A tarp is a temporary cover that keeps rain and snow out of an opened roof until a real repair can be done.
Fastest: call (833) 751-2102. Or send this and we call you back.
Emergency roof tarping means a roofer covers a damaged section with a heavy-duty tarp, strapped or battened to the roof so wind cannot lift it, to keep water out until the roof can be repaired. Warwick Roofing connects callers across Kent County and the nearby bay towns with an independent roofer, who comes when a crew is free.
A tarp is not a repair. It is a stopgap that buys you time when a limb has come through the shingles, a gust has peeled back a section of roof, or a leak has started and the next rain is on the way. The job is to keep water off the deck and out of the ceilings below until the permanent work can be scheduled.
Around Narragansett Bay, this call tends to follow weather the region remembers. Hurricane Bob in 1991 brought a 125 mph gust at Providence and extensive roof damage, Sandy in 2012 caused widespread roof damage across the state, and a nor'easter can do the same quietly over one long night. Roofs that have already been stressed by years of freeze and thaw are the ones that give way first.
Call (833) 751-2102, describe what you can see from the ground, and you are put through to an independent local roofer who serves your town. Arrival depends on when a crew is free, and after a big storm every roofer is busy at once, so the most useful thing you can do while you wait is protect what is under the opening and take photos.
Move belongings out from under the leak, set a bucket or tub under any drip, and photograph the damage from the ground and from inside. Keep people and pets out of any room with a sagging ceiling. A roofer arrives when a crew is free, so protect the contents and document what you see.
Water follows a path, and the drip you see is rarely right under the hole. It runs along rafters and the top of the ceiling before it finds a place to fall, so check the room around the stain, not only beneath it. Move furniture and electronics to a dry room and lift a rug if water is pooling on the floor.
Pushing a small hole through the lowest point of a bulging ceiling stain can let trapped water out into a bucket, but only if you can do it without standing under the sagging area. If you are not sure, call first. A ceiling holding water can come down all at once.
A properly secured tarp can ride out ordinary storm wind, but it is a short-term cover, not a roof. How long it lasts depends on how it was fastened, the wind it faces and the condition of the roof underneath, which is why the permanent repair should follow soon.
Bay-side towns take wind off open water. Hurricane Bob made landfall at Newport in 1991, and Sandy in 2012 damaged roofs across the state, so a tarp on a Portsmouth, Jamestown or Warren roof faces more exposure than one on a sheltered street inland. That is why the fastening method matters more than the tarp itself: a loose corner gives wind a place to grab.
A tarp that holds in a gale can still fail slowly: sun and freeze-thaw wear the material, and water that finds a gap at the edge runs back under it. Ask the roofer how long the cover should protect your roof, and book the repair rather than leaving it up through the winter.
A tarp is usually the temporary step that limits further damage while a claim is sorted out. What your policy covers, how much it pays and what it asks of you are decided by your insurer, not by a roofer or by Warwick Roofing, so ask the insurance company before you go further.
Keep the photos and any receipt for the tarping, and ask your insurer what documentation it wants and how it handles emergency work. Policy wording differs, so read yours or ask.
Do not remove the damaged material or throw out torn shingles before the damage has been photographed. For help organizing what to gather, see insurance storm claim roof help. No roofer can promise you what a claim will pay, and neither can we.
Do not climb onto a damaged, wet or iced roof to place a tarp yourself, and stay clear of any power lines touching a limb or the roof. A fallen tree can also load the structure underneath it in ways that are hard to see from outside, so keep out of rooms beneath it. Calling a roofer is the fastest way to get a crew with the right gear, and it keeps you off the ladder.
When you call, say which slope is hurt, whether anything has come through the ceiling and whether the roof is steep or low. Stay off the roof to look. Photos from the yard or a window tell the roofer what size tarp and how many people the job needs.
On arrival the roofer looks at where the roofing has torn away and whether the wood under it is wet, split or missing. A damaged board may need a quick patch first so the cover has something solid to hold.
Limbs, loose shingle pieces and torn felt are cleared from the area so nothing punctures the tarp or lets wind get underneath it. Snow or ice sitting on the damaged slope may have to be cleared first, since a cover cannot be fastened properly over it.
A heavy-duty tarp is run from well below the damage up and over the ridge when the slope allows it, so water running down the roof meets the tarp from above rather than seeping under an edge. Extra length on the low side keeps runoff clear of the opening.
