Emergency Roof Repair in Kirkland and King County
A limb through the shingles, a ridge stripped by wind, water coming through the ceiling. We tarp the opening, photograph the damage for your insurer and come back for the permanent repair once the roof dries. Based in north Kirkland, working across King County.
- Same-Day Tarping
- Fallen Trees and Limbs
- Photos for Insurance
- Permanent Repair
The short answer
When wind or a falling tree opens your roof, the fix comes in three parts. A crew fastens a heavy tarp over the hole, the same day you call if there's daylight left and the wind allows a safe climb. The damage is photographed before anything gets covered, so your insurer sees what the storm did. After that, once the weather breaks, you get a written, itemized estimate for the permanent repair. Call (425) 448-5556.
What Happens After You Call
Here's the order we work in. If water is coming in right now, read our emergency roof tarping guide first. It covers what to do inside the house during the first 24 hours.
Tell Us What Happened
Call or send a message with the address and what you can see from the ground: a limb on the roof, say, or a stain spreading across a ceiling. If a tree is still lying on the house, a tree service has to lift it off before anyone can get a tarp on.
Photos First, Then the Tarp
Before anything gets covered, we photograph the damage, wide shots and close-ups, plus the attic underneath. Then the tarp goes on, fastened to solid decking past the edges of the hole so the wind can't peel it back. You get copies of the photos for your claim.
The Permanent Repair
When the roof has dried out enough to work on, we inspect the damaged section, including the decking and rafters under it, and give you a written, itemized estimate. If your adjuster wants to see the damage first, the tarp stays on while the claim moves forward.
Emergency Roof Repairs We Handle
Trees and Limbs
Douglas firs and bigleaf maples drop limbs in a hard blow, and whole trees can tip when the ground is soaked. Once the tree crew has cleared it, we cover the hole and check what broke underneath.
Wind-Torn Shingles
Gusts get under shingle edges, crease them and peel off ridge caps. With shingles in the yard, the underlayment is the only thing keeping rain out, so we cover the bare spots fast and match the shingles on the repair.
Leaks That Start in a Storm
Sideways rain finds weak flashing around chimneys and skylights. We stop the water first, then trace where it's getting in once the roof is safe to walk. Leak showed up without a storm? See when a roof leak can't wait.
Emergency Tarping
A heavy tarp fastened over the opening and well past it, sealed so it stays put through the next front. A typical emergency tarp runs $250 to $500. A steep or two-story roof costs more, and so does a big opening.
Photos for Your Claim
Washington's Insurance Commissioner tells homeowners to photograph storm damage and keep receipts for temporary repairs such as tarps. You get both from us. Not sure a claim is worth filing? Our storm damage insurance guide runs the numbers.
Broken Decking and Rafters
When a limb comes through, the plywood under the shingles often breaks with it, and sometimes a rafter does too. That's structural work, so it gets rebuilt before any new roofing goes on. In Kirkland it also needs a permit, and we file it.
Not an emergency? A slow leak or a few missing shingles can wait for a regular roof repair visit.
We offer financing
We’ve partnered with Wisetack to offer our customers flexible financing options, so you can pay over time rather than all at once. The application takes about a minute to complete, and checking your options does not impact your credit score.
- Finance projects up to $25,000*
- Terms from 3 to 120 months*
- APRs range from 0 to 35.9%*
- No hidden fees or compounding interest
Prequalify today with no impact to your credit and contact us to learn about financing your next project!
*All financing is subject to credit approval. Your terms may vary. Payment options through Wisetack are provided by our lending partners. For example, a $1,200 purchase could cost $104.89 a month for 12 months, based on an 8.9% APR, or $400 a month for 3 months, based on a 0% APR. Offers range from 0-35.9% APR based on creditworthiness. State interest rate caps may apply. No other financing charges or participation fees. See additional terms at https://wisetack.com/faqs. https://www.wisetack.com/faqs..
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Storms and Falling Trees on the Eastside
Around here it's wind and trees that open roofs, not hail. The Western Regional Climate Center's climate summary for Washington says damaging hailstorms rarely, if ever, hit most of western Washington.
Late Fall Through Winter
The same summary puts the strongest winds in late fall and winter, out of the south or southwest. In western Washington's interior valleys, it expects winds to reach 40 to 50 mph every winter and 75 to 90 mph about once every 50 years.
