The first 24–72 hours
Stay off the roof
Safety OSHA’s fall-protection page states that falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths, and that OSHA requires fall protection at six feet in the construction industry. A homeowner on a wet roof has none of that. Everything in this guide can be photographed from the ground, from a ladder kept below eave height, or from the attic.[1]
Write down the date you first saw the leak or the roof damage
Record the date and time you noticed water at the ceiling or pieces on the ground, and separately the date of the storm or event you think caused it. If they differ, say so. If you do not know when the leak began, write “unknown”.
Photograph every slope from the ground before any cover goes on
Walk the whole perimeter and photograph each slope from the point where you can see all of it, then zoom into the damaged areas. Ready.gov’s advice after a storm is to document any property damage with photographs and then contact your insurance company for assistance; the ground shots are the roof’s version of that.[5]
Catch the water and photograph the ceiling as it is
Put a bucket under the drip, move furniture and photograph the stain with a tape measure before it grows. Then photograph it again the next day. The first photo is the starting point for the daily series.
Get a tarp on, by someone who can do it safely, and keep the receipt
If water is still coming in, a contractor or a competent helper can cover the area. Photograph the roof before and after the tarp, and keep the receipt for the tarp, the fasteners and the labour; Florida DFS tells storm-affected homeowners to keep all receipts.[2]
Three vantage points: ground, attic and ceiling
A roof can be documented thoroughly without anyone standing on it. Each vantage point shows something the others cannot, and together they connect the outside damage to the inside stain. Use the same identifier for the slope, the attic bay under it and the ceiling below it so that a reader can follow the water.
| Vantage point | What it shows | Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Ground, all around the house | Missing, lifted or creased shingles; cracked or slipped tiles; damaged ridge, flashing, vents and skylights; debris on the roof | Phone or camera with zoom, phone on a pole, binoculars to count |
| Ladder below eave height | Gutter contents, drip edge, fascia, the first courses of shingles, granule loss | Ladder footed by a second person, camera only, no stepping onto the roof |
| Attic | Daylight through the decking, wet or stained decking, wet insulation, water tracks on rafters, the nail line | Flashlight, tape measure, a mask, boards to kneel on across the joists |
| Ceiling below | Stain size and shape, sagging, drips, cracks along the seam | Tape measure, painter’s tape to mark the edge, a marker for the date |
| Exterior walls below the eave | Water streaks from overflowing gutters, staining where a valley empties | Wide shot from the property line |
From the ground: count what is missing on each slope
Each slope of the roof is its own item. Photograph it wide from the ground, then zoom into the damage, then count. “South slope, 11 shingles missing, 6 lifted, ridge cap displaced over 2 metres” is a caption a reader can verify against the photo; “roof badly damaged” is not.
- Missing shingles or tiles: count them per slope and mark the area on a sketch of the roof.
- Lifted or creased shingles: photograph with the sun low, when the shadow shows the lift.
- Flashing at walls and chimneys: separate close-ups; lifted flashing is a small item that is easy to miss.
- Vents, pipe boots and turbines: each one as its own photo, damaged or not, so the set is complete.
- Ridge and hips: along their length from both ends.
- Skylights: the frame, the glazing and the flashing around them.
- Flat or low-slope roofs: standing water, blisters, open seams and clogged drains, photographed from a window or a neighbouring higher point where possible.
- Pieces on the ground: photograph each shingle or tile where it lies before picking it up, and keep them.
Photograph the gutters and downspouts too. A gutter full of granules or broken tile shows what came off the roof; photograph the contents in place and again spread on a white surface.
Inside the house: attic and ceiling
In the attic, look up first. Daylight through the decking is the clearest photo you will take of a roof opening; take it with the flashlight off, then again with the flashlight on the wet decking and insulation. Photograph water tracks along rafters from where they start to where they drip, and measure how far the wet insulation extends.
