Emergency Tarping

Stop the water now. Decide about the roof when it is dry and you are not panicking.

When water is coming into the house, the roof is not the urgent problem. The urgent problem is everything underneath it: ceilings, insulation, drywall, flooring, and the mould that starts in a warm wet Houston attic within a couple of days.

Tarping is the thing that stops the clock. It is a separate job from the repair and it should happen first.

What to do right now, before anyone arrives

Move what is under it. Furniture, electronics, anything with a plug.
Contain the water. Buckets, a plastic sheet, towels at the edges.
If the ceiling is bulging, pierce it. Put a bucket under the low point of the bulge and push a screwdriver through the centre so it drains in one controlled place. It goes against instinct. A ceiling holding thirty pounds of water comes down all at once, and the hole you made costs a patch instead of a whole ceiling.
Kill the power to that area at the breaker if water is anywhere near a fixture or an outlet.
Photograph everything before you clean it up. Wide, then close, with the date.
Stay off the roof. A wet, storm-damaged roof in the dark is how people die after storms. Whatever is up there can wait for us.

What a proper tarp actually is

There is a real difference between a tarp that holds for two months and a tarp that is gone in the next squall, and it is worth knowing because you may be paying for one of them.

It runs over the ridge wherever possible. A tarp that stops partway up the slope lets wind-driven rain run underneath it, which achieves nothing.
The top edge is anchored above the damage, not beside it.
It is fastened to furring strips, with the tarp rolled around the strip and screwed through, so the load is spread along the timber rather than tearing out at individual grommets in the first gust.
It is pulled tight. A loose tarp flogs in wind, and it will destroy itself and the shingles underneath it in a night.
Every fastener is placed knowing it makes a hole, and placed where the permanent repair will cover it.

A tarp weighted down with bricks or lumber is not a tarp, it is a sail with ballast. You see a lot of them after storms.

How long a tarp lasts

A properly installed heavy-duty tarp will hold for a few months in Houston conditions. UV degrades the material and the wind works at every edge, so it is a bridge, not a solution. If you are waiting on an insurance decision, check it after every storm.

Keep the receipt

Most homeowner policies require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage after a loss. Tarping is exactly that, and the cost is generally recoverable as part of the claim. It is also evidence of the date and severity of the damage. Photograph the tarp going on.

What we do

We get there, make it safe, tarp it properly, photograph the damage underneath before we cover it, and leave you with the images. Then we book a real inspection for daylight and dry weather, when a sensible decision can actually be made. That inspection is free.

What it costs, and how you can check

Every job on this page is priced Cost Plus. You see the supplier invoice for the materials, the crew hours at our published rate, the permit and disposal at what they actually cost, and one service fee of 20 to 30 percent set by job complexity and locked before anything starts. There is no second number and no change order conversation after the fact. The full breakdown is here.

Tarping is quoted as its own job, at a flat price we tell you on the phone before we come out. We do not make it conditional on you buying a roof from us afterwards.

Common Questions

How fast can you get here?

Call and we will tell you honestly. After a widespread storm every roofer in Houston is triaging, and we would rather give you a real time and talk you through containing it yourself than promise an hour we cannot make.

Does insurance pay for emergency tarping?

Usually yes, as reasonable mitigation of further damage, which most policies require you to undertake. Keep the receipt and photograph the tarp going on.

Can I just tarp it myself?

If it is a low single-storey roof, it is dry and you are confident, possibly. If it is wet, steep, high, or it is dark, do not. More people are hurt on roofs after storms than during them.

Will the tarp damage my roof?

Fastening a tarp means putting screws through the roof, which is unavoidable. We place them where the permanent repair will cover them. The alternative is water in the house.

Get a Cost Plus quote for emergency tarping

Free inspection, photographed and written up, with a line-by-line quote inside one business day.

Get My Free Inspection

Or call (281) 305-8669