The winter weather has finally made its way to the St. Louis area. Just today, 3″-5″ of snow is predicted to fall on rooftops throughout Illinois and Missouri. So, the question remains, what do you do if you discover a roof leak from sitting snow on your rooftop?
Well, there are a number of do-it-yourself strategies that you can perform to try and lessen the damage to your home before you call a qualified roofing contractor to do the repairs. If you have attic access and plywood down across the attic beams, it is beneficial to put buckets in the attic to catch the water dripping into your home. This will reduce the interior damage to the drywall and lessen the chance that mold will grow in the affected areas.
However, we urge you not to go into your attic to fix any leaks if there aren’t any walkable boards. By walking in your attic without proper structure to do so, this can create additional damage to your ceiling. More importantly, you could cause serious injury to yourself by walking on insecure parts of your ceiling and possibly falling through the drywall.
In a case that you cannot access your attic and an excess amount of water is leaking inside, you can drill three to four, 1/4″-holes to allow the water a place to run through. Of course, please put buckets under the holes to catch the falling water.
What is highly recommended when leaks are discovered in wintertime is to call a local, insured, qualified contractor to tarp the leaking area and fix what they can. Roofs repairs are extremely difficult and nearly impossible to perform in winter weather, especially when your roof still is covered in snow. So, the contractor should repair what he can, tarp the area, and prevent as much interior damage possible.
Please keep an eye on your roof and ceilings when snow covers your home. Small leaks and quickly turn into big headaches and big expenses. We want homeowners to enjoy the snow, not suffer through it!
