Emergency Roof Repair in Sterling Heights, MI

When a gust strips a run of shingles, the underlayment underneath was never meant to be the roof for long, and the next rain finds every nail hole. A dry-in covers the bare area with a heavy tarp that runs up and over the ridge, so water can't get under its top edge. It's held by 2x4 battens screwed through the tarp along the edges, rather than nails through the bare tarp, which tear out in the first wind. Thicker tarps last longer: HomeGuide says a standard tarp holds roughly 60 to 90 days, while a heavy 10-mil tarp can last up to two years. Treat that as the outer limit, not the plan. Sun and wind wear tarps down, and every screw is a hole to fill later.

Not every emergency needs a tarp. A single cracked vent boot, a lifted shingle at a valley or a gap in wall flashing can be bridged with a temporary patch: a piece of self-adhered membrane slid under the course above, a bead of roofing cement under a loose tab, or a sheet-metal shim pushed behind a gap. On a cold or wet roof, cement and membranes stick poorly, so a roofer may tarp the area anyway. Inside, catch the water, poke a small hole in a bulging ceiling, well away from any light fixture, to drain it into a bucket before it brings the drywall down, and move what you can. Then book the real fix, which for most leaks is on the roof leak repair page.

A limb that comes through the deck leaves a hole a tarp can sag into. After the tree is cut off the roof (a tree service's job when it's large or tangled in wires), a roofer screws a sheet of plywood or OSB over the opening, spanning onto solid deck, then covers the patch and the area around it with a tarp. Broken rafters get braced from the attic, and if the framing is cracked, the permanent repair may need a carpenter or an engineer's look before new decking goes on. Stay well clear of any downed wire tangled in the tree and let the utility deal with it. Storm damage of this kind usually leads to an insurance claim, so the storm damage roof repair page is the next stop.

Two winter problems can't wait for spring. The first is ice backing up at the eaves and pushing meltwater into the walls. Chopping ice with a hammer or a shovel cuts shingles, so the emergency answer is low-pressure steam that melts channels through the dam, explained on the ice dam removal page. The second is weight. FEMA's snow load guide puts a foot of fresh snow at 3 pounds per square foot when light and dry, and up to 21 when wet and heavy. An inch of ice adds almost 5 more. FEMA lists the warning signs: sagging ceilings or roof lines, popping or creaking, doors that suddenly stick, and new cracks in walls. If you see those, get people out of that part of the house first and call second.