Roof damaged in a storm? What to do next — a Birmingham homeowner's guide

Autumn and winter storms are when the phone rings for roof work. Most storm damage on a typical Birmingham terrace or semi is small — a few slipped tiles, a ridge tile that's lifted, a run of lead flashing peeled back — but left alone, a small gap lets rain straight into the loft and down into ceilings. This guide from the Property Edge roofing team covers what to do in the first few hours, what you can safely check yourself, and how to avoid turning a small repair into a big one. It applies across Solihull, Dudley, Walsall and the rest of the Midlands.

First: stay off the roof

Don't go up a ladder in wind or rain, and don't climb onto a roof at all, even once the weather has calmed. Wet tiles are slippery, damaged tiles can break underfoot, and falls from height are one of the most common causes of serious injury at home. Everything in this guide can be done from the ground, from a window, or from inside the loft.

• Keep people and cars away from anything that's fallen, and from the area below a damaged chimney, loose ridge tiles or a hanging gutter. A tile coming off a two-storey roof can do real harm.
• If a chimney stack looks like it's leaning, cracked right through or missing bricks, keep everyone clear of that side of the house and treat it as urgent.
• If a tree or branch has brought down overhead cables, stay well away and phone 105, the free national number for power cuts and damaged power lines. Call 999 if there's an immediate danger to life.

What to look for from the ground

Walk round the house in daylight and look up — binoculars or a phone camera on zoom help. You're looking for anything that doesn't sit in a clean, regular line.

• Gaps in the tiles or slates, or tiles sitting out of line with the ones around them. A broken tile on the ground or in the gutter usually came from directly above.
• Ridge tiles along the top of the roof that have lifted, shifted or gone. On older roofs they're often bedded on mortar only, which weakens with age and can let go in strong gusts.
• Lead flashing round the chimney, against a neighbouring wall or around a dormer that's lifted, flapping or folded back.
• Gutters pulled away from the fascia, sagging, or full of debris that's blown in.
• On a flat roof over an extension or garage, felt or membrane that's lifted at the edges or rippled.
• A TV aerial or satellite dish that's bent or hanging — it can strike tiles in the next gust.

Then check inside

If you can get into the loft safely, take a torch up after rain. Daylight through the roof, wet patches on the timbers or insulation, or water on the loft floor will tell you roughly where the problem is. Downstairs, look for new damp patches or stains on upstairs ceilings, especially near the chimney breast and along the external walls. Our guide on why a roof leaks goes into tracing the source in more detail.

Limit the damage until it's fixed

• Put buckets or containers under drips, and move furniture, bedding and electricals out of the way. Protect carpets with towels or plastic sheeting.
• If water is dripping near a light fitting, or a ceiling is bulging with water, turn that circuit off at the consumer unit and keep people out of the room until it's been checked. A bulging ceiling can come down without warning.
• In the loft, a bucket or tray under the leak and moving stored boxes out of the wet will save a lot of mess.
• Take photos and short videos of everything — the damage outside, the leak inside, any debris — with the date. You'll want them however the repair ends up being paid for.

Watch out for doorstep roofers

After every big storm, people knock on doors offering to fix roofs on the spot — often claiming to have 'noticed some tiles loose' while passing. Some are genuine, many aren't. Don't agree to work, or pay a deposit, on the doorstep. Use a business with a proper address and contact details, get a written quote that says what's being done, and be wary of anyone who says the whole roof needs replacing after a quick look from the pavement. A handful of slipped tiles is a repair, not a re-roof.

What a proper storm repair looks like

Where the weather or the damage means a permanent fix can't be done straight away, the first job is making the roof weathertight — usually a secured tarp or temporary cover over the damaged area. After that, most storm repairs are straightforward: replacing slipped or broken tiles with matching ones, re-fixing ridge tiles, re-dressing or replacing lead flashing, and refixing gutters. The current British Standard for slating and tiling, BS 5534, expects ridge and hip tiles to be mechanically fixed rather than held by mortar alone, so where a run of ridge has gone, it's worth asking whether it can be re-fixed that way so it's less likely to happen again. Any water damage inside — stained or collapsed ceilings, wet insulation — gets dealt with once the roof is sound.

Renting or letting the property?

As general guidance, keeping the structure and exterior of a rented home in repair — roof, gutters and chimney included — sits with the landlord under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Tenants should report storm damage to the landlord or letting agent straight away and in writing, with photos, and avoid arranging roof work themselves. Landlords and agents should get it made weathertight quickly: a roof leak left over a wet winter soon becomes a damp and mould problem, and in HMOs it can affect several households at once. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Getting it sorted

If you've spotted missing tiles, lifted flashing or a new leak after high winds, get it looked at before the next band of rain comes through. Book a roofing visit anywhere across Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley, Walsall and the wider Midlands, or get in touch with a couple of photos and we'll give you an honest view of what it's likely to need.