What does emergency board up and tarping involve?
Covering every opening in the building so weather, animals and people cannot get in while permanent repairs are arranged. Windows and doors get sheeted, a damaged roof gets tarped, and openings in walls get framed and closed. It is temporary by design and buys weeks, not months.
What gets secured
Broken or missing windows and doors, storefront glass, openings cut by the fire service, holes from impact or a fallen tree, and any part of the roof that is no longer keeping water out.
On a roof that means tarp run over the damaged area and fastened at the edges so wind cannot get underneath it. A tarp that lifts is worse than none, because it takes fasteners and more of the roof with it.
Why it happens before anything else
An open building keeps taking damage. Rain on a fire damaged interior turns a smoke and soot job into a water job on top of it, and secondary damage is both expensive and avoidable.
Most policies also place a duty on the property owner to take reasonable steps to prevent further loss. Board up is that step, and delaying it can affect what the insurer will cover afterwards.
How long it is meant to last
Weeks. Board and tarp are weather protection, not repair, and both degrade under sun and wind. Tarps in particular need checking after storms.
If a rebuild is going to take months, temporary protection gets re-checked and re-secured rather than left and forgotten.
What to have ready when you call
The property address, what is open and roughly how big, whether the building is occupied, whether the fire service or police have released the scene, and whether power is on.
We handle board up and tarping and the reconstruction that follows, so the company protecting the building is the one that will eventually repair it.
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