Perth storms arrive quickly and leave a mess. A tree down across the carport, tiles off the roof, a window gone, water coming through a ceiling. The hour after it happens is when people make decisions they regret — usually by trying to fix something themselves in the dark and the wet.
Here is the order that actually matters.
1. Get people away from it
Ceilings that have taken water are heavy and they fail all at once rather than slowly. If a ceiling is sagging, bellied or dripping, shut the door on that room and keep everyone out from under it. The same goes for anything leaning that was not leaning yesterday.
If there are wires down, or water anywhere near switchboards or power points, that is the electricity distributor’s job, not yours and not ours.
2. Stop more water getting in — from the ground
Buckets under the leak, towels at the door, furniture moved off wet carpet. That is the useful work.
What is not useful is climbing onto a wet roof in the wind. More people are hurt after storms than during them, and a tarp badly fixed in the dark usually blows off by morning and takes a few more tiles with it.
3. Photograph everything before you move it
Take far more photos than feel necessary, from several angles, before you shift anything. Insurers ask, and a photo taken before the clean-up is worth a great deal more than a description afterwards. Photograph the damage, the water, and the contents affected.
4. Ring for make safe
Make safe is not the repair. It is the short, practical work that stops the damage getting worse overnight — tarping a roof, boarding a broken window or door, securing what is loose, getting the property weathertight and lockable until a proper repair can be scheduled.
We attend emergency make safe around the clock across Perth, Rockingham and Mandurah. It is usually a same-night job and it is almost always cheaper than the extra damage a wet week would cause.
5. The repair can wait until daylight
Once a property is safe, dry and secure, nothing else needs doing at 2am. Ceilings, walls, doors and roofing get repaired properly in daylight — see building repairs and refurbishment and wall and ceiling repairs.
One thing we will not do
We do not carry out structural repairs, propping or shoring. If a storm has affected the frame of a building rather than its surfaces, you need an engineer or a structural builder, and we will tell you that on the spot rather than take the job.
General information only. This article is general in nature. It does not take account of your property, your circumstances or current local requirements, and it is not a substitute for an inspection or professional advice. Please consider your own situation before acting on anything here, and get qualified advice where the work involves safety, structure, electrical, gas or plumbing. Kangaroo Building Works accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this information.