At the ceiling, mark the edge of the stain with painter’s tape and write the date on the tape. Photograph the stain with the tape and a tape measure in frame every day at about the same time, from the same spot, until it stops changing. A stain that grows after a dry day and one that stops the day the tarp goes on are both facts, and the daily series is how you record them.
| Date | Longest dimension | Change since last | Weather that day | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-10 | 38 cm | First measurement | Storm overnight | C-01 day 1 |
| 2026-09-11 | 52 cm | +14 cm | Rain in the morning | C-01 day 2 |
| 2026-09-12 | 52 cm | No change | Dry; tarp on since the 11th at 14:00 | C-01 day 3 |
| 2026-09-15 | 52 cm | No change | Dry | C-01 day 6 |
Sagging drywall can fall. If the ceiling is bulging, photograph it from the doorway and keep people out of the room. Do not poke it to release the water unless someone competent tells you to, and if you do, photograph before and after.
The roofer’s inspection, the roof’s age and the permit history
A roofer’s written inspection is a dated observation by someone who was on the roof. Keep it as its own document with its date, the roofer’s name and licence number, and what they inspected. Keep it separate from any estimate the same roofer gives you: the inspection says what was seen, the estimate says what a repair might cost, and they belong in different rows of your record.
Roof age, the date of the last replacement or major repair, and the permit numbers for that work are Property Details inputs. Your county building department keeps a permit history for your address; look yours up and record the permit numbers and dates. If you have the invoice from the last roof, keep it with them. If you do not know the roof’s age, write “unknown” and note where you looked.
- Roofer inspection: date, name, licence number, what was inspected, findings, and any photos they took.
- Estimate: date, scope and amount, logged as an estimate, not a payment.
- Roof age and last replacement: date, contractor if known, permit number.
- Prior inspections: any home-inspection report or wind-mitigation inspection you already have, with its date.
Build the roof timeline
The roof timeline connects the event, the first sign inside, the emergency cover, the inspection and the repair. Keep observed, recorded and acted apart. The Storm Prediction Center publishes preliminary wind and hail reports by date, with time, location and county, and you can save the page for the date of the event as a third-party record next to your own notes.[3]
| Date and time | Observed | Recorded | Acted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-09 to 10, overnight | Storm; unknown when the roof opened | SPC report page for the date saved | Nothing |
| 2026-09-10 07:30 | Drip at bedroom ceiling, stain 38 cm | Ceiling photo with tape, date on painter’s tape | Bucket placed, bed moved |
| 2026-09-10 09:00 | South slope: 11 shingles missing, 6 lifted; pieces in the yard | Ground photos of all four slopes, pieces where they lay | Pieces collected after the photos |
| 2026-09-10 10:30 | Daylight through the decking above the bedroom | Attic photos, wet insulation measured | Nothing |
| 2026-09-11 14:00 | Tarp placed by contractor | Before and after photos, receipt | Emergency cover |
| 2026-09-14 11:00 | Roofer inspection | Written report with licence number | Estimate received, logged separately |
Add every call with the insurer, the claim number and the adjuster’s name and visit date. If the adjuster goes on the roof, note the date and ask whether they took photos.
Keeping the evidence
Roof evidence is lost to weather and to the repair itself. Once the new shingles are on, the ground photos are the only record of the old ones, so keep the originals, name them by slope and date, and copy the set elsewhere the same day. Keep the daily stain series in one folder in date order so that it reads as a sequence. The pillar guide describes the identifier scheme; a slope, its attic bay and the ceiling below it should share one prefix.
- Shingle or tile pieces from the ground kept in a bag labelled with the slope and the date.
- Tarp and fastener receipts photographed on the day of purchase; Florida DFS says to keep all receipts.
- Roofer inspection, estimate, permit history and roof invoice each stored as its own dated file.
- The SPC report page for the date saved as a file, not as a bookmark.
What to document
| Item | Why it matters | Where it appears in your report |
|---|---|---|
| Ground photos of every roof slope with the count of missing or lifted shingles or tiles in the caption | A per-slope count is a fact a reader can check against the photo | Affected Areas |
| Attic photos of daylight through the decking, wet decking and the extent of wet insulation | Connects the outside opening to the inside water | Detailed Documentation |
| Ceiling stain photographed daily with painter’s tape at its edge and the date written on the tape | Shows change over time as a measured series | Damage Summary |
| Close-ups of flashing, vents, pipe boots, ridge and skylights, damaged or not | Small items are easy to miss and easy to dispute later | Photo Documentation |
| Gutters and downspouts photographed with their contents of granules, tile or debris | Shows what came off the roof | Documented Details |
| Roofer’s written inspection with its date and licence number, stored apart from the estimate | An observation and a cost prediction are different documents | Additional Documentation |
| Roof age, last replacement date and permit numbers from the county building department | The dwelling facts a reader needs about the roof | Property Details |
| Tarp or emergency cover photographed before and after, with the receipts for materials and labour | The cover hides the damage it protects | Mitigation Actions |
| Date of the storm, date you first saw the leak, and the SPC report page for that date | Fixes the sequence with a third-party record beside it | Timeline of Events |
| Insurer contact date, claim number and adjuster visit date written into the record | The dates the process runs from | Claim Summary |
What your documentation report will contain
A ClaimPrep documentation report organises what you recorded into these sections. It records facts; it does not value your loss or interpret your policy.
