A sagging roofline, cracking sounds, or a tree on the roof

A roof that is visibly sagging or making noise is telling you the structure is overloaded. Nevada's emergency management guidance, citing FEMA's Snow Load Safety Guide, says to evacuate promptly when these signs appear.

What is probably happening

• Overloaded framing: snow and ice, a tree, water pooling on a flat roof, or rafters that have rotted from a long leak.
• The warning signs listed for roof overstress: sagging ceilings, popping, cracking and creaking noises, doors and windows that no longer open or close, cracked or split wood, and cracks in walls or masonry.
• A long, gentle dip along the ridge on an old house can be decades old. A new dip, or one that came with sounds, is not.

Do this in the next five minutes

1. Move everyone out of the rooms under the sag, and off the floor directly below if it is a large span.
2. If a tree came down: photograph from a safe distance, check for downed wires, and call 911 if any wire is on the house.
3. Call your insurer's claims line. The III lists wind, hail and falling trees as covered perils, and weight of ice, snow or sleet is covered under the broader standard forms.
4. Call a structural engineer or a building inspector before a roofer. The guidance is a qualified design professional or the local building authority for a structural inspection.
5. Then call a roofer for an emergency tarp once the engineer says the structure is safe to work on.

Do not

• Do not go into the attic under a sagging or tree-loaded roof.
• Do not send anyone onto the roof to shovel snow, cut the tree or tarp it until a structural professional has looked.
• Do not let a tree company cut the trunk off the roof before the load has been assessed. The roof can spring or collapse as weight shifts.

Ask this contractor, on the phone, before anyone comes out

Tap each one as you ask it.

• Has a structural engineer looked at the framing, and can I see the report?
• Which rafters, trusses or sections of deck are being replaced, and is that in writing?
• Who is pulling the permit for structural work?
• Is the tarp price separate, and when can it go on?

End the call if

• A roofer who wants to start re-roofing over a sag without an engineer's sign-off.
• Anyone who tells you to leave the tree in place until the adjuster arrives. Photograph it and get it assessed for safety.