When a storm tears shingles off your roof or a tree limb punches through your decking, every hour matters. Water flowing into the attic soaks insulation, ruins drywall ceilings, shorts out electrical, and grows mold inside 48 to 72 hours. Emergency tarping stops the bleeding so you have time to file an insurance claim and schedule permanent repair without watching your interior get destroyed. We run 24 hour storm response across the Houston metro with a 4 to 8 hour target on standard emergency calls. This page covers what we do, what it costs, and how insurance handles it.
- Response time?
- 4 to 8 hours for active leaks. 24 to 48 hours during major events.
- Cost?
- $400 to $1,200 for most residential emergency tarping.
- Insurance?
- Reimbursable as loss mitigation. We document for the claim.
- Permanent repair?
- Assessment within 48 to 72 hours of tarp install.
What emergency roof response looks like
Heavy-duty tarp installation. 20 mil reinforced poly tarp anchored with sandwich-board lath at the top edge and the bottom edge. Tarp wraps the ridge or the high edge of the damage to shed water. Anchored to the deck through the lath, not through the shingles (which would create new leak points). Tarp lifespan in Houston wind is 60 to 90 days, plenty of time for claim and permanent repair.
Interior leak stop. If the tarp cannot go on immediately (active rain, dangerous wind, dark of night), we set up interior containment: plastic sheeting on the ceiling, buckets positioned, drywall poke-through to channel water into containers instead of letting it pool above the ceiling.
Tree and limb removal. For tree impacts we coordinate with tree services for removal, then tarp the damage. If the tree is small enough we handle removal in-house with the same crew.
Board-up. Windows, doors, or skylights broken by debris are boarded with 1/2 inch plywood and anchored to keep weather and looters out of the structure.
How insurance handles emergency repair
Homeowners policies require the policyholder to mitigate further damage. Emergency tarping, interior containment, and board-up are considered loss mitigation and are paid by the carrier as part of the claim, not separately. We document everything from minute one: photos of original damage before tarping, photos during the tarp install, written invoice with scope and materials. Save all our paperwork and submit it with your claim. Reimbursement is typically straightforward.
Do not wait for an adjuster to approve emergency tarping. Carriers expect you to mitigate immediately and reimburse after the fact. If you wait and water damage spreads to ceilings, drywall, flooring, and electrical, the carrier may attribute that secondary damage to your delay and reduce coverage.
After-event triage during hurricanes and major hail
Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 generated 4 days of nonstop tarp calls. We triage by severity: active water intrusion now (immediate response, within 4 to 8 hours), damaged but not actively leaking (within 24 to 48 hours), cosmetic damage only (scheduled inspection within the week). When call volume exceeds capacity we run 3-shift crews with our partner network of Houston-area roofers we have worked with for years. Major events test the system but we hold the response time.
24 hour storm response
Phone line manned around the clock during active events.
4 to 8 hour standard response
On-site target for active leak calls in the Houston metro.
20 mil heavy-duty tarps
Reinforced poly, anchored with sandwich-board lath. 60 to 90 day service life.
Insurance documentation
Photos and scope from minute one. Reimbursable mitigation.
Tree limb and debris removal
Coordinated with tree services or handled in-house for small impacts.
Board-up for windows and doors
1/2 inch plywood anchored to keep weather and looters out.