Claim Summary Property Details Damage Summary Timeline of Events Affected Areas Detailed Documentation Mitigation Actions Documented Details Additional Documentation Photo Documentation
See a sample documentation report (a fictional example) or read how ClaimPrep works.
Who to contact
- Your insurance company or agent
- They receive notice of the loss and issue the claim number; note the date, the name and the number in your timeline.[5]
- A licensed roofing contractor
- They inspect and cover the roof safely; ask for a written inspection with the date and licence number, and log any estimate separately.
- Your county building department
- Keeps the permit history for your address; the permit numbers and dates for the last roof are Property Details inputs.
- Florida DFS Insurance Consumer Helpline, 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236), out of state (850) 413-3089
- State consumer help for insurance questions, available 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST, Monday through Friday; have your company name, policy number and agent name ready.[4]
Common documentation mistakes
- Climbing on the roof for a closer photo
- Zoom from the ground, use a phone on a pole, or ask a roofer; OSHA’s figures on falls are the reason.
- Photographing the ceiling stain once
- Mark the edge with dated painter’s tape and photograph it daily until it stops changing.
- Stating what caused the leak in your record
- Record the dated photos, the prior inspection reports and the timeline; leave cause to whoever assesses the damage.
- Filing the roofer’s inspection and estimate as one document
- Store them separately with their own dates; one is an observation, the other a prediction of cost.
- Throwing away the shingles found in the yard
- Photograph each piece where it lay, then bag and label it with the slope and the date.
Questions
Can I document roof damage without climbing on the roof?
Yes, and you should not climb. Photograph each slope from the ground with zoom, use a phone on a pole for the far side, go into the attic for daylight and wet insulation, and photograph the ceiling below. OSHA notes that falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths; leave the roof itself to a contractor.[1]
How do I show that the roof leak started with the storm and not before?
Your record can show dates, not causes. Keep any earlier inspection report or photo of the roof with its date, note the date of the storm and the date you first saw water, save the Storm Prediction Center report page for that date, and photograph the stain daily from the first day. Whether the storm caused the leak is a question for whoever assesses the damage; ClaimPrep records the facts and does not decide cause.[3]
Should the roofer’s inspection go in the report?
Keep it as part of your documentation, as a dated observation with the roofer’s name and licence number, and keep it separate from the roofer’s estimate. ClaimPrep’s report records what you documented and what you reported; the inspection is a document you hold alongside it and can provide to whoever asks.
How often should I photograph a ceiling stain?
Once a day, at about the same time and from the same spot, with painter’s tape marking the edge and the date written on the tape, until it has stopped changing for several days. Photograph it again after any rain and after the tarp goes on, and log the longest dimension each time.
Sources
- Fall Protection: Overview, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Accessed Falls as a leading cause of serious injury and death, and the six-foot construction-industry threshold.
- Hurricane Ready, Florida Department of Financial Services. Accessed Keeping all receipts for repair expenses.
- Storm Prediction Center Storm Reports, NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center. Accessed Preliminary wind and hail reports with time, location and county; past dates by YYMMDD.
- Hurricane Resources, Florida Department of Financial Services, Consumer Services. Accessed Insurance Consumer Helpline number and hours.
- Hurricanes, Ready.gov (FEMA). Accessed Document any property damage with photographs and contact your insurance company.
How this guide was produced. Written and maintained by ClaimPrep’s editorial team from the sources listed above. Drafting used AI writing assistance; a person checked every statement against the cited sources before publication and at each review date. ClaimPrep sells the documentation service linked on this page. Documentation guidance only, not legal, insurance, public-adjusting or financial advice. Found an error? Read the corrections policy.