Do this first
What to do right now
- Note exactly where water is entering inside, and where daylight is visible in the attic. That tells the crew where to centre the tarp.
- Clear the driveway and side access so a ladder and materials can get in without moving vehicles.
- Do not put anything heavy on a compromised roof, bricks, sandbags and pavers on wet sheathing make the hole bigger.
- Move stored items out of the attic beneath the opening if it is safe to reach them from inside.
- Photograph the opening from the ground and the attic before the tarp goes on.
- Ask for the tarp to be battened and run over the ridge where possible, and get the expected coverage period in writing.
What a professional tarp job looks like
A tarp that works is not a sheet weighted down with whatever was in the yard. It is a heavy-mil poly or reinforced cover that extends well past the damaged area on all sides, runs up and over the ridge wherever the geometry allows so that water cannot drive under the top edge, and is fastened with furring strips, battens, screwed through the tarp into the sheathing, then wrapped so the fasteners themselves are covered. Edges are sealed or lapped in the direction water travels. Done properly it will hold through a Southern California winter storm sequence. Done as a weighted sheet, it comes off in the first Santa Ana gust and takes tiles with it.
Tarping a tile roof is a different job
Much of the older Sacramento housing stock is clay or concrete tile, and tile does not tolerate foot traffic, especially wet. A crew that knows the region will walk the low points of the tile pan or use roof jacks and padding, remove the tile in the affected area rather than screwing straight through it, and cover the exposed underlayment. Screwing battens through intact tile creates new leaks that show up long after the tarp is gone.
How long a tarp should stay on, and what it costs you
Treat a tarp as a 60-to-90-day measure. UV in Southern California destroys polyethylene faster than most people expect, and an aging tarp fails silently, the water goes under it and you find out from the ceiling. Get the permanent repair scheduled while the tarp is going on, not after.
Most homeowners policies treat emergency tarping as reasonable mitigation and reimburse it, and many policies actually require you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Keep the invoice, photograph the tarped roof, and give both to your adjuster. If a contractor asks you to sign an assignment of benefits before they will tarp, read it carefully or decline: you can pay for a tarp and stay in control of your own claim.
