Leak, ice dam or fallen limb on your roof? Call and reach a local roofer.

What should you do first when water is coming through a ceiling?

Protect people first, then belongings. Move things out of the drip, catch the water, keep clear of wet fixtures and photograph the stain. Then call and say where it shows and what the weather is doing. Stay off the roof, which is slippery and often iced in a Connecticut winter.

The stain is rarely under the hole. Water runs along rafters and decking before it drips, so it tells the roofer where to start looking and not where to patch. Notes on timing help: a leak only in a thaw suggests the eaves and ice, while one in a summer downpour suggests flashing or a valley.

If a ceiling bulges with water, put a bucket beneath it, keep people out from under it and pierce a small hole at the lowest point so it drains in a controlled way.

• Catch it: a bucket and a towel under the drip.
• Clear it: furniture and electronics out of the wet zone.
• Record it: dated photos from inside and from the ground.
• Note it: when it began and what the weather was doing.
• Call: describe it and answer the roofer's questions.

What is the difference between an emergency cover and a planned roof?

An emergency cover, usually a tarp or a temporary seal, stops water for days or weeks and is put on in whatever conditions allow. A planned repair or replacement is scheduled in daylight and dry weather after inspection, with a written scope and price. They are separate jobs, and no single promise covers both.

After a storm or a fallen limb, the aim is to keep the house dry. The lasting repair comes once the roof can be inspected and worked on safely. A roofer who tries to sell a full replacement while the debris is still on your lawn deserves a second look.

Replacement is the one roofing job you can plan. You can compare written scopes, choose a material and pick a season. See emergency roof leak repair and roof replacement for how each runs.

Why do roofs around Candlewood Lake wear the way they do?

Shade, snow and heat loss. Tall trees keep shingles damp and fill valleys and gutters, snow sits for weeks, and cottages converted to year-round use leak attic heat that melts snow from below and builds ice at the eaves. Falling limbs add storm damage to the list.

Houses here range from older farmhouses with several additions to lake homes from the mid-century on. Each has its own weak points: flashing at a chimney, a skylight curb, a low-slope porch roof.

The May 15, 2018 storms that crossed Brookfield, New Fairfield and Sherman, with winds up to 110 mph in one account, are a reminder of what wind and trees can do together on this shoreline. The guide on ice dams on Candlewood Lake homes explains the winter side.

Which rules apply on each side of the state line?

Connecticut issues no roofing licence, but roofers working on homes register as Home Improvement Contractors with the Department of Consumer Protection, and you can check at elicense.ct.gov. New York has no statewide roofing licence; Putnam County requires county registration, and in Dutchess you should ask the county and the town.

This matters because a check that works in Sherman does not work in Pawling or Patterson. The guide on checking a roofer's registration covers both sides.

A re-roof normally needs a permit from the town building office. Ask who applies for it before you sign. The guide on permits to re-roof in Sherman explains what to ask.