The tarp is held down with wood strips or battens, fastened through to the framing or sheathing rather than just pinned at the corners, so the cover stays tight and the nail holes sit under the strips. Loose edges are what let a tarp flap itself to pieces in the first gust.
The roofer tells you what the tarp is covering and what the real fix involves, from replacing a damaged section of decking to new shingles or flashing. A tarp is meant to be short term, so the repair visit is worth booking as soon as a crew is free.
When a limb has holed one patch of roof, or a vent or chimney cap has been knocked off, a smaller tarp is secured around the opening. It is the quickest job, and it is usually followed by a decking patch and new shingles or flashing once the weather allows.
A larger section of roofing lifted or stripped by wind, or a limb that has ripped across several courses of shingles, is covered from the ridge down. It takes more material and more people, and it matters most on a steep roof where a short tarp would simply slide.
Sometimes there is no obvious hole: water is getting in through failed flashing or a worn valley and the next storm is close. A tarp can sit over that area while the cause is found. See roof leak repair for how that tracing works once the weather clears.
Published guides give no single reliable price for temporary tarping, so none is quoted here. What a roofer charges is shaped by a few things you can describe on the phone.
| Job | Typical range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Size of the area to cover | Quoted on site | A single opening costs less than a full slope or a ridge-to-eave cover |
| Roof pitch and height | Quoted on site | Steep, tall or multi-gabled roofs take more people and more safety setup |
| Access to the roof | Quoted on site | Tight lots, trees, power lines and island or hillside streets all slow a crew |
| Repair to the deck before covering | Quoted separately | If boards underneath are broken or wet, they may need a quick fix first |
These items describe what moves a quote, not a price list. Your exact price is confirmed on site before any work starts, and the later permanent repair is quoted on its own.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent emergency roof tarping, send the form and we'll call you back.
Warwick gets roughly 48 to 49 inches of precipitation a year and about 32 to 37 inches of snow, and the cold season runs about 3.3 months from early December to mid-March. A tarp that goes on in January carries snow, ice and a January day that swings from about 24 F to about 38 F, so freeze and thaw is as much a test as wind. Winter tarping may need snow cleared from the slope first.
Older houses in the villages and mill towns often carry more than one roof layer and complicated rooflines, with valleys, dormers and chimneys that make a tarp harder to fasten cleanly. Roofers plan for the shape of the roof before they decide where the strips go. The tight lots in Central Falls, North Providence and Pawtucket and the hillside streets in Fall River also shape how a crew sets up. Getting to the job can be part of the wait: Prudence Island is reached by water and Jamestown's crews depend on its bridges, so those islands can take longer than a mainland street.
In Newport, Pawtuxet Village, Apponaug and other historic districts, a tarp is a temporary cover, but a permanent repair may need the town's commission to weigh in first, so ask before you order materials.
Repair after wind, fallen limbs and coastal storms, through an independent local roofer reached with one call.
Tracing and fixing roof leaks in Warwick-area homes, through an independent local roofer you reach with one call.
How to document wind and storm damage for your insurer, and how an independent roofer supports a claim with photos and a written estimate.
Targeted repairs to valleys, dormers, shingles and roof edges, done by an independent local roofer reached through one call.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Hurricane Bob in 1991 and Sandy in 2012 both left widespread roof damage across Rhode Island, and homes on the bay take the wind first.
A tarp is meant to be short-term. How long it lasts depends on how it was fastened, the weather and the material, and a roofer should tell you how long to expect it to protect your roof. Plan the permanent repair as soon as a crew is free instead of leaving it through a season.
It is not recommended. Getting a tarp over a ridge means working on a slope with a ladder, and a wet or windy roof raises the chance of a fall. A roofer has the harnesses and extra hands. From the ground, take photos and protect what is inside instead.
Keep everyone out of the rooms below it and call. A roofer may need to have the limb removed before the roof can be covered, and a heavy tree can load the framing in ways you cannot see from outside. Take photos from a safe distance before anything is moved.
Sometimes, but snow and ice on the slope may have to be cleared first because a tarp cannot be fastened properly over them. A roofer decides on the day whether the roof can be worked on with care. If conditions rule it out, a delay is a normal answer.
A temporary tarp is not a roof replacement, so it is a different matter from the permit a new roof needs through a building department. Ask the roofer, and for a permanent fix confirm with your town. For Warwick, the permit guide at do you need a permit to replace a roof in Warwick explains the basics.