Contents Damaged by a Roof Leak Need Their Own List Before Anything Moves

A leak that reaches a ceiling usually reaches the room under it, and then the furniture, rugs, lamps, boxed books and stored clothes in that room. These items are a separate list from the roof. Your roofer can find where the water got in, but the contents are yours to document, and the photos and notes you make in the first day are what will show what was there and what state it was in.

Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible, so the roofer will not sort out your contents with your insurer. What Keys does is document the roof and the leak path, put a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attend as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer.

Why the contents list starts before anything moves

Water follows gravity and the path of least resistance, so a leak through a bedroom ceiling may soak the carpet at the wall, the bed frame and the nightstand, while a leak at the same spot two rooms over may leave the dresser untouched. Freeze and thaw cycles add a second pattern in St. Louis. A leak that opens during a cold snap can run inside the ceiling for days before anyone sees a stain, and by the time the stain shows, the drywall under it is soft and the insulation above it is wet.

Moving a wet item before you photograph it changes what the photo shows. A rug rolled up to dry is harder to read than the same rug lying flat. A lamp carried to the porch is harder to tie to the room it came from. Take the photos where things sit, then move them. If a fixture or outlet in the wet area is still carrying a drip, turn off the power at the breaker before you touch it, and photograph the fixture first if you can do so safely.

Build the room list

Walk each affected room with a phone and a notebook. For each item that got wet or stained, write the room, the spot on the ceiling or wall above the item, the approximate age if you know it, and what you paid if you still have the receipt or card statement. Photograph the item whole, then take a close shot of any damage. Photograph the wall or ceiling above it with the stain visible. Keep the original files with their timestamps, and do not edit them.

• Room name and the spot on the ceiling or wall above the item
• A whole-item photo, then a close-up of the damage
• Age and purchase source, from a receipt, card statement or order email
• Any item you already threw out, with a photo taken before it went to the curb

Store the wet items in one dry area, such as a garage or a spare room with the door closed and a fan running, until the photo set is complete. Write down where each item went. A soaked mattress or a rug that has been moved three times is an item you may have to show, and the notes are what let you show it.

Insurance claim

Your contents go through your own policy's personal property section, not through the roof repair. Your roofer's written scope and photos show the date and the path of the water, and that matters because the insurer may ask when the damage happened and whether it came from the roof. You decide what to send your insurer and when. The claim itself, the valuation of your furniture and any discussion of payment are between you and your insurer. A roofing contractor cannot represent you on that claim and cannot discuss paying or covering any part of it.

Keep your own inventory file separate from the roof file. The inventory lists what you owned and what it was worth. The roof file lists where the water entered. When the two point to the same room and the same date, the story holds together without argument, and neither file has to carry the other.

What it costs

Moving wet furniture, hauling away drywall and carpet, and paying a cleaning or drying service are costs you may carry during the first days, and they can start before anyone has decided what the policy covers. Keep every invoice. Ask the cleaning company for notes on what they dried, what they discarded and what they said could be saved. A note that a rug was saturated and then discarded is more useful to you than a note that says the rug was cleaned.

The roof repair is its own cost. Keys' written scope lists the roof work with its price, and that invoice is separate from the contents list. Do not add furniture values to the roof invoice, and do not add roof work to the contents list. Two separate totals make each one easier to check.

Mold is a cost people forget. Wet drywall and insulation left closed behind a ceiling can grow mold before the room is opened up. If the wet materials come down, photograph the cavity before the insulation goes back, and ask the drying company to record moisture readings in their notes. A dated photo of an open cavity is cheaper to make now than to reconstruct later.

What to ask

Ask your insurer which section of the policy covers personal property, and whether they want an itemized list, a summary or a receipt for each item. Ask whether they will send their own inspector to the room before anything is thrown out, and how they want the photos delivered, including whether they need the original timestamped files.

Ask your roofer for the roof scope in writing, with the photos and measurements, and ask which leak point they traced the water to. Ask whether the scope notes the ceiling and wall spots that show water. A roofer who traced the path can say which room sits below it. A roofer who cannot say that has not finished the trace.

Ask the cleaning or drying company for the notes on each item, including the items they recommend discarding and why. If you are unsure whether a leak came from the roof or from a plumbing line or an attic duct above the ceiling, write that uncertainty in your notes and keep the photos, because the source is the fact the whole file depends on.

If you want a roofer to walk the leak path and write the scope, call Keys at (314) 220-2333. The office can tell you what the written scope will include and which photos will be in your hands when the walk is done.