Emergency roof tarping — a stopgap that has to be done right
An emergency tarp-over is temporary weatherproofing over a roof breach — missing or torn-off shingles, a hole from a fallen limb, damaged flashing — done to stop water intrusion until permanent repair happens. It sounds simple, but a poorly secured tarp fails in the next windstorm and does almost nothing, while a properly installed one, battened down with furring strips and fastened well past the edges of the damage, holds through sustained Pacific Northwest wind and rain for weeks if needed.
The Vancouver and Portland metro's wet season makes tarping timing matter more than in drier climates. A breach that goes uncovered doesn't just risk one storm — it sits exposed to the region's long stretch of fall and winter rain, and every additional storm before a proper tarp goes on compounds attic, ceiling, and wall damage well beyond what the original wind or tree event caused. That's why we treat tarping as the priority the moment conditions are safe to work, ahead of any other assessment.
Not every tarp job is the same. A localized breach from a few missing shingles needs a smaller, more precisely placed tarp; a full tree strike or a torn-off section spanning multiple roof planes needs a larger tarp system anchored across ridges and valleys to shed water correctly rather than pool it. Getting the coverage and fastening wrong turns a temporary fix into a new leak source.
