leaking roof

A question about : leaking roof

Last night I heard a loud dripping in my bedroom and noticed that the architrave leading from the bedroom to the bathroom was dripping in about 4 areas.
I'm a single mum with no idea of what to do, it's Sunday so I am assuming I won't be able to call any roofers out (it's my own house, not council).
Any advise?

Best answers:

• Can you get up into the loft or any roofspace to have a look at what's happening? Any water tanks that might be leaking, or have you had a look at the roof from outside to see if there's any missing / slipped tiles?
  I'd try to get a bit more idea of the cause before calling anyone out if I were you.
• I had a look outside and noticed that where the roof of the bathroom and the rest of the house joins there looks like a piece of tile is missing - also, when I looked in the smaller attic that contains the water tank in the bathroom, I can see daylight along the apex of the roof and the tiles inside are dripping wet
• Hi,
  First try not to worry too much, we use water for everything in the house and houses are built using hundreds of gallons. The problem is really only if the affected area is not allowed to dry out.
  Are you able to gain acces to the loft? is this above the leaking area? try to see from inside where it is coming from and see if you can catch the leak sooner. Have a visual inspection only from outside and see if you may have a tile dislodged or broken.
  Knowing whwere it is coming from is 80% of the battle.
• A few years ago I had the flashing repaired because I had a leak near the same area - I'm assuming its probably something to do with that - I have taped a towel across the top of the door frame (had to change it this morning as it was saturated) I couldn't put a bucket down because it was dripping in several places and also running down the sides of the door frame - I'm really worried because it's forecast for heavy rain all day today and tonight.
• Oh dear, poor you.
  I don't have a clue about building, so can't really offer any practical advice. You might get hold of someone today but you stand the chance of getting royally ripped off if you go via yellow pages, inless you already know someone reputable.
  Could you somehow contain it until tomorrow? Or phone the insurers/ family/friends and see if they have anyone they can recommend? They might have some suggestions as to steps you can take in the meantime to stop if from getting worse. Any way you can put something in the loft to catch the water, before it gets as far as the doorframe?
• Ok so flashing has failed, and the rain is penetrating in several places and running on the underside of the roof covering
  Is it tiles or slates?
  using towels is ok but it holds the water in one place. try to see if you can get a small hanky pinned to the door frame to absorb the water and direct it and let it drip into a bowl.
  Staining is going to be the problem once this is sorted out........
  Are you able to get into the loft yourself?
• try and mitigate any damage by using plastic sheets and buckets etc.. until you can get a roofer in.
  by the sounds of it, it isnt too big a job.
  good luck.
• have you tried phoning your insurers as due to high winds it may be classed as storm damage.
  our insurers had some one round within an hour and it was repaired promptly.
• Have rang my insurers and they've said they're going to get someone to call back later today, and that if a roofer comes round I will need to call the claims department tomorrow. Does that mean I'll have to pay them if they do something today?
  (they are slate tiles, and some of the v shaped tiles on the apex of the roof are missing)
• No-one can come until Tuesday - it's absolutely chucking it down and I've changed the towel 4 times - really worried about the damage it'll do in 2 days
• A Home Insurance will not normally cover repairing flashing if it has simply failed due to age / lack of maintainence. It will normally cover the damage the water has done to your home if you have accidental damage cover