Quick answer
Chinook gusts, summer hail, falling branches and January ice dams cause most of Calgary's roof emergencies. Here is how to tell whether yours needs a crew tonight, what the crew does on site, and how to keep the insurance claim clean.
Estimates by phone: (587) 804-9266 · Good Roofing · Calgary-owned since 2014 · 10-year workmanship warranty.
For emergency roof repair in Calgary, call Good Roofing at (587) 804-9266: a person answers 24 hours a day, and a crew is typically on site within 4 hours to tarp, seal and photograph the damage. The emergency visit stops water getting in tonight. The permanent repair follows with a fixed written quote, and if a storm caused the damage, the photos from the emergency visit go straight into your insurance claim. We have coordinated 2,800+ Calgary roof installations and repairs since 2014, recovered $14M+ in hail-claim settlements, and hold 4.9★ from 237 verified reviews.
01 · Section
Quick answer — the 60-second version (citation-ready)
A Calgary roof emergency is any damage that lets water, snow or wind into the house before a normal appointment could fix it: an active leak, shingles or underlayment torn off down to the wood deck, a tree or branch through the roof, a blown-off vent or skylight, or ice-dam water running into a ceiling. Good Roofing answers 24/7 at (587) 804-9266 and is typically on site within 4 hours in Calgary. The crew does three things: stops the water with a fastened tarp or temporary seal, photographs the damage before and after for your insurer, and quotes the permanent repair in writing. If wind, hail or a falling tree caused the damage, most home policies expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, so the emergency work usually belongs in the claim. The crew is licensed (Alberta Master Roofer License #AB-RM-48201), carries $5M commercial general liability + WCB covered, and every permanent repair carries a 10-year workmanship warranty.
02 · Section
Call now, or call in the morning? A triage list
Calling at 2am costs more than calling at 8am, so it helps to know which problems cannot wait. Use the weather forecast as the tiebreaker: damage that is dry tonight becomes an emergency if rain or snow is due before morning.
- 01Call now: water dripping through a ceiling or running down a wall, or a ceiling that is sagging or bulging.
- 02Call now: bare wood deck showing where shingles and underlayment blew off, especially on the windward slope.
- 03Call now: a tree or large branch through or resting on the roof. Stay out of the rooms below it.
- 04Call now: a roof vent, skylight or chimney cap torn off, leaving an open hole.
- 05Call now: ice-dam meltwater coming through soffits, window frames or an interior ceiling.
- 06Can wait for a daytime visit: a few missing shingles with the underlayment intact and a dry forecast, granules in the eavestroughs after hail, dented vents or eavestroughs with no leak, or an old ceiling stain that is not growing.
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Calgary roof emergencies by season
Calgary's weather produces a different emergency in each part of the year, and each one needs a different first fix. Chinook season (late fall through early spring) brings warm westerly winds strong enough to peel shingles from the eaves and ridge, often on houses where the sealant strips never bonded in cold weather. The fix is to re-fasten or replace the lifted tabs, and to tarp any slope where the underlayment is gone. Deep winter brings ice dams: snow melts over the warm part of the roof, refreezes at the cold overhang, and the water backs up under the shingles. The emergency step is to open a channel through the dam and stop the water, then deal with the attic ventilation and insulation that caused it. Summer storm season in the hail belt brings hail that can crack skylights and fracture shingles across a whole neighbourhood in minutes, often followed by heavy rain. The crew tarps any slope with open fractures and documents every hit so the claim can be filed. Spring melt exposes flashing failures around chimneys, walls and pipe boots, which show up as leaks that only appear on warm days. The repair is to reseal or replace the flashing. If your emergency is winter-specific, our Calgary winter roof emergency guide covers snow load and ice in more detail.
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What happens on a Good Roofing emergency call
The sequence is the same at 2pm or 2am. Speed matters, and so does the paperwork, because the emergency visit is where the insurance evidence is created.
- 01Phone triage. A person, not a voicemail menu, asks where the water is coming in, what caused it and whether anyone is at risk. Callers with active water intrusion go to the front of the queue.
- 02Dispatch. In Calgary a crew is typically on site within 4 hours. Surrounding towns along the QEII and Highway 1 can take longer, and we give you a time on the phone.
- 03Photos before anyone touches the roof. The crew photographs every damaged slope, the interior leak and any dented metal, with date stamps, so your adjuster sees the damage as the storm left it.
- 04Temporary weatherproofing. Heavy tarps fastened to the deck and battened along the edges so wind cannot get under them, or a temporary membrane patch on low-slope roofs. A tarp weighted with loose bricks fails in the next Chinook gust.
- 05Interior check. The crew looks in the attic for wet insulation and soaked decking and tells you whether drywall or insulation needs drying, so mould does not start behind the ceiling.
- 06A written quote for the permanent repair. We don't quote “starting at” prices. Every Calgary quote is fixed, written, and signed. The permanent repair matches your existing roof where possible, uses Class 4 impact-rated shingles where slopes are replaced, and carries a 10-year workmanship warranty.
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Emergency roof repair and your insurance claim
Most Alberta home policies cover sudden damage from wind, hail and falling trees, and expect the homeowner to limit further damage once they know about it. A properly installed tarp is that step, which is why the emergency visit is usually part of the claim rather than a separate cost. Four habits keep the claim clean. Report the damage to your insurer promptly; policies set deadlines. Keep the emergency invoice and photos, and send them with the claim. Do not throw away damaged materials such as a blown-off vent or skylight lid until the adjuster has seen them or the photos. Do not sign anything that assigns your claim to a contractor on the night of the storm. We don't door-knock. We don't pressure-sell. We don't show up uninvited after storms. We have worked claims with Intact Insurance / belairdirect, Aviva Canada, TD Insurance, Co-operators and other carriers, and we meet the adjuster on the roof if you file. Wear and tear, such as a 25-year-old roof that finally let go, is usually not covered. We will tell you which case you are in before you call your insurer. For the full process, read our Calgary roof leak insurance claim guide.
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What to do while you wait for the crew
Stay off the roof. Wet or icy shingles in the dark are where most homeowner roofing injuries happen, and a crew with harnesses is on the way. Inside, move furniture and electronics out from under the leak, set a bucket with a towel in it under the drip, and switch off the breaker for any room where water is near light fixtures or outlets. If the ceiling is bulging with trapped water, a small hole in the lowest point lets it drain into the bucket instead of bringing down the drywall. Photograph the leak, the stain and anything damaged before you move it. If the problem is a leak and you want the minute-by-minute checklist, our active roof leak page walks through it. Then call (587) 804-9266 and have your address, the location of the leak and your insurer's name ready.