Northern Ireland gets an average of around 200 rain days a year, and the wind that comes with them arrives off the Atlantic with nothing in the way. Most storm damage to a house here is not dramatic. It is a loose gutter bracket, a lifted ridge tile or a fence post that has been working itself free for two winters and finally lets go.
Here is what to check after a named storm or a bad night of wind, in the order worth doing it.
Start from the ground, and stay there
Do not go up a ladder the morning after a storm. The ground is soft, the roof is wet, and whatever is loose up there is still loose. Almost everything worth finding can be seen from the garden with a pair of binoculars or a phone camera zoomed in.
1. Walk the perimeter and look at the walls
Wet patches on an external wall that dry slower than the rest of it usually mean water came over a gutter rather than through it. Look directly above the patch: nine times out of ten there is a blocked section or a joint that has parted.
Staining that runs in a vertical stripe down render is the classic signature of an overflowing gutter joint. It will not fix itself, and every wet winter drives it further into the wall.
2. Check the guttering while it is still raining
This is the one job genuinely easier during bad weather. Stand back and watch where water actually goes. A gutter that is doing its job is silent and invisible. If you can see water spilling over a lip, sheeting down a wall, or fountaining out of a joint, you have found the problem without touching a ladder.
Check each downpipe discharges properly at the bottom. A downpipe that is dry during heavy rain is blocked somewhere above.
3. Look at the roofline from the garden
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles. A gap is obvious. Also look for tiles sitting at a slightly different angle to their neighbours — those are on the way out.
- Ridge tiles. The mortar along the ridge is often the oldest thing on the roof. Cracked or missing sections need attention before the next storm, not after it.
- Fascia and soffit. Sagging, green staining or a section that has pulled away from the wall usually means water has been getting behind it for a while.
- Aerials, satellite dishes and vent covers. Anything hanging at a new angle is a hazard.
4. Fences, gates and outbuildings
Fence panels take the worst of it because they are solid and catch wind like a sail. Push each post firmly at the top — any movement at the base means the post is rotting or the concrete has failed, and that panel will be the first to go next time.
Check shed roofs for lifted felt, and make sure gates still latch. A gate that has dropped will rip its own hinges out over a winter of being forced shut.
5. Inside the house, over the following week
Some storm damage only shows up later. Watch for:
- Damp patches on upstairs ceilings, especially near chimney breasts and where the roof meets a wall
- A musty smell in the loft — worth a torch and a look at the underside of the roof for daylight or water tracking
- Condensation appearing in a room that never had it before
What to fix now and what can wait
Do not wait on: anything letting water into the building, anything hanging that could fall, and blocked gutters. Water damage compounds — a gutter clean is cheap, replastering a damp wall is not.
Can usually wait for better weather: cosmetic fence repairs, repainting, and shed felt if the contents are dry.
A note on insurance
Photograph everything before anything is moved or repaired, with a date. Insurers generally distinguish between storm damage and gradual wear, and a gutter that has visibly not been cleared in years is a harder claim than one that has. Keeping receipts for routine maintenance is genuinely useful for this.
Getting it looked at
M + G Property Solutions covers interior and exterior painting, garden and fence work and general home repairs across Belfast and Northern Ireland. Send photographs and your BT postcode and you will get an honest answer on whether it needs doing now or can wait.