Leaks and repairs
Roof Leaking? What to Do First, and What It Costs to Fix
Water coming through the ceiling needs two jobs done fast. Make the room safe and catch the water, then find out why the roof let it in. Here is what to do in the first ten minutes, how to tell whether the leak is an emergency, what usually causes it, and what the repair costs in the UK.
What to do in the first ten minutes
Deal with the two dangers before the drip. Keep everyone out from under a ceiling that is bulging or sagging, and if water could be near electrics, turn off power to that area at the consumer unit if you can reach it safely.
Do not stand under a bulging ceiling
A bulge means the ceiling is holding water. Soaked plasterboard can give way and bring the water and the board down on whoever is underneath, so keep people and pets out of that part of the room.
Once nobody is at risk, protect the room and record the damage before anything gets cleaned up. Your insurer and the roofer will both want photos.
Protect the room and record the leak
- Furniture, electricals and valuables moved away from the drip
- A bucket under the drip, with a towel in the bottom to cut the noise
- Plastic sheeting over the floor and anything too heavy to move
- Photos of the ceiling, the stain and anything damaged
- A note of where the drip lands and whether it is raining hard
- A roofer called, the same day if the leak is an emergency
Is a leaking roof an emergency?
A small stain that is not dripping is not usually an emergency, but it still needs a roofer to look at it. The leak is an emergency if any of these is happening:
- Water is pouring, or dripping heavily, through a ceiling or a light fitting
- The ceiling is bulging or sagging
- Tiles are missing and the roof structure is exposed
- There is any risk that water is reaching electrics
Checkatrade puts emergency call-out fees at around £350. Among the Nottingham roofers ranked on their written guarantees, Roofcare in West Bridgford takes on emergency repairs and insurance work, and guarantees its repairs for 5 years.
Common causes of a roof leak and what each repair costs
Start from where the water shows, but read the answer as a likely cause rather than a certain one: water runs along timbers and membranes before it falls, so the drip is not always below the fault. The prices are Checkatrade’s UK figures excluding VAT, from its roof repair and guttering cost guides, with per m² rates covering repairs up to 3 m² and access equipment such as scaffolding extra.
| Where the water shows | Likely cause | Repair price, excluding VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling under a tiled or slate slope | Broken, slipped or missing tiles or slates | £90 to £160 per m² for plain tiles, £150 to £220 per m² for natural slate |
| Chimney breast, or where a lower roof meets a wall | Damaged lead flashing | £50 to £120 per metre |
| Loft, just below the ridge | Loose or damaged ridge | £50 to £70 per metre for a dry ridge |
| Damp at the top of an outside wall | Blocked or broken gutters | £30 to £70 per metre for new guttering |
| Around a roof window or skylight | Cracked seal or a failing window | £800 to £1,100 or more to repair or replace the window |
| Around a vent or pipe through the roof | Cracked seal | No set rate, and roofers charge £280 to £360 a day |
| Ceiling under a flat roof | Damaged felt, EPDM or GRP covering | £100 to £180 per m² |
| Damp patches with no clear drip | Worn felt or underlay | Priced after inspection |
Roof leaking around the chimney
Water on a chimney breast, or on the ceiling beside the stack, points first to the lead flashing that seals the joint between the chimney and the roof. Replacing Code 5 lead flashing costs £50 to £70 per metre, and stepped lead flashing, the kind that runs down the sides of a stack, costs £80 to £120 per metre.
Roof leaking only in heavy rain
A leak that shows only in a downpour points to a small entry point, such as a cracked tile or a lifted edge of flashing, or to a gutter that overflows once it fills. Look at the gutters from the ground while it is raining, because an overflowing gutter is a cause you can check without a ladder or a trip into the loft.
How to find where the leak is getting in
Go into the loft only if it is safe and dry underfoot, take a torch, and keep your hands off wiring and light fittings. Look for wet timber, a damp patch on the felt or a line of drips. Never climb out onto the roof itself.
Do not seal the leak from inside, even when you can see where the water comes through. A permanent patch in the loft does not stop the water getting in, it sends the water somewhere else.
When you find the wet spot, mark it in chalk and measure how far it is from the chimney stack or a vent pipe. The roofer can then find the same point from outside.
Telling a roofer where the leak is
Do this
Drip through the back bedroom ceiling, worse in heavy rain. Wet felt in the loft about 1.5 m left of the chimney stack, marked in chalk. Photos attached.
Not this
Water coming through the ceiling, can someone come and have a look?
What an emergency roof repair costs
Leak repairs are priced by the m² of tiles or slates and by the metre of flashing or ridge, so the final repair bill grows with the area the roofer has to open up. Checkatrade’s figures put a roofer’s time at about £35 to £45 an hour or £280 to £360 a day.
Scaffolding and waste removal are often left off repair quotes, and on a small job the scaffold can cost more than the repair: a single scaffold up to 10 m high costs around £625 a week.
2 m² of slipped tiles and 3 m of chimney flashing, repaired
| Concrete plain tiles, 2 m² at £90 to £120 per m² | £180 to £240 |
|---|---|
| Stepped lead flashing, 3 m at £80 to £120 per metre | £240 to £360 |
| Single scaffold up to 10 m high, 1 week | £625 |
Total £1,045 to £1,225
Prices exclude VAT. Ask whether scaffolding and waste removal are in the quote, because repair quotes often leave both out.
Repair or replace after a leak
Most roofs last around 20 years without needing work, so a leak on an older roof is a good moment to look for the other signs of a worn-out roof. Daylight showing in the loft, sunken or missing tiles, worn chimney flashing and damaged or rotten underlay are all signs a roof may need replacing, not just repairing.
Common questions
How much does it cost to fix a leaking roof?
It depends on the cause, with UK rates of £90 to £220 per m² for tile or slate repairs, £50 to £120 per metre for lead flashing and £50 to £70 per metre for a dry ridge, all excluding VAT. An emergency call-out is typically around £350, and scaffolding, at around £625 a week, is often left off the quote.
Does home insurance cover a leaking roof?
Home insurance often covers a leak caused by sudden damage, such as a storm, but usually not one caused by wear and tear. Photograph the ceiling, the stain and anything damaged before you clean up, so there is a record of the damage for the claim.
How long does it take to fix a roof leak?
A minor repair takes about half a day, a small area 1 to 2 days, and a complex repair several days. Finding the cause comes first, because the drip inside is not always below the point where the water gets in.
Why is water coming through my ceiling light?
Water from the leak is running along the timbers above the ceiling and coming out at the light fitting, which can be some distance from the fault in the roof. Treat it as an emergency, turn off power to that area at the consumer unit if you can do so safely, and keep out from under the ceiling if it is bulging.
Can I fix a roof leak from inside the loft?
Not permanently, because sealing a leak from inside redirects the water instead of keeping it out. Use the loft to find the wet spot, mark it in chalk and measure it from the chimney stack or a vent, then leave the repair to a roofer working from outside.
Where the figures come from
- Checkatrade, what to do if you have a leaking roof read 2026-09-16
- Checkatrade, roof repair cost guide read 2026-09-16
- Checkatrade, fascia, soffit and guttering replacement cost guide read 2026-09-16
- Checkatrade, roof replacement cost guide read 2026-09-16
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