North Derbyshire's winter storm season — the sustained gusts off the Peak fringe and the wet months either side of it — is when most of the emergency calls come. Tiles strip at ridge and verge, flashings tear, and occasionally a section gives way. If the storm has just hit your roof, here's what to do first, in order.
1. Make yourself safe before anything else
If water's coming in near any electricals, turn that circuit off at the consumer unit — don't touch wet fittings. Move anything you can from beneath the leak, put buckets or towels down, and if a ceiling is bulging with water, pierce it carefully to release the water before it brings the ceiling down. Don't go up in the loft if the structure looks unsound, and never go up on the roof in a storm — that's how people get killed.
2. Take photos and ring
Photos of the damage from inside and from the ground help the roofer understand what they're coming to, and they're useful if you ever need evidence. Then ring. For an active leak we aim for same-day call-out across Chesterfield and the villages. The sooner you ring, the sooner someone's on the way with the kit to make it safe.
3. Understand the make-safe
The first visit is about stopping the water, not finishing the job. We secure the exposed area — tarpaulin over a stripped section, a temporary flashing to close a gap, boards where needed — and get you dry. That's the make-safe, and it's a temporary measure by design. A storm patch isn't the finished repair; it's the thing that stops the damage getting worse while the weather and the situation allow the proper fix.
4. The permanent repair, done properly
Once the storm has passed and the roof can be worked on safely, we come back to do the permanent repair properly — matching tiles, dressed flashings, re-bedded ridges, whatever the damage actually needs. The make-safe gets you dry; the permanent repair keeps you dry. A firm that tarpaulins your roof and then never comes back has done half a job and left you with a sheet of plastic where your roof should be. We don't — the make-safe is always followed by the proper fix.
What counts as storm damage
A run of tiles stripped by wind, a flashing torn away in heavy rain, a ridge lifted, a section that's collapsed, or water actively coming in past the covering after a blow. These are emergencies. A single tile you noticed has slipped sometime in the last month is not — it can wait a day or two. If you're unsure, ring and ask; we'd rather you called too soon than sat with water running down a wall all night.
Why winter hits this stock the way it does
The higher, more exposed ground toward the Peak fringe and the east takes the worst of the winter gusts, which strip tiles at ridge, verge and flashing lines. Combined with 865mm of rain a year, a roof that was borderline before the storm often goes during it. The Victorian terraces with their ridge and chimney pointing already ageing are the most common casualties — the wind takes what the weather had already weakened.
The honest bit
Some firms treat an emergency call as a licence to charge whatever they like, on the basis that you'll pay anything to stop the water. We don't work that way. The call-out and make-safe are priced honestly and up front, and the permanent repair is quoted separately and in writing before we do it — no vague "emergency price" that balloons later. If you've got storm damage across Chesterfield, Clay Cross or the villages, ring 07949 348947. Fast out, watertight, then fixed properly.