Roofing Services
Roof Tarping in the Quad Cities
At a Glance
- A tarp is temporary cover, not a repair
- It must run over the ridge, not stop below it
- Battens hold. Bricks and tires do not
- Every tarp we place is photographed first for your claim
Almost everybody has seen a blue tarp on a roof flapping loose by the second week. That is not the tarp failing. It is the fastening. Done right, a tarp is a boring, reliable thing that holds through wind and rain for as long as you need it to.
How a Tarp Is Supposed to Go On
- The tarp is sized to run well past the damage on all four sides
- The top edge goes over the ridge and down the far side, so water cannot run under it
- The top edge is wrapped around a furring strip and screwed through into the deck
- The sides get the same treatment, wrapped and screwed, not weighted
- Every screw goes where a fastener can be sealed later, or into a section coming off anyway
A tarp that stops short of the ridge funnels water underneath itself and makes the leak worse. It is the single most common mistake, and it looks fine from the ground.
Why Weighted Tarps Fail
Sandbags, bricks, tires and lumber laid on top all work until the first gust that gets under an edge. Wind does not push a tarp down. It lifts it, and a lifted tarp with fifty pounds on it becomes a sail with a weight attached. That is how tarps end up in the neighbor's yard and how the damage underneath doubles.
What It Buys You
Time, and nothing else. Time to get an adjuster out. Time to get on a real schedule instead of taking whoever can come tomorrow. Time to read the estimate properly.
After a wide hail or wind event, that time is worth a great deal, because the first week is when people sign bad contracts in their own driveways.
Questions About Roof Tarping
Can I tarp it myself?
You can, and we would rather you did not. The roof is wet, probably damaged, and the fall is the dangerous part, not the tarp. If you are going to anyway, do it from a ladder at the edge and never in wind.
Will the screws leak later?
Every fastener hole gets sealed or covered when the permanent repair happens. A handful of sealed screw holes is a far smaller problem than a week of rain through an open roof.
How fast can you tarp?
Storm nights we go in order of severity, water coming into a living space first. We will tell you honestly on the phone where you sit in the line.
Get It Looked At First
No sales call. A roofer looks at the roof and tells you what it needs.