Is my roof leak urgent? A homeowner's guide to what can wait

You’ve spotted a stain on the ceiling, or maybe water on the loft floor after the rain. The first thought is usually: how bad is this? and do I need to call someone right now?

The honest answer is: it depends on what’s leaking and how fast.

What genuinely can’t wait

A few situations need attention within 24 hours, not because the building is about to collapse but because water damage gets dramatically more expensive the longer it runs:

• Water actively coming through a ceiling — particularly onto electrical fittings, light fittings, or near anything plugged in. Water and electrics don’t mix. Switch the circuit off at the consumer unit if you can do so safely, and call us.
• Active dripping you can hear in the loft — this means the water is pooling somewhere it’s not supposed to be, and that pool can find its way into places you really don’t want it.
• A slipped or missing roof tile on the windward side during a storm — high winds can drive rain horizontally under neighbouring tiles. One missing tile on a south-westerly aspect in a storm can leak a surprising amount of water.

What can wait a few days

Some signs look alarming but are actually stable:

• An old brown stain on a ceiling that’s dry to the touch and not growing — this is almost certainly from a previous leak that’s already been fixed, or from condensation. It needs investigation but not emergency call-out.
• A small damp patch that appears after very heavy rain and dries out within a day or two — suggests a minor flashing issue or a tile that’s slightly out of position. Worth getting looked at, not worth panicking about.
• Moss or lichen visible on tiles from the ground — common on Bath stone roofs, mostly cosmetic. Doesn’t usually mean the roof is failing.

What to do in the first hour

Three things, in this order:

1. Contain the water — put a bucket under any active drip, move anything valuable out of the way.
2. Photograph it — take a photo of the stain, the drip, anything you’ve moved. Useful for insurance and useful for us when we come to look.
3. Check the loft — if you can safely get into the loft, have a look with a torch. Water travels along rafters and can drip a long way from where it actually entered. The damp patch on the ceiling may be several metres away from the real entry point.

What to do next

If the leak is active, get in touch for an emergency call-out. We aim to be on site within 24 hours for genuine emergencies, often faster.

If the stain is old and dry, book a free survey. We’ll inspect the roof properly from outside (and the loft from inside if accessible), tell you what’s actually going on, and write up what — if anything — needs doing. No hard sell.

Either way: don’t climb on the roof yourself. We see injuries every year from homeowners who went up a ladder to “have a look” and slipped. The view from the loft or the upstairs window is almost always enough to start with.

If you’re not sure whether your situation counts as urgent, call us. We’ll tell you on the phone whether it’s a same-day job or something we can book in for next week.