Emergency Board Up & Tarping Services
Same-day board up and roof tarping across Asheville, Hendersonville, and Western North Carolina from a local, family-owned, IICRC-certified team.
Act Quickly for Emergency Board Up Services
After a fire or disaster, your property is often exposed to the elements. Weather, animals, and anyone who wants in can get inside.
Warren Restoration boards up and tarps the same day. We are local, family-owned, and IICRC-certified, serving Asheville, Hendersonville, and all of Western North Carolina. If you have been searching “emergency board up services” or “board up services near me,” we can help.
Unexpected disasters such as fires, violent storms, flooding, and accidents leave your home or business vulnerable to further damage or vandalism.
Sometimes you have warning that a disaster is coming, as with the remnants of hurricanes or tropical storms that come up from the Gulf or the Atlantic. In those cases, you can be proactive by scheduling emergency board up services ahead of time.
If a catastrophe has already happened, you need to take protective steps right away to prevent further damage and keep the property safe from intruders. That also calls for professional board up services.
Our trained technicians understand the trauma and destruction of disasters, natural or accidental. Residential and commercial customers within roughly a two-hour radius of our offices can rely on us to secure the building and save as much of the property as possible.
Why Emergency Board Up Services Matter
Warren Restoration provides residential and commercial customers with reliable emergency board up services any time disaster strikes. Here is why you need to board up your property after a disaster:
Minimizes Additional Weather Damage
An open roof or window lets rain, wind, and debris keep working on a structure that is already hurt. Boarding and tarping stops the damage from compounding.
Reduces Vandalism and Theft
A visibly open building is an invitation. Securing every reachable opening takes the easy target off the table.
Maintains Structural Integrity
Keeping water and weather out protects framing, flooring, and finishes that can still be saved once restoration begins.
Saves on Repair Costs
The potential expense of further repairs far outweighs the cost of boarding up. It is the cheapest work you will pay for after a loss.
Temporary Roof Tarping
A destructive storm often leaves a damaged roof. As part of our board up services, we provide temporary tarping to stop roof leaks and protect against further water or wind damage. We use heavy-duty tarps sized to fit any roof.
Help With Your Insurance Claim
Warren Restoration provides board up for temporary protection and can also do the full repairs, restoration, or renovation. We work directly with your insurance provider on your behalf.
Using Xactimate, the industry-standard insurance estimator, we calculate fair estimates and costs. We record every aspect of your claim in our online DASH system and give you and your provider continuous access. We are committed to helping you get the maximum insurance settlement possible.
Emergency Board Up Is Usually Covered by Your Insurance
Most homeowners policies cover emergency board up services. In fact, they expect you to do it.
If a building sits open to rain and animals, an insurer will ask why it was not secured. Boarding up is part of protecting your claim.
Call your carrier, then call us. We will secure the property and give you the documentation your policy requires.
DIY Tarping Usually Fails
Tarping, especially roof tarping, is a real skill. If the tarp stops short of the roofline, water gets underneath no matter how tightly you tie it down. A tarp needs to extend three to four feet past the damage on every side.
The tarp must also be fastened correctly. You cannot nail straight down into the middle of a tarp. That creates holes, and water works its way through them. At Warren Restoration, we wrap the tarp edges around 2×4 battens and screw those into solid decking.
The other reason we do not recommend DIY tarping is that it is dangerous, especially after a fire or severe storm. Fire weakens the entire structure, and you cannot see where much of the damage is. Storms rip holes and pull up nails and shingles. In short, you do not want to be up on a roof after a disaster.
A lot of people across Western North Carolina learned after Helene exactly what a tarp that does not hold ends up costing, and people were injured trying to do the job themselves in the aftermath.
Remember, a tarp is temporary. Done right, it will protect the roof for a few weeks and up to a month.
If you have been searching for tarping and board up services, call Warren Restoration at (828) 595-3169.
How to Tell Proper Board Up Services
Board up does not mean throwing a bunch of plywood and two-by-fours over the openings with no strategy. There are published standards for this work, including best practices for fire board up from the US Fire Administration. Here is how you know you are getting professional board up services:
The Plywood
The plywood must be exterior-grade CDX: half-inch for windows, five-eighths for doors, and three-quarters for sliding and French doors or anything that will stay boarded for six months or more.
Professional board up services never use particle board, waferboard, or Masonite. Those materials soften and deteriorate when they get wet.
The Fasteners
The standard method is through-bolt compression: plywood on the outside, 2×4 bracing on the inside, and carriage bolts passing through. The 2x4s are cut at least sixteen inches longer than the plywood.
The Right Openings Are Covered
Federal guidance is specific about which openings must be covered: all basement openings, all first-floor doors and windows, and anything reachable from a porch, fire escape, roof, or other climbing point.
Openings ten feet or more off the ground with no way to climb to them do not have to be covered, though that does not mean they should not be. A properly boarded building keeps one securable entry with a lock and key.
