Do this first
What to do right now
- Put a bucket under the drip and move electronics and furniture out from underneath.
- If the ceiling is bulging, pierce the low point with a screwdriver from a safe distance to let the water out, a trapped pocket can bring the whole sheet down.
- Cut power to that area at the breaker if water is anywhere near a light fixture or outlet.
- Photograph the ceiling, the wet insulation and any exterior damage you can see from the ground in Lexington-Fayette.
- Do not go on the roof in rain, wind or after dark.
- Request emergency dispatch so the roof can be tarped before the next band of rain.
Where the leak is, and where the water shows up
Water rarely drips straight down from the hole. It runs along the top of the decking, down a rafter, across a ceiling joist, and emerges at the first low point it finds, often several feet away and sometimes on the other side of a room. That is why a repair based on where the stain is usually fails. A contractor will trace it back from the interior evidence, and in the attic will look for the wet path in the insulation and the darkened line on the framing.
The usual suspects on Kentucky homes
Failed pipe boots are the most common single cause on asphalt-shingled homes, the rubber collar around a plumbing vent cracks after ten or twelve years of ultraviolet exposure and lets water straight in. After that come step flashing where a roof meets a wall, chimney counter-flashing, valley wear, nail pops that back out and lift a shingle, and ice damming at the eave after a hard Kentucky freeze. And on this site's core subject: gutters. A blocked gutter that backs water up under the shingle course at the eave produces a leak that looks exactly like a roof failure and gets misdiagnosed regularly.
Tarping is triage, not a repair
An emergency visit gets the water stopped. A properly installed tarp is run over the ridge and secured so wind cannot get under it, and it buys days to weeks, not a season. Expect the permanent repair to be scoped separately once the roof can be inspected dry.
Dry it out or you will be back
Wet blown-in insulation loses most of its R-value and stays wet for a long time in Kentucky humidity. Wet drywall and framing in a closed ceiling cavity are where mold starts. Getting air moving and, if the area is significant, getting the wet material removed matters as much as fixing the hole. Document everything for your insurer before anything is torn out.
