First, make the house safe
If water is near light fittings, power points or the switchboard, switch off the power at the main switch if you can do it without standing in water. Keep out of any room where the ceiling is sagging, because a waterlogged ceiling can come down with little warning. Stay well clear of fallen trees and power lines. If anyone is in danger, or a storm has ripped part of the roof open, call emergency services straight away. When a small tornado hit Hamilton in 2025, Fire and Emergency helped a few homeowners secure minor roof damage.
The first hour
Catch the water
Buckets, bins, pots, the recycling crate. A towel in the bottom stops splashing. Move rugs, furniture and electronics, or cover them with plastic.
Relieve a bulging ceiling, only if it's safe
If water is pooling above the ceiling and making a bulge, tradespeople sometimes pierce a small hole at the lowest point so it drains into a bucket instead of spreading. Only consider it if you can reach from the floor or a sturdy step, the power to that area is off, and you can stand to one side. If in doubt, leave the room and shut the door.
Photograph everything
The ceiling, the water, damaged belongings, and the outside of the house from the ground. Note the time. Your insurer will want it, and it helps the roofer.
Look from the ground
From the section or the street, look for anything obvious: sheets lifted, flashing peeled back, tiles missing, a branch across the roof, spouting overflowing. Stay off the roof, wet or dry.
Ring your insurer
Tell them early and ask what they need before you pay anyone for a repair. Keep receipts for any emergency work and anything you buy to limit the damage.
Line up a roofer
Even if the drip stops when the rain does, water got in and it will again. A roofer can put a temporary cover on, then quote the real repair when the roof is dry.
Why the roof can wait until a roofer gets there
Wet iron is slippery, tiles crack underfoot, and a tarp in the wind behaves like a sail. WorkSafe's guidance points to scaffolding with full edge protection as the control for roofing work on a house, and says people working on single-storey homes need the same fall protection as on two-storey ones. That's the standard for professionals with the gear, not something to improvise in the dark.
A few hours of drips into a bucket does far less harm than a fall.
A make-safe now, the proper repair later
Emergency work is usually two jobs: a temporary cover or patch to stop the water tonight or tomorrow, then the actual repair once the roof is dry and the roofer can see what failed. Ask for them to be priced separately, so you know what you're paying for.
If a roofer charges a fee to prepare a quote, Consumer Protection says they have to tell you beforehand, so ask about call-out charges when you ring. Once you accept a quote, that price stands unless you agree to extra work. An estimate is a best guess, and the final bill should generally land within 10 to 15% of it.
If it's storm or earthquake damage
The Insurance Council's own example of sudden damage that house insurance is meant to cover is a tree falling on the roof. If a storm brings a tree down on the house, insurers generally pay to fix the house and remove the parts of the tree needed for the repair, but not the rest of the tree.
Storm damage to the house itself is a private insurance claim. The Natural Hazards Commission covers storm and flood damage to your land only, but after an earthquake or a landslide it covers the home as well. Either way, you claim through your home insurer. NHC encourages lodging within three months, and two years is the limit. Our guides on storm damage claims and Natural Hazards Commission claims go further.
Tonight, what's yours and what's the roofer's
You can
- Cutting the power at the switchboard if water is near fittings
- Buckets, towels and moving furniture out of the drip zone
- Dated photos and video of the damage
- Ringing your insurer before paying anyone
- Booking a roofer for the first safe window
Leave to a roofer
- Everything above the ceiling line, wet or dry
- Tarps, temporary flashings and other make-safe work
- Tracing the actual entry point
- Replacing damaged sheets, tiles, flashings or ridging
- Any roof that might contain asbestos, which is possible in homes built before 2000
What to ask the roofer when they ring back
- Can you make it safe now and quote the permanent repair separately?
- Is there a call-out or quoting fee, and how much?
- Will you send photos of what you find up there?
- Does this look like storm damage or wear and tear? My insurer will ask.
- If it turns into a bigger job that needs a building consent, are you an LBP with a Roofing licence?
- Will the quote be in writing, with what's included and what isn't?
What we'd do tonight
We'd make the room safe, get every drip into a bucket, take photos and let the insurer know. The roof we'd leave alone until a roofer can work on it properly, booked for the first dry window. A soaked ceiling gets worse with each rain that follows, so don't let a stopped drip talk you out of making the call.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.