After a gale, a fallen tree or a sudden leak, most people want two things: the damage to stop spreading and someone to say how bad it is. A make-safe does the first and starts the second. It is short, practical work carried out by a roofer to remove danger and keep weather out, using whatever method suits the damage. It is not a repair in the full sense, and it is not meant to last for years.
This guide is about that professional visit: what is secured, what is covered over, what is taken down, how the work is fixed in place, and how long it can reasonably be left. It is a different subject from a homeowner's own sheet thrown over a slope, which we cover in our piece on roof tarpaulins. For the full range of repairs, see our roof repairs page. We give leaks and storm damage priority, and the longer repair is planned only after the roof has been stopped from getting worse.
The aim of a make-safe: three jobs in one visit
Every make-safe has the same three aims, in a fixed order. The first is to remove anything that could hurt someone: a hanging slate, a loose chimney pot, a ridge section that has slid. The second is to stop water getting into the building, because wet insulation and ceilings cost more than the roof. The third is to leave the roof in a state where it can be surveyed properly and priced without surprises.
Notice what is missing. A make-safe does not try to finish the job. A roofer working at height in poor conditions, perhaps in the dark or in wind, with no time to strip and relay a slope, would be foolish to try. Doing less, well, is the whole point. The proper repair then happens in good light and planned weather, with the right materials ordered.
What we ask before arriving
When you ring, we ask where the water is coming in, what type of roof it is, whether anything has fallen into the garden or lane, and whether any electrics have got wet. If water is near light fittings or a consumer unit, switch the power off at the main switch if you can do so safely and keep clear. Our page on roof leaks and electrics goes into that risk in detail.
What we look at first on site
Before anyone climbs, we study the slopes from the garden and then the underside from inside the loft. The loft shows where water is entering, which is often some way from the stain on the ceiling. Then we judge how to reach the damage: from a ladder, a tower, a roof ladder resting on the slope, or a scaffold if the height or the condition of the roof demands it.
Securing loose tiles, slates and ridges
Loose covering is the first danger, because it falls. Tiles that have lifted but not gone are pressed back into line and held with clips or nails suitable for the covering, so that the next gust does not take them. Slates that have slipped on their fixings are re-seated and, where a nail has failed, held with a temporary clip. The aim is to stop movement, not to match the original fixing method.
Ridge and hip pieces
The ridge is the line at the top where two slopes meet. A hip runs down the roof where two slopes meet around a projecting corner. Both are capped with ridge or hip tiles, historically bedded in mortar. Under BS 5534:2014, mortar on its own is no longer trusted with that job, so fixings are added. In a make-safe, a ridge piece that has cracked its bedding can be taken off and the gap closed, or it can be secured with a temporary clip until the whole line is re-bedded or swapped for a dry-fix system. Where a ridge has slid, taking it down for safety is often better than leaving it perched.
Chimney pots and cappings
A leaning pot, a cracked capping or a loose flaunching (the mortar collar round the base of a pot) can drop onto anyone underneath. We take the loose item down or brace it, and lower it to the ground by hand rather than letting it drop. The stack itself is only assessed at this stage. Rebuilding a damaged stack is a planned job with scaffold, and the typical figures are in our repairs hub.
A loose tile near the eaves above a path or door is the highest priority on any roof, because it falls onto people. We deal with those before we start on the leak.
Sheeting, battens and weatherproof covering
Where tiles or slates are missing and cannot be replaced there and then, the opening is covered. The cover is normally heavy-duty waterproof sheeting, sometimes with a timber board or sheet material under it to span a larger gap. What matters is how it is held down. Sheeting laid loosely over a slope is a sail waiting for a gust to find it.
How sheeting is fixed
The sheet is taken over the ridge or a sound line above the damage, so water running down the slope meets the sheet and not an open edge. It is held with timber battens fixed through the sheet into rafters or into sound battens, and the batten line is spaced so the wind cannot lift the sheet between fixings. Where it laps another sheet, the upper sheet goes over the lower one so that water runs onto and off the joins, not into them. The edges are folded and fixed so they cannot flap. Fixings go through sound timber, never into rotten wood, and we avoid driving them where they would hold water.
