Emergency Roof
Repair — Within
4 Hours, 24/7.

Storm damage is the most common emergency roof repair scenario across Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin. Named Atlantic storms — Éowyn, Ciarán, Isha, and the unnamed depressions that roll in from the Atlantic throughout autumn and winter — produce wind gusts of 80 to 120 km/h across Munster and Connacht, which is sufficient to displace mortar-bedded ridge tiles, strip poorly fixed slates from exposed elevations, lift membrane sections on flat roofs, and open valley flashings. Our emergency teams are mobilised within 30 minutes of your call and are on-site within 4 hours in Cork and Limerick, 6 hours in Galway and Dublin.

On arrival, we carry out a photographic damage assessment of the full roof, make all active water entry points weathertight immediately using tarpaulins, EPDM patch material, ridge tile stock and temporary slate replacements, and produce a written insurance-compliant damage report before leaving. The emergency weatherproofing is designed to hold until the permanent reinstatement can be completed — typically 3–7 days. The permanent repair is scheduled as priority and carries our 10-year written workmanship guarantee. The €150 emergency call-out fee is credited in full against the permanent repair cost. Insurance documentation is included on every storm emergency callout at no additional charge.

An active roof leak — water visibly entering the property during rain — is an emergency, even if the drip appears small. Water that reaches the interior of a building has already travelled through the roofing structure: through the covering, through or around the felt, along rafters or wall plates, through insulation or ceiling joists. By the time it drips from a light fitting or ceiling rose, a significant volume of material has been wetted. Left unaddressed through a typical Irish wet season, the wetted insulation deteriorates, the ceiling plasterboard softens and fails, and the timer below begins to show signs of rot. The repair cost escalates with every rain event that passes without intervention.

Our emergency leak response covers rapid identification of the entry point (which is frequently not directly above the interior drip location — water travels), immediate sealing of the entry point using compatible materials (lead, EPDM, sealant, temporary flashing), interior protection where ceiling damage is at risk, and a full written quotation for permanent repair before we leave. We do not leave a property with an active leak and a promise to return. The emergency visit ends with the roof watertight. Where the entry point cannot be confirmed with certainty on the emergency visit — sometimes the case in complex multiple-flashing situations — a monitoring visit is scheduled within 24–48 hours to verify the weatherproofing has held.

Flat roof emergencies on domestic extensions, garages and commercial buildings across Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin typically occur when a modified bitumen felt system that has been deteriorating gradually fails completely during a period of heavy sustained rain. The membrane splits at a seam or blister, water enters through the deck and reaches the interior below. Our emergency response for flat roof failures includes EPDM patch repairs on Firestone systems (where the surrounding membrane is in adequate condition), emergency felt overlay in the area of the failure, and heavy-duty tarpaulin installation where the area of failure is too large for an effective patch.

Emergency flat roof repairs are designed to be weathertight for a minimum of 30 days — sufficient time to allow the substrate to dry out, carry out a full condition assessment of the existing membrane and deck, and complete a permanent EPDM, GRP or felt replacement programme on a planned basis rather than an emergency one. Permanent replacement is scheduled within 48–72 hours of the emergency visit on most domestic flat roof projects, subject to material lead time and access preparation. All flat roof emergency work is covered by a 2-year repair guarantee; the permanent replacement system carries our standard 10-year workmanship guarantee and the applicable manufacturer warranty on the new membrane.

Missing slates and tiles after a storm event are an emergency for two reasons: the opening left by the missing slate immediately exposes the sarking felt or breathable membrane beneath to direct rain, and the opening provides a direct path for wind-driven water to reach the interior of the roof space. A single missing slate in a high-wind period can allow several litres of water per hour to enter the roof space, which reaches insulation and ceiling joists faster than most homeowners expect. Our emergency teams carry a stock of the most common slate sizes and concrete tile profiles on every van, so replacement can happen at the first visit across Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin.

Where we cannot source a matching slate or tile on the emergency visit — older profiles, discontinued products, unusual formats on period properties — a temporary weatherproofing patch is installed over the opening while the matching material is sourced. Temporary weatherproofing using heavy-duty EPDM patch material or marine-grade aluminium flashing is designed to hold for 4–8 weeks regardless of weather. We check the surrounding slates and tiles at the same time: a missing slate is often not an isolated event but the visible sign of a section where nail corrosion has affected multiple fixings. Slates that are loose but not yet slipped are secured on the same visit.

Chimney emergencies — leaning or unstable chimney stacks, displaced chimney pots, and failed chimney caps — are safety-critical situations that require immediate response. A chimney stack on a pre-1970 Irish property is typically built from solid clay brick with lime mortar pointing, and 50 to 100 years of Irish weather can leave the mortar in the upper courses so degraded that a sustained wind event causes the stack to rock or lean. A displaced chimney pot on a Dublin or Cork terrace is a falling hazard to the street below as well as a source of water ingress into the flue. We treat chimney emergencies as priority callouts across all five of our regions.

On arrival at a chimney emergency, the immediate priority is making the situation safe: securing loose pots, capping an open flue, and assessing structural stability. Where a stack is leaning or moving, temporary ties or restraint are installed before any other work begins. The full repair programme — repointing in hydraulic lime mortar (NHL 3.5 or 5 as appropriate), lead saddle and cap replacement, flaunching (the mortar haunch around the pot base) renewal, and where required partial or full stack rebuild — is quoted in writing before permanent works begin. All chimney repair work is photographically documented, and structural engineer involvement is arranged where the extent of deterioration requires professional structural assessment.

Collapsed gutters and overflowing or blocked rainwater systems are a more common source of building water damage in Ireland than most property owners realise. A blocked downpipe during a sustained rain event on a large roof causes rainwater to overflow the gutter and run down the wall face, tracking behind render and into the wall cavity, eroding pointing, and in the worst cases saturating masonry to the point where it causes damage to internal plasterwork. A collapsed gutter section or a fascia failure that drops the gutter out of alignment has the same effect. The damage occurs rapidly — one storm event in an October or November wet period is enough to cause significant water ingress through a compromised rainwater system.

Our guttering emergency response includes clearing blocked outlets and downpipes, temporary support or replacement of collapsed gutter sections, and emergency resealing of gutter joints that have opened and are directing water behind the fascia. Where fascia boards are rotten and the gutter is dropping out of alignment because the fixing timber has failed, we include fascia board replacement as part of the emergency programme. Permanent guttering replacement — UPVC, cast aluminium or cast iron to match — is quoted and scheduled within 3–7 days of the emergency visit. All guttering and fascia replacement work carries our 10-year workmanship guarantee.