November 19, 2024
That evening's bomb cyclone sent gusts to 59 mph at Sea-Tac Airport and 52 mph at a Bellevue station 1,169 feet up, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle. Kirkland's station topped out at 38 mph. PSE listed Kirkland among the communities with lighter winds, where outages came mostly from limbs on lines.
Over 400,000 Without Power
More than 400,000 Puget Sound Energy customers lost power that night. PSE said the biggest impact was in King County, where its crews described the damage as comparable to the worst storms of past decades.
A City Under Big Trees
Tree canopy covered about 38 percent of Kirkland in 2021, down from 40 percent in 2010, and the city's goal is to get back to 40. All that shade is part of why people live here. It also leaves a lot of houses with limbs that can reach the roof.
Storms Come in Waves
Three days after the bomb cyclone, on November 22, the Weather Service was logging gusts again: 45 mph at West Point in Seattle and 38 mph in Maple Valley. A tarp has to be fastened well enough to ride out the next round, not just the night it goes on.
Downed Lines Come First
PSE tells people never to touch or go within 35 feet of a downed power line, since it may still be energized. If a tree brought a line down onto your roof or yard, call 911 or PSE before anyone goes near it, roofers included.
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Emergency Roof Repair FAQ
How fast can you get a tarp on my roof?
We try to tarp the same day you call, as long as there's daylight and the wind lets a crew work safely. After a big regional storm like the one on November 19, 2024, calls come in from all over King County at once. We sort them by urgency, and water coming into living space goes to the top of the list.
Do you tarp roofs at night or in a windstorm?
No. Nobody should be on a wet roof in the dark or in strong gusts, and that includes our crew. If the damage happens at night, call with the address and what you can see, and the crew goes up once it's light and the wind has dropped.
How much does emergency roof repair cost?
Expect two bills. A typical emergency tarp runs $250 to $500, more on a steep or two-story roof. The permanent repair is priced separately in a written estimate after we inspect the damaged section. Broken decking or a cracked rafter adds to that number.
A tree fell on my roof. What should I do first?
Get everyone out of the rooms under the impact. If a power line came down with the tree, stay at least 35 feet away and call 911 or Puget Sound Energy, because PSE warns that downed lines may still be energized. Don't climb up or try to cut the tree off the house. Take photos from the ground, tell your insurance company, then call us. A tree service has to lift the tree off before the hole can be tarped.
Will my insurance pay if it was my neighbor's tree?
Often your own policy pays, and you cover the deductible. Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner says your homeowner insurer will often pay even when the tree was the neighbor's, and may be able to collect from the neighbor's insurer if you can show the neighbor was at fault. Removing the tree is usually covered only when it landed on the house or the garage, not when it fell in the yard.
Can I cut down a dangerous tree in Kirkland without a permit?
Yes, if it poses an imminent risk to life or property. Kirkland's Emergency Tree Removal Process lets you take it down first and report it to the city within 7 days, with evidence of the threat such as photos or an arborist report. If the city decides the removal wasn't warranted, code violation fines can apply, so photograph the tree before it comes down.
Does a storm repair in Kirkland need a permit?
It depends on what broke. Kirkland exempts like-in-kind re-roofing on one- and two-family homes as long as the roof sheathing isn't removed or replaced, so replacing torn shingles usually doesn't need one. When a limb breaks the sheathing or a rafter, the repair involves structural elements and needs a permit. If yours does, we file it.
How can I tell storm damage from an old roof?
We'll tell you which one it is before you file anything. Insurance pays for sudden damage, like a limb through the roof or shingles torn off in a windstorm, not for a roof that was already worn out. The state insurance commissioner also warns that an insurer may not renew a policy after claims, even small ones, so filing for wear can cost you more than it pays.
Roof Open to the Weather?
Call with the address and what you're seeing. We'll get the opening covered as soon as it's safe to climb, photograph everything for your claim and write up the permanent repair after it dries out.
Prosperity Roofing is a Kirkland roofing company at 13223 118th Ave NE. We handle emergency roof repair in every part of Kirkland, from Finn Hill and Juanita to Houghton and Bridle Trails, and in Bellevue, Redmond, Bothell, Woodinville, Sammamish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Auburn, Federal Way and the rest of King County.