Watch this incredible video footage that condenses 100 days of a house lift elevation project into a tidy three minute video. The house is in Seguin, Texas just outside of San Antonio. Unlike our house lift experience, this house sat on a concrete slab. There were a few other significant differences between this video and our house lift project. First, this house was all one … Continue reading House Lift Video: 17 Feet in 3 Minutes
Hurricane Maria has finally pushed out to sea and good riddance. The Hurricane carved a path of destruction in its wake that will take years to unravel. Continue reading Maria Downgraded to a Tropical Storm
Hurricane Maria has been officially downgraded to Tropical Storm Maria as it is set of move offshore of the eastern United States. This is the probable path the storm will follow. Caution is advised for anyone on or near the coastline as high sea surges and strong rip tides may be in play. Storm Definitions according to the National Hurricane Center of the National Oceanic and … Continue reading Tracking Hurricane Maria
Puerto Rico: The Caribbean Island, home to nearly 3.4 million Americans, is facing near total destruction following last week’s mind-bending Hurricane Maria. Many are filled with empathy for the citizens of Puerto Rico, but are not sure how they can help. Below is a list of organizations working tirelessly to help support, rebuild, and supply the bare necessities. CASH IS KING: Many organizations are looking … Continue reading Puerto Rico After the Hurricanes: How You Can Help
On Wednesday, September 20, 2018, Hurricane Maria slammed into the island of Puerto Rico. This was the strongest hurricane to strike the island in over 80 years. Hurricane Maria left near apocalyptic conditions in its wake: toppled power lines, extensive flooding, and utter devastation to so many homes and structures. Even basic necessities such as fresh water, fuel and phone service have been interrupted, resulting … Continue reading Puerto Rico Receives Help from NYC First Responders After Hurricane Maria
September 2018: Thoughts and well wishes go out to all of those impacted by this powerfully destructive event. Continue reading Video: Destructive Aftermath of Harvey – Houston, TX
“If you suffer damage to your home or personal property, you may be able to deduct these “casualty” losses on your federal income tax return. A casualty is a sudden, unexpected or unusual event, such as a natural disaster (hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake, etc.), fire, accident, theft or vandalism.” IRS IRS Tax: Top 10 Tips for Deducting Losses from a Disaster Casualty loss. You may be … Continue reading Top 10 Tax Tips for Deducting Losses From a Disaster
When you need help with water damage (or fire, smoke or mold mitigation) the number one service provider we’ve used on numerous occasions is – SERVPRