Home Repair After a Hurricane

Home repair is never fun but after the stress of living through a storm, and looking at a long list of cleanup and repair projects, it can get very stressful. As we have many homeowners dealing with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, this article will focus on dealing with flooding along the coast and high wind damage typical of hurricanes and many other storms.

After cleaning up debris and drying out your home to minimize mold growth, making repairs to your home’s exterior should be the priority to button up your home and make it watertight before new storms arrive. If you have significant problems with mold, you’ll also want to get professional help dealing with this before you start interior home repair work.

Hurdles to Starting Home Repair Projects

Anxious homeowners want to get home repairs started as soon as possible, knowing that long delays will only add stress to the lives of their family. It’s not that easy though as there are many dependencies to overcome.

Access to homes must be clear. Many barrier islands dependent on bridges, causeways and low lying roads may have delays in gaining access, which slows recovery.
Utilities like natural gas, electric power, and propane must be back online and remain stable to support workers.

Often houses need to be tarped temporarily to prevent additional damage. If you live in an area life with lots of severe storms (think Florida hurricanes), getting a roof protection plan like the one offered by Belacris Construction, is a good idea.
Building codes and building permits are another hurdle for homeowners to deal with. Most builders and remodelers will take the lead on these activities as they’re familiar with what supporting documentation is needed.

Often, communities sensitive to the stress of rebuilding, will relax building requirements and waive fees for storm-related structural repairs. This assumes the repairs will follow the original dimensions and specifications of the property, commonly referred to as “in-kind” repairs/replacement.

building does kept new addition standing

Some homeowners may be able to pay out of pocket for repairs while waiting for insurance checks. Many homeowners will have to wait for their insurance companies to complete processing claims before they can hire the help they need.
Homeowners have to decide what gets done first, i.e. repair or replace a roof or siding, if they can’t do everything at once. The easiest route to recovery is hiring one builder, remodeler or home renovation company to handle all repair needs but …
There won’t be enough home professionals to meet local demand, even with an influx of help from other parts of the country.

Homeowners who already have relationships with a builder will fair best, as they'll go to the top of the list. When homeowners can't find their first choice, they have to take on the role of general contractor and hire individual specialty contractors for roofing, siding, windows and doors, foundation work and more.

Last but not insignificant is the availability of building materials for all the home repair projects. This may be a problem in some locations until major suppliers gain a better understanding of what materials are needed where, when, and quantities.

Resources To Help with Your Home Repair Projects?

Maybe you have a mold problem and want to skip over to what’s involved in that home repair project? The goal of these articles is to give homeowners the big picture about what’s involved from preparing before the storm to repair after the storm, with links to resources that help get the job done.

Many of the home repair professionals you’ll need to work with are the same/similar to routine home maintenance, home repair and replacement. There are also new home professional companies, or old ones with more extensive services to deal with the frequency and severity of storms seen in the US.

For mold problems, you want a NORMI certified mold company as there aren’t any guarantees, but you’ll know the people have been properly educated and trained.
If your home was build before 1978, your contractors will need to test your home for lead paint, and be Renovate, Repair and Paint (RRP) certified by the EPA.
For content restoration, there are new techniques (heat and ultrasonic cleaning), to clean, sanitize and deodorize many household contents that appear at first to be unrecoverable. Don’t give up on valuable papers, books and electronics until you’ve talked to a company specializing in home restoration, which is different than home repair.

Storms 101 for Homeowners

This article on home repair is one in a series of articles written to help homeowners deal with Hurricane Sandy, although much of the information applies to storms in general. We’re still writing so if there’s a topic you’d like more information on, contact us by email.