Leaking roof and that bloody storm from US is on its way. What the hell do we do?

[Lemonski]

Recently moved into our house. Woke to a leak in our bathroom thanks to last nights heavy rain. Its not horrendous but in 3 places in and around the dormer window.

It can only be coming through the roof. No pipes, water tanks etc anywhere near where water coming in. Only roof above this leak. Dripping stops when rain stops. starts when rain starts.

Called 4 roofers today. Very hard to know who to call when new to an area with no local contacts. Anyway 2 were too busy to get to me today. One is coming tomorrow afternoon after 3pm. 1 calling me back tomorrow to arrange to come out. 2 not responded yet.

By the time roofer gets here tomorrow afternoon I doubt there will be time to fix the problem as it starts to get dark just before 5pm. I want to get a selection (at least 3) quotes - opinions on what the problem is. However this deluge is on its way Tuesday and Wednesday and we have a colander roof. WTF are we going to do?

I have been looking for reputable roofers all day and there actually are not that many in this area. Even resorted to FacBook but when Fred Blogs has orange faced teenagers with drawn on eyebrows commenting "Wicked" about his roofing services, I'm not convinced he's the type f roofer I am after.

Insurance does not cover any aspect of roof leaks so even more keen to limit further damage.

DH went up as high as he could today and had a look. It is not an obvious tile issue - they all looked in place and in ok condition in his non roofer experience.

I have towels and bowls at the ready but filled with dread.

HELP!!!

No expert, but I would not wait to get it tended to, the longuer you wait the worse the damage can get and the more costly it will be.
it's always best to get multiple quotes, but if only one will come fast that is the one I would hire.
If nothing can be done ASP, ask the roofer that is coming if something can be done to prevent further damage.

Is the issue only now starting? If is was there before but the sellers did not disclose the problem, you might have a way if getting the repair covered by them.

I'm sure someone with more knowlege will post soon.

Whoever comes tomorrow will have to get on the roof to assess problem. See if he thinks he can do a very temporary fix while up there to get you through storms even if it's only securing a tarp for the next couple of days.

I was hoping the man that came today would get up there but he didnt. He came in a small hatch back. Not a ladder in sight.

I know this may sound a ridiculous question but do roofers still get up on the roof to quote these days? Lots of online reviews seem to imply they use binoculars or like mine the mobile phone camera. Health and saftey means some must use towers or scaffold - hardly easy for a quote I suppose but yes I was hopig todays bloke would get up there.

Fingers crossed tomorrows man at least brings a ladder so I can ask for some tarp etc at the very least.

Todays bloke diagnosed - 2 broken tiles and a problem with the lead around the dormer and suggested a further down pie for the guttering to get more water off the roof faster. His quote was reasonable when he called earlier - mind you I have no real idea.

Fingers crossed this rain takes it time to arrive tomorrow and tomorrows bloke can help there and then.

If the damage is on the top of a dormer, I don't see how they could see with binoculars - dormers (for loft conversions, which I imagined is what you are talking about) are generally flat-roofed and on the top of the building so how could they see any faults from the ground? If it's one of those small Victorian-style "attic" dormers with a two sloping roofs then, yes, it could perhaps be assessed from the ground. I'm not sure I'd be overly-impressed with a roofer turning up without ladders - it would be like a builder turning up without a tape measure. It's fairly basic .

They are pitched dormers on a pitched roof lala.

And yes part of the reason I didnt just say can you fix it now or first thing tomorrow was because his lack of ladder concerned me a bit, although he spent ages explaining stuff. But yes I do think how much can any of us see from the ground.

Well as no one else has got back to me the roofer I may employ will be the one with a ladder!!