call a roofer straight away. A slow drip still needs attention soon, because water that gets into timbers and insulation does more damage the longer it’s left.

Will a small leak stop on its own?

Unfortunately not. It may seem to stop when the rain does, but the gap that let the water in is still there, and it usually gets worse with each spell of bad weather.

Why does my roof only leak in heavy rain or strong wind?

Some weak points only let water in when rain is heavy enough to overwhelm a gutter or valley, or when wind blows rain sideways under a lifted tile or around a chimney. It’s still a leak, and it’s worth fixing before a bigger storm finds the same gap. Our storm damage guide explains what to check after high winds.

Can I make a temporary repair myself?

Inside, yes: catching the water, moving belongings and protecting floors are all worth doing. Outside, we’d strongly advise against going on the roof. Leave any temporary covering to a roofer with the right equipment.

How do roofers find where a leak is coming from?

By combining what you’ve seen (where the water appears and in what weather) with an inspection of the loft and the roof itself, tracing the path the water has taken back to where it gets in. Your photos and notes make this quicker.

Does home insurance cover a leaking roof?

It depends on your policy and the cause. Sudden damage, such as storm damage, is often covered; wear and tear usually isn’t. Your insurer can tell you what applies, and a roofer’s findings can help explain what caused the leak.

Do you offer emergency roof repairs?

Yes. All Round Roofing runs a 24-hour emergency roof repair service, and existing customers are given priority. Call 07863 768956 and tell us what’s happened.

Need Help With a Leaking Roof?

You don’t need to work out the cause before you call. Tell us what you’ve seen, where the water is appearing and what the weather was doing, and we’ll talk you through what needs to happen next. Quotations are free, with no obligation to proceed. Call All Round Roofing on 07863 768956.