Why we do not just stick it on
Self-adhesive and sealant fixes have a place for small, dry splits, and we cover them in our page on roof sealant repairs. On a wet slope after a storm they rarely bond. Mechanical fixing is slower but holds.
Roof-light and flat-roof openings
A broken roof window or rooflight is boarded and sheeted over from outside, or covered from inside if the glass makes the outside unsafe. A split on a flat roof can be covered with a temporary patch or membrane, again fixed mechanically at the edges, until the covering is renewed. Where water has pooled, we clear it first so the cover is not weighed down.
Taking down what should not stay up
Sometimes the safest option is to remove something. A branch lodged in a valley, a leaning aerial, a cracked pot, a section of fascia hanging from its brackets, a length of gutter that has pulled from the wall: any of these can fall further or channel water the wrong way. We take down what is loose and stack it safely for the insurer or for reuse.
Fallen trees
If a tree or large limb is on the roof, the first question is whether the weight is still being carried by the roof structure or whether it is leaning on something that could give way. We do not try to cut or remove a heavy trunk. That is a tree surgeon's job, and the order matters: tree off, then roof assessed. Our page on a tree fallen on a roof covers what to do in the meantime.
Asbestos cement
Older garages, outbuildings and some extensions have corrugated sheets that may contain asbestos cement. If a sheet is broken, do not handle or sweep it. HSE guidance treats careful removal of undamaged or weathered sheet as non-licensed work, but substantial breakage makes it notifiable. We stop, leave the pieces where they lie and advise on the next step before doing anything that would break them further.
Debris and gutters
Tiles on the ground, blocked downpipes and gutters full of debris are cleared when we can reach them without risk. A blocked outlet during a storm sends water over the back of a gutter and down the wall, which looks like a roof leak but is not.
How long temporary works last
There is no fixed life for a make-safe, because it depends on what was done, how big the damaged area was and the weather it has to sit through. A few re-seated tiles and a ridge clip might hold for months, until the next planned visit. A sheet over a large open slope is a different matter: it takes the full force of every gale, and fixings work loose with repeated flexing, so it needs checking after each spell of high wind and replacing if the edges lift.
What shortens the life
- Large unsupported sheets over exposed slopes.
- Fixings into old, soft or rotten timber.
- Repeated freeze and thaw, which stiffens sheeting and splits it at the folds.
- Leaves, moss or standing water collecting behind the sheet.
- Foot traffic, such as a neighbour's contractor or a tree surgeon walking over it.
What we advise
We say, at the end of the visit, what has been done, what it protects, what it does not, and when we think it should be replaced by the permanent repair. If a longer wait is likely because of weather, planning consent or an insurer's assessment, we note that on the report. Our guide to roof repairs in winter explains how the wait is managed between November and March.
From make-safe to the proper repair
Once the roof is dry and nothing is going to fall, the next step is a proper survey. The roof is photographed close up, the loft is checked for wet insulation and rotten timber, and every defect is listed with its cause. From that comes a written quote covering access, stripping, new material, labour, rubbish and finishing off. Our 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the finished repair, in writing.
Listed and older roofs
On a protected house, whether listed or inside a conservation area, the temporary work should be reversible and should not cause damage that has to be undone, such as fixings through ancient timbers. Like-for-like matters at repair stage, so the make-safe does not remove sound original slates or tiles unless it must. Our listed roof repairs guide covers the consent and material questions.
Costs, in outline
MyBuilder's 2026 roof repair guide gives £100 to £300 as a typical range for minor repairs and £500 to £1,500 for storm damage fixes, with a roofer's day rate of £250 to £300. Those are national figures. A make-safe can sit anywhere in that range depending on access and size, and where scaffold is needed it adds to the total. If you intend to claim on insurance, keep the invoice and photographs; our storm damage claims guide shows how the paperwork fits together.
Call 01453 933613, use WhatsApp or the enquiry form, and tell us where the water is coming in and what has fallen.