Service
Storm and roof leak damage in Bowie, Maryland
A leak that shows up as a ceiling stain started on the roof, often a few feet away from where the water drips.
Give your ZIP code and say what happened. Calling soon after you find the water helps.
Limit the damage you can reach
Move belongings away from the drip. Put a bucket under it, and keep out of any room where the ceiling bulges or sags. Keep off the roof. A wet roof after a storm is not the place to learn where the damage is.
Photograph the ceiling, the walls and the roof from the ground before anything is covered or moved. Your insurer will ask for these.
The line between roof work and water work
A roofer fixes the opening. A restoration contractor deals with the water that already got in: wet insulation, ceiling drywall, attic framing and the rooms below. They are different jobs, and on a storm claim they are often priced and approved separately.
Both are home improvement in Maryland's definition, which covers repair or replacement of part of a residence. That means the Home Improvement Commission license rules apply to a roofer as well, and the contractor's license number has to appear on the written contract.
What the insurance regulator says about storms
Insurers separate rain that enters through a roof, window or wall from water that rises from the ground or arrives as surface flooding, which usually needs a separate flood policy. The line gets blurry at ground level, and the policy wording decides. The Maryland Insurance Administration's flood versus water damage page covers the subject.
Water still running or standing?
Call and say where the water is and what caused it. You will be connected with an independent restoration contractor taking calls for your ZIP code.