Temporary Patch for a Roof

Weather can do a lot of damage to your homes roof, it can strip shingles off, punch a hole in it, or break out sun roof's, all of which can cause even more damage to your home by dumping water in the house. Whose responsibility is it to temporary secure the roof? YOUR'S.

But how? I drive around town all the time seeing temporary covers that are wrong. Water flows down hill, so for a temporary cover to work you must start at the top of the roof and work your way down and over the hole. If you don't the water will run down the roof and under your cover right into the hole. The water your trying to keep out is not the rain hitting the hole but the water running down the roof.

To secure a cover well use a tarp, not plastic as plastic will tend to rip if the wind picks up again. Start over the top of the roof, roll a 2x4 into the tarp leaving about a foot and a half on each side and nail it to the roof, yes nail it. The nail holes can be patched easily when the roof is fixed, and you want your temporary cover to stay until then.

Next roll a 2x4 into the bottom of the tarp leaving that same foot and a half, now pull it tight and nail the bottom.

Now with the foot and a half on each side pick one roll the 2x4 and nail it. When you do the other side pull it tight and nail it. Now you have a secure tight temporary cover that will hold up to the rain.

Key things to remember is you want to get about 10 ft of cover to each side so get at least a 20-foot wide tarp, and when the repairs are done patch the holes from the nails. If the leak is in a valley put some weight on the tarp in the valley and then nail the boards. You can use bricks or fire logs to hold the middle of the tarp down but put plenty for any wind that may come and use the 2x4s on the sides.

This should get you through until the roof can be permanently repaired or replaced.