Leak Triage

Do this now

• •Move furniture, electronics and anything valuable away from the affected area
• •Place a bucket or wide container underneath, and check on it regularly so it doesn't overflow
• •Roll back or lift any carpet nearby before it soaks through and stains
• •Get in touch with us so the source can be traced and assessed as a priority

Safety

• •Treat any water anywhere near a light fitting, socket or the consumer unit as an electrical hazard — turn off power to that area at the consumer unit if you can do so safely, and don't touch anything electrical that's wet
• •Never go into the loft or onto the roof yourself in the dark, in poor weather, or without the right equipment

Do this now

• •Keep everyone, especially children and pets, well away from directly underneath the bulging area — a ceiling under this kind of pressure can collapse without much warning
• •Move anything valuable out from underneath it
• •If you can do so safely and the area below is completely clear, carefully piercing the lowest point of the bulge from below into a bucket can relieve the pressure in a more controlled way than waiting for it to give way on its own — only attempt this if you're confident it can be done safely
• •Get in touch with us straight away

Safety

• •A bulging, water-laden ceiling is a genuine structural risk in that moment, not just a cosmetic one — treat the area below it as off-limits until the water has been released or the ceiling has been assessed
• •Treat any nearby electrics as a hazard exactly as you would with an active drip

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• •Stay indoors and away from the building's perimeter until wind conditions have properly settled
• •Don't attempt to collect the fallen tiles or debris until it's genuinely safe to do so
• •If it's safe to do from indoors, warn others away from any path, driveway or garden area below where debris has come down
• •Once it's safe, get in touch so the full extent of the damage can be properly assessed — what you can see on the ground is very often not the whole picture

Safety

• •Never attempt to access the roof yourself during or shortly after a storm — wind, wet surfaces and debris make this genuinely dangerous
• •Storm damage nearly always extends beyond what fell all the way to the ground — nearby tiles can be loosened without having come free yet

Do this now

• •Note when it appears and how heavy the rain needs to be before it shows up — this is genuinely useful information for tracing the fault
• •If you can safely and easily access the loft, check for any signs of moisture at the corresponding point after a wet spell
• •Book an inspection rather than waiting to see if it "goes away" — a patch that fades between rain doesn't mean the underlying fault has gone, only that it isn't currently active

Safety

• •A stain that comes and goes with the weather is not the same as "nothing wrong" — it usually means water is only getting past the roof covering when rain is heavy or wind-driven enough, and that threshold can get lower as the fault worsens

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• •Note the exact position of the staining relative to the chimney — this can help trace whether the fault is higher up the stack or at roof level
• •Avoid using any fireplace or flue connected to that chimney until it's been checked
• •Book an inspection — staining on a chimney breast can trace back to a fault well above where the mark actually appears

Safety

• •If the chimney stack itself looks like it's leaning, cracked, or shedding debris from outside, treat that as urgent rather than prompt, and keep the area below it clear

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• •Note which sections of gutter are overflowing and whether it happens in light rain or only heavy downpours
• •Check for visible sagging, disconnected joints, or debris backing up over the edge
• •Book an inspection rather than waiting — persistent overflow can work its way up under the lowest row of tiles or slates over time, not just damage the fascia below

Safety

• •Don't attempt to clear a gutter yourself from a ladder in wet or windy conditions

Do this now

• •Note roughly where on the flat roof the water is pooling and how long it typically takes to clear
• •Check whether it happens in the same spot every time it rains, which points to a genuine fall or drainage issue rather than one-off heavy rainfall
• •Book an inspection — standing water accelerates wear on the membrane beneath it, so a pooling spot that isn't new is worth addressing rather than monitoring indefinitely

Safety

• •Don't walk onto a flat roof yourself to inspect standing water, especially on an older or already-suspect membrane