When a tree comes down on a house, the noise and the mess make it feel as if everything needs doing at once. It does not. A fallen tree on a roof is mostly a safety problem first and a roofing problem second, and the order matters. The tree may be holding up part of the damaged roof, an unstable branch may still be hanging, and water, gas and electricity may all be affected. This page sets out what to do in the first minutes, who deals with what, how the tree is removed, and how the roof is made watertight and then put right.
The first minutes: people, services and distance
Get everyone out of any room directly under the damage, and out of the house if the ceiling has cracked or sagged. A roof carrying a tree is carrying far more weight than it was built for, and a ceiling beneath it can drop without warning. Account for everyone in the household, including those upstairs, and keep pets away. If anyone is hurt, or someone is trapped, ring 999.
Then think about services. If the tree is touching or near overhead wires, stay well clear and do not touch the tree, anything wet near it, or any fence or metalwork it may be resting on; ring the emergency services and your electricity network operator. If you can smell gas, leave and ring the gas emergency line from outside. If water pipes or the water tank in the loft have been broken, turn off the water at the stopcock and, if wiring is wet or exposed, switch off at the consumer unit only if you can reach it without standing in water. Do not go up a ladder, and do not climb onto the roof to look.
Who to call, and in what order
The order that works best is emergency services if there is danger to life, then the utility companies if lines or pipes are involved, then a roofer to make the property safe and weathertight, then your insurer, then a tree surgeon to remove the tree if the roofer cannot do it. In practice the roofer and the tree surgeon often work together on the same day, because removing the tree safely and covering the hole are two parts of one job.
Ring your insurer early. Buildings insurance commonly covers damage from a fallen tree, but each policy has its own wording and excess, and the insurer may have an emergency line or an preferred firm they want used. Ask what they will pay for and what they expect you to arrange, and keep every receipt. If the tree came from a neighbour's garden or from land owned by the council, say so on the claim, because that affects who is responsible. Whether the owner of the tree is liable depends on the circumstances, which is a legal question for your insurer or an advice service to settle, and not something a roofer can decide.
Why you should not cut the tree yourself
A fallen tree on a roof is under tension. A trunk may be wedged against the wall, a branch may be resting on a rafter, and a cut in the wrong place can release the weight onto the roof in one jerk, or make the whole tree roll. A chainsaw used from a ladder is one of the most dangerous jobs in domestic maintenance. The people who do this are tree surgeons with lifting gear, rope access and cranes where needed, working in sections from the top down so that no section lands on a weaker part of the roof.
A roofer will not usually cut the tree either. What the roofer does is look at the roof structure around it, tell the tree surgeon where it is safe to lower sections, and arrange support under the damaged area if it is needed. That might mean propping the ridge or rafters from inside the loft, or setting up scaffold to take some weight. We ask the tree surgeon to take the tree off in sections and to avoid dragging pieces across tiles, because a branch dragged over sound roof does as much harm as the fall.
What damage a tree actually does
Crushed and displaced tiles
A branch or trunk lands and breaks tiles directly beneath it. It also pushes tiles down and sideways, so damage spreads upslope and downslope and shows as ripples in the line of the courses. Underneath, the battens (the laths that carry the tiles) snap and the underlay tears.
Broken rafters and ridge
A heavy trunk can break rafters, split a purlin (the horizontal timber that supports rafters in the middle of a slope) or push the ridge out of line. This is structural damage, and the repair is carpentry as well as roofing. A structural engineer may be needed where timbers are broken or walls have moved.
Chimneys, gutters and roofline
Trees hit chimneys and the roofline most often because those are the highest or most exposed parts. A stack can crack or tip, and fascias, soffits and gutters get torn off along the edge. Gutter brackets are fixed to the fascia and the rafter ends, so a broken fascia may mean the rafter ends behind it are damaged too.
Wet insulation and ceilings
Once the roof is open the rain falls straight through the damaged area into the loft. Insulation soaks up water like a sponge and holds it against the ceiling, so the plasterboard below becomes the next casualty. It is worth removing wet insulation promptly and letting the area dry, with a window open if the weather allows, before anyone decides what the ceiling needs. Plaster that has soaked for days can sag or grow mould, and it is far easier to judge once the loft above has been dried out.
How the roof is made safe first
With the tree gone, or while it is being taken off in stages, the roofer's priority is to close the hole. That starts with removing loose and broken material that could fall. Where the structure is sound, a temporary cover goes over the opening, secured to the roof timbers with battens. Where it is not, the temporary cover goes on once the props are in. The method, and why we avoid nailing through sound tiles, is described in our guide to temporary roof repairs and tarpaulins.
We do not promise a time, because jobs like this depend on the weather, access and the tree surgeon, but a tree on a roof is the kind of call we prioritise and our first aim is always to make the roof safe. Before anything is taken off we photograph the damage and the tree where it lies, because the insurer will want to see how the roof looked when the tree landed. Our guide on storm damage to roofs sets out what evidence helps.
Assessing the roof after the tree is off
Only once the tree has been lifted away can the roof be properly assessed. We survey from above and from inside the loft, checking for broken rafters, cracked purlins, shifted wall plates (the timbers that sit on top of the walls and take the roof's weight), bent or cracked chimney stacks, and tearing in the underlay. Damage often extends beyond the impact point, so we also check the neighbouring slopes and the party wall line on a semi or terrace.
If there is any doubt about the structure, we say so and recommend that a structural engineer looks at it. A roof that looks fine from the ground may have a cracked rafter that fails in the next heavy snow. You will get photographs of what we find, so that the insurer and a structural engineer can see it as well.
Repairing the roof properly
The repair follows the damage. Minor cases mean replacing broken tiles and battens, relaying the tiles that were displaced and patching the underlay. More serious cases need new rafters, sistered alongside the old ones or replaced entirely, then new battens, new underlay and matching tiles or slates across the affected area. Where a ridge has moved or a chimney has cracked, those are rebuilt, with the ridge fixed mechanically as well as bedded, in line with BS 5534:2014.
When a large part of a slope has been affected, an insurer may prefer to re-roof the whole slope so that the tiles match, and that is a conversation to have with them. Re-covering that affects more than 25% of the building envelope and more than 50% of the roof can bring Building Regulations approval and an insulation upgrade into play, and we handle that side where the work is notifiable. If the replacement covering turns out to weigh 15% or more above the old one, that also needs approval, because the structure may need strengthening.
Repair where repair works is how we price: the quote is fixed and in writing, and it separates the emergency work from the permanent repair. The permanent work is covered by our 10-year workmanship guarantee, and the site is left clear, with the debris removed.
Protecting the roof from the next tree
If the tree that fell was healthy, the cause was probably the wind. If it was diseased or dead, there may be others like it. Look at trees close to the house with fresh eyes: dead branches, fungus at the base, leaning trunks and soil lifting around the roots are signs worth having a tree surgeon check. Council rules, such as tree preservation orders and conservation area protection, can restrict work on trees, so ask your council's tree officer before pruning or felling anything, and let the tree surgeon confirm the position. Trees near roofs also fill gutters with leaves and keep tiles damp, which grows moss, so a tree that has not fallen can still cause problems.
For more on how this type of work fits together, see our page on emergency roof repairs in Basingstoke. To book a survey or ask for help, speak to us on 01256 213956 or WhatsApp photographs and the address.
