Commercial Roof Leak? Emergency Response Guide for DFW Facility Managers

First 15 Minutes: Stop the Bleeding

Step one — get people and equipment out of the water path. Water conducts electricity, and ceiling tiles can collapse without warning. Move inventory, equipment, and personnel away from the active leak zone. Then document everything with photos and video before you touch anything — the timestamp on your phone photos is your insurance documentation. Don't wait until it's cleaned up to start shooting. Call JRH Construction at (469) 888-6903immediately — we can have a crew en route while you're still on the phone.

Temporary Protection: What Works and What Doesn't

Emergency tarping on commercial roofs is not the same as residential tarping — you're working with a flat or low-slope surface, and the tarp needs to be weighted and sealed, not just thrown over the building. For membrane roofs, we use temporary patching tape and roof-grade tarp systems that hold until permanent repairs can be made. What doesn't work: buckets only, pushing the problem to a corner, or waiting for the rain to stop before calling anyone. The worst interior water damage we see in DFW isn't from the initial storm — it's from the 6-12 hours the leak ran before anyone did anything about it.

Insurance and Documentation Protocol

After the immediate threat is controlled, call your commercial property insurance carrier to open a claim. Give them your emergency repair receipts and the photo documentation you took before any cleanup. Texas commercial property claims have a 2-year statute of limitations, but don't let that create a false sense of time — adjusters who see a building that's been allowed to dry out and get cleaned up before they arrive have less evidence to work with, which typically means lower settlements. JRH can be on-site before the adjuster to document everything that needs to be documented while it's still visible.

Finding the Source: Roof vs. Flashing vs. Mechanical Penetration

Here's something most facility managers don't know: in DFW commercial buildings, only about 40% of interior leaks actually originate at the membrane. The rest come from flashing failures around HVAC curbs and pipe penetrations, clogged drains causing ponding water to back up under the membrane edge, or condensation from mechanical equipment. This matters because the repair approach is completely different. A thermal drone scan takes 30-45 minutes and tells us exactly where trapped moisture is, which pinpoints the source before we open anything up. Call us at (469) 888-6903and we'll dispatch for emergency response.