Imagine for a moment that you have just arrived home after a windstorm and notice water dripping from the ceiling. Upon further investigation, you discover that a tree limb has fallen and punched a hole in the roof. There are some things you can do yourself to keep things under control until the permanent repairs can be made.
One of the first things you will want to do is to call your local home improvement contractor for help. The sooner this is done, the sooner the repairs can be made that are done permanently and correctly. The contractor may be able to advise you of some temporary measures that can be taken until someone arrives to make the repairs. Remember that temporary repairs are just that: temporary. For that reason, you don’t want to delay having a professional do the permanent repair so you won’t have to worry about it leaking again.
When attempting to patch a hole in the roof yourself, the number one thing to keep in mind is safety. Doing work on a roof by nature puts you at risk of injury due to falling, either falling off the roof or falling from the ladder while trying to access the roof. Make sure the ladder is stable and secure by checking it before climbing. Also make sure enough of the ladder is sticking up beyond the edge of the roof to provide a hand hold for getting on and off the roof.
Never try to get onto the roof while the storm is still going on. There are too many dangers. You could be struck by lightning or blown off the roof by the wind. You could also be struck by another falling tree limb. In addition, while the roof is wet, it will be slicker than it is when it is dry.
Instead of trying to get onto the roof while the rain is still going on, you should do what you can to minimize the damage from below. This includes putting pails or other containers under the leak to catch the water. You might need to move furniture or other items that are not permanently installed out of the way.
If you are a bit handier with using tools for projects around the house, there are some things you can do to patch the hole. The shingles can be removed from the area adjacent to the hole. The hole can then be plugged with using wood and roofing tar, or you can purchase a kit that is especially designed for this purpose. However, either of these methods can be quite involved so you might want to leave this to the professionals.