Older Asheville Homes
In Asheville neighborhoods like Montford, Chestnut Hill, and West Asheville, board up also has to follow historic preservation guidance. We remove casement and hopper windows and store them inside, and the plywood is painted to match the exterior.
Board up quick checklist:
- Exterior-grade CDX plywood
- Through-bolted with 2×4 bracing on the interior
- Carriage bolts with rounded heads on the weather side
- Every opening reachable from the ground or a climbing point, including the basement
- One securable access door with a lock
- For historic buildings, original windows removed and stored
The Timing Can Be Different for Fire Board Up Services
After a fire, the fire department must release the building before anyone is allowed to touch anything.
What does “released” mean? After the fire is out, a North Carolina fire investigator checks the scene to determine where it started and what caused it. The property stays under the fire department’s control throughout that process. When the investigation is finished, the scene is officially released back to you. If arson is suspected, it becomes a crime scene and goes to law enforcement.
Until that release happens, board up services have to wait.
Signs a fire investigation is still open:
- Fire marshal or investigator vehicles still at the property
- Tape still up
- Nobody has told you that you can go in
- The fire involved an injury or fatality, or was a working structure fire
The moment the scene is released, securing the building with tarping and board up goes to the top of the list.
Call us as soon as you have the release, or call before then and we will be ready to go the moment it comes. Warren Restoration, (828) 595-3169.
You Are Not an Emergency Board Up Contractor. You Should Not Have to Be.
You should not have to know what grade of plywood federal guidance calls for, how a through-bolt assembly works, or what your policy says about vacancy. That is the job of a tarping and board up company that does this every week. Here are the things we hear most often from Western North Carolina property owners before they call us.
“I’ll just screw some plywood over the openings.”
That is what most people picture, but it is not how the work is done. The published standard is through-bolt compression. Carriage bolt heads are rounded, so there is nothing for a wrench or pry bar to catch.
“I’ve got some OSB in the garage. That’ll do.”
Do not use it. Federal board up guidance excludes particle board, waferboard, and Masonite. Exterior-grade CDX is the material you need.
“I’ll wait until the adjuster has seen it.”
That works against you. Most policies require you to take steps to prevent further damage after a loss. If you wait, the adjuster will ask why the property was not secured.
“Insurance won’t pay for board up anyway.”
It usually does. Board up services are typically treated as emergency mitigation.
“There’s nothing left in there worth stealing.”
There is more than you might think. Copper piping and wiring get ripped out and sold at scrap yards for cash, and copper theft has become a real problem in the Asheville area. Appliances and fixtures get resold online.
“We’re staying with family for a few weeks. It’ll be fine.”
Most homeowners policies contain a vacancy clause that limits coverage once a property has been unoccupied, usually after 30 to 60 days. Theft, vandalism, glass breakage, water damage, and liability coverage can all be limited. Call your carrier, ask about a vacancy endorsement, and secure the building in the meantime.
Our Emergency Board Up Service Areas in Western North Carolina
If you have been searching for emergency board up services near me and want a crew that can be at your property today rather than dispatched from three states away, Warren Restoration is based right here in Arden and works across Western North Carolina.
We are IICRC-certified, licensed, bonded, and insured, and we have been doing this work in these mountains for years. We are members of the Restoration Industry Association, the Asheville and Hendersonville Chambers of Commerce, BNI of Western North Carolina, and the Apartment Association of Western North Carolina.
We regularly provide emergency board up and tarping for homeowners, property managers, business owners, and insurance adjusters in:
Plus Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Polk, and Transylvania counties generally.
Don’t see your town listed? If you are anywhere in Western North Carolina, give us a call at (828) 595-3169.
Rely on Our Team of Experienced Emergency Board Up Specialists
If you anticipate or have sustained a fire, flood, accident, or other disaster at your home or commercial property, call Warren Restoration right away for emergency help.
We put our family name and reputation behind every job. We are certified, licensed, bonded, and insured, and we offer free estimates, fair pricing, and a customer satisfaction guarantee.
Call us 24/7, 365 days a year, for the fastest, most reliable board up services you can get.
Board Up Services FAQs
How long does emergency board up take?
For a regular-sized house, a few hours. A crew can usually secure a single-family home’s openings in two to four hours once they are on site and the scene has been released.
Bigger jobs take longer, including a two-story with a lot of openings, a commercial building, or anything that needs roof tarping in bad weather.
Can I still live in the house after a fire once it is boarded up?
Sometimes. Fire board up is about security and keeping weather out. Whether a fire-damaged home is safe to occupy comes down to the structure, the electrical system, the air quality, and whether utilities can be safely restored. Those decisions rest with the fire department and fire marshal.
Even if you are allowed to stay in a boarded-up home, it will be darker inside and ventilation will be poor.
Do you do board up services for break-ins or storm damage?
Yes. We do emergency board up for any incident that leaves a building open, including break-ins, vandalism, storm damage, a vehicle into the front of a building, a burst pipe that took out a wall, or a vacant property.