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A leaky roof is one of the biggest concerns for a homeowner. If you don’t act fast, your attic will be flooded, meaning more water leaks down into your home. Before you know it, there are thousands of dollars of water damage to deal with. 

Get into the habit of checking your roof whenever it rains, just to be sure there are no leakages. When you spot one, here are some steps to follow right away: 

Contain the leak

The moment you see a leak, you should contain it. This is a simple case of putting a bucket or some sort of container under the leak (or leaks). In turn, this prevents water from hitting the floor and soaking in, causing lots of water damage. Of course, be sure to keep checking the buckets to switch them out with empty containers when they’re full. 

Try to find the source

Once the leak is contained, you should try to find the source. Most of the time, this will be a breach in your roofing system. There could be a hole or crack in your roof that’s allowing water to leak through when it rains. 

Or, you could get lucky and notice the cause is something much more obvious - like an open window. The reason you should search for the source is in situations like this. You may solve your problem by simply closing an open window on your roof. If the leak is from a breach in the roof’s structure, you need to move on to step three.

Call an emergency roofing company

It’s weird, when you have a leaky roof, you become a bit perplexed as to who to call. Your brain sees a leak and wants to call a plumber, but they won’t be able to do anything. Instead, you need to call a roofing company - preferably one with an emergency service that will come out ASAP. 

Call them in to inspect your roof and find the source of your issue. They can then provide a repair service to patch up the leak and keep your house dry. In extreme circumstances, you might need a roof replacement service. This is far from ideal, but it could be necessary to avoid future leaks. It’s usually only the case when your roof is really old and starting to degrade. Either way, a roofing company helps you know the right course of action to see long-term relief from your leak. 

That final sentence is really important. You may be inclined to fix a leak yourself by patching it up with something. This could solve the problem in the short term, but will it hold for weeks, months, or years? The better course of action is to follow the three steps above. Make sure you do them as soon as you spot a leak - which is why it’s also crucial to keep checking your roof when it rains. This will let you find a leak before it does serious damage to your home, and the problem could be solved within a few hours, saving you a lot of money.