Cover the opening. Then talk.

A tarp goes on a roof. Plywood goes on a window, a sliding door, or a wall opening. People mix the words after a storm because both mean “close the house.” The crew, the ladder, and the material are not the same. Tell us which one you are looking at when you call. If you are not sure, say what you see: sky through the ceiling, glass on the floor, or a door hanging open.

Montrose bungalows add a third version. A flat porch roof or a patched dormer can open up while the main gable looks calm. A townhome on the same block may only need a window boarded because the shared roof is someone else’s association. Meyerland ranches sit low, so a limb can punch a hole you notice only when the ceiling drips. We ask for the address and the opening, not a neighborhood stereotype.

Get people and pets out of the room if the ceiling is sagging or the floor is wet near outlets. If you can shut the water off without stepping through standing water, do that. Do not stand under a ceiling that is bowing. Move furniture you can carry. A soaked sofa is a loss. A person under wet drywall is worse.

Photograph the opening, the room, and the path the water took. Then you can cover a small hole with a bucket and plastic if you can do it from the floor. Do not climb. Do not nail a random sheet over the only evidence and then wonder what the adjuster needed to see. Wide shot, close shot, then the temporary cover.

• Stay off the roof.
• Keep clear of sagging ceilings and standing water near power.
• Photograph before you cover, when you can do it safely.
• Call (713) 909-0034 and say roof, window, or both.

We look at the slope, the weather, and whether the deck will hold a person. If it will, the tarp is pulled over the opening and fastened so wind has a harder time getting under it. Valleys and the downhill side matter. A tarp that dumps rain into the hole is not a cover. Caps, boots, and the edge of the tear get attention so the next rain does not find a new path.

Tight streets change the work. In Montrose and Garden Oaks, the ladder and the truck have to fit between parked cars and oaks. In Cypress or Kingwood there is usually a driveway, and the problem is height, pines, and a larger roof. We plan the drop for the lot you have. If lightning is on top of us, we wait. A wet, windy night is when people want the tarp most, and it is also when a roof is least safe.

• Emergency roof tarping
• Emergency board-up
• Storm openings in Montrose
• Limb damage in Garden Oaks

Plywood over a broken window keeps rain and people out. It is ugly on purpose. We cut it to the opening, fasten it so it stays in a Houston wind, and leave the smashed frame alone until someone is ready to talk about glass. If the door is the opening, we secure the doorway so the house can be locked. That is not a new door slab and it is not a security system.

After a storm, board-up and a tarp often land on the same house. Wind takes a window and lifts a slope. Do them as one visit if both are open. Take photos of each opening. If you are filing, those photos are part of your record. We are not public adjusters. The plywood and the tarp are construction. The claim is between you and your insurer.

A tarp is not a roof. Sun and wind cook it. It can last days or weeks, not a summer, if the opening is large. Schedule the repair or the replacement while the cover is doing its job. If the ceiling got wet, drying does not wait on the shingle color. Wet insulation and drywall keep taking on Houston humidity under a perfect tarp.

We will tell you if we think the roof can be repaired or if the slope is done. That opinion comes after we can see it, which may be the tarp visit or a daylight return. Call (713) 909-0034. Family-owned since 1993. If you cannot call, the emergency form reaches the same team.

• Request emergency help
• Drying what the opening already wet
• Low roofs in Meyerland
• Wind and limb openings in Spring

Walk the rooms in daylight. New stains, a soft spot in the ceiling, and a musty closet are the clues that water traveled past the opening you already know about. Attic insulation can be soaked while the bedroom looks almost normal. Open the attic hatch if you can do it without stepping through wet insulation, and look for daylight.

Call your insurer if the loss is sudden and you plan to file. Keep the tarp receipt. Leave the plywood up until the glass or the door is actually being replaced. Pulling it down for a showing and then getting another storm is how a small opening becomes a wet house. We can come back for the permanent roof when you are ready to hire it.