24/7 Emergency Property Services
Storm, fire, or flood damage? Get your property secured within hours.
ShieldBoardUp connects you with licensed local contractors for emergency board-up, roof tarping, and water removal — day or night, weekends and holidays. Free to call, no obligation.
Emergency services we connect you with
One call covers the three things a damaged property needs immediately: sealed openings, a dry roof, and water out of the structure.
Emergency Board-Up
Broken windows, doors, or storefronts secured with plywood the same day — after storms, break-ins, or fire.
Learn more →Fire Board-Up
Post-fire structure securing that insurers and city inspectors expect, from doors to roof ventilation holes.
Learn more →Window Board-Up
Per-opening window boarding for glass breakage — measured, cut, anchored, and documented for your claim.
Learn more →Emergency Roof Tarping
Storm-damaged roofs covered with battened, anchored tarps that survive the next storm — not just the night.
Learn more →Emergency Water Removal
Standing water pumped and extracted fast, before drywall, flooring, and framing soak past saving.
Learn more →Water Extraction
Truck-mounted and weighted extraction plus structured drying — the technical core of water mitigation.
Learn more →Flooded Basement Cleanup
Safe staged pump-out, contamination handling, and drying for basements hit by storms, sumps, or sewers.
Learn more →How it works
Tell us what happened
Call or send a request with your location and the type of damage — broken glass, open roof, standing water, fire.
Get matched with a local crew
We connect you with a licensed, insured emergency contractor from our network who covers your area and handles your damage type.
Your property gets secured
The crew arrives — typically within 1–2 hours in metro areas — secures the property, and documents the work for your insurance claim.
Why the first 24 hours decide the size of your loss
Property damage is rarely a one-time event — it compounds. Mold can start growing on wet drywall and framing within 24–48 hours according to EPA guidance. An unprotected hole in a roof turns a repairable deck into rotted sheathing after one more rain. A home with a boarded-up front door gets left alone; a home with a broken one statistically doesn’t.
There’s an insurance dimension too. Nearly every homeowners policy contains a duty to mitigate — language requiring you to take reasonable steps to protect the property from further damage after a loss. Adjusters can and do reduce settlements for secondary damage they consider preventable. Emergency board-up, tarping, and extraction receipts are not just repair costs; they are evidence you did your part.
That’s the entire reason this service exists: to shrink the gap between “something went wrong” and “the property is protected” to a few hours, anywhere, at any hour.
Typical emergency costs at a glance
- Window board-up (per opening)$75 – $300
- Emergency roof tarping (per sq ft)$1.00 – $2.80
- Whole-home tarp job$400 – $1,500
- Water extraction (per sq ft)$3 – $7
- Flooded basement cleanup (typical)$2,000 – $7,000
National 2026 ranges from published industry cost data. See our detailed cost guides for the full breakdowns.
Featured service areas
Local damage patterns differ — hail in Oklahoma City is not flooding in Chicago. Our city guides cover what actually goes wrong where you live, and what it costs to fix.
Houston, TX
Hurricane wind, derecho damage, and some of the worst urban flooding in America
Tampa, FL
Back-to-back hurricanes proved every Tampa Bay zip code can flood or lose a roof
New Orleans, LA
A below-sea-level city where roof tarps and pumps are a way of life
Oklahoma City, OK
Hail alley’s capital: giant hail, EF-scale tornadoes, and 70+ mph wind events every year
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX
The most hail-claim-heavy metro in America, with tornado corridors through the city core
St. Louis, MO
Record flash floods, river crests, and one of the country’s biggest vacant-property board-up markets
Philadelphia, PA
Rowhome fires that spread through party walls, and remnant-hurricane floods that fill basements
Chicago, IL
Basement backups by the tens of thousands, ice dams, and a year-round board-up trade
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does ShieldBoardUp do?
We are a 24/7 referral service for property emergencies. When you contact us after a storm, fire, flood, or break-in, we connect you with a licensed, insured local contractor from our partner network who can board up openings, tarp your roof, or extract water — usually within hours. The referral is free to you; we may earn a fee from the contractor, which never changes your price.
How fast can a crew actually get to my home?
In normal conditions, emergency crews in metro areas typically arrive within 1–2 hours of dispatch. After major regional events — hurricanes, derechos, hail outbreaks — crews triage occupied homes with open structural damage first, and waits can stretch to 24–48 hours at the peak. Calling early matters: job queues after big storms fill in the order calls come in.
Will my homeowners insurance pay for emergency board-up, tarping, or water removal?
Usually yes — and more than that, your policy requires it. Standard homeowners policies include a duty to mitigate: you must take reasonable steps to prevent further damage after a covered loss, and reasonable mitigation costs (board-up, tarping, water extraction) are reimbursable. Keep every receipt and photograph the damage before and after the emergency work.
Why can’t I just wait a few days until a regular contractor is available?
Because damage compounds. The EPA notes mold can begin growing on wet materials within 24–48 hours. An open roof turns one wet room into a saturated ceiling system with the next rain. An unsecured home invites theft and liability. And insurers can reduce claims for damage they judge preventable — waiting is usually the most expensive option.
Is the referral really free? How do you make money?
Yes — you never pay us. Like most referral networks, we may receive a fee from the contractor or service partner who takes your job. You pay the contractor their normal published rate either way, and you are never obligated to hire the company we connect you with.