New Pitsligo · Aberdeenshire
Emergency Roof Repairs Across North Aberdeenshire
If there is water coming into the house, ring rather than email — the phone is answered 24 hours a day. We make the roof safe first and sort the permanent repair once the weather allows.
What to do before we get there
Two things actually help, and one thing people do that makes it worse.
- Move what you can out from under it and get a basin down
- If a ceiling is bulging with trapped water, pierce it in the middle with a screwdriver and catch what comes out — a full ceiling that lets go on its own does far more damage
- Turn off the electrics to that room if water is anywhere near a light fitting
What not to do is get up on the roof yourself in a blow. Wet slate on a pitch in a north-easterly is how people end up in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Whatever is up there will wait for us.
Making it safe properly
A tarpaulin weighted down with a few blocks is gone by morning in a Buchan gale. When we sheet a roof we batten the sheet down over the ridge and fix it into sound timber, so it is still there after a night of 60mph gusts. Where slates have gone from one area we will often refix on the spot instead, because a proper repair is quicker than a temporary one that has to be undone later.
Storm weeks
When a named storm comes through, the whole of Buchan rings the same morning. We work through genuine emergencies first — water actively entering a house, slates or a chimney pot in danger of coming down onto a path or a road — and everything else goes into the diary behind them. Tell us clearly what is happening when you ring and we can place you correctly.
Insurance claims
Storm damage is usually covered by buildings insurance. We photograph the damage before we touch anything, and again once it is made safe, and we itemise the quote in a way loss adjusters expect to see. That evidence is much harder to produce after the repair is finished, which is another reason to ring us before anyone climbs up.
Once the weather settles we will price the permanent work, whether that is a targeted repair, stack rebuilding or a new roof.
Questions about emergency roof repairs
Do you charge more for emergency call-outs?
You will be told what it costs on the phone, before we set off. We would rather have that conversation up front than turn up and surprise you with it.
Will you come out at night?
The phone is answered around the clock, so ring whatever the hour. Whether we climb that night is a different question — working a roof in darkness and wind is rarely safe, so often the right answer is to make the inside safe overnight and get up there at first light. Either way you will speak to someone.
Can you deal with my insurer directly?
We provide the photographs, a written report of the damage and an itemised quote, which is what most insurers ask for. The claim itself stays in your name.
Water coming in? Ring, do not email
Say on the phone that water is entering the house and you go to the front of the queue. Make the inside safe, stay off the roof, and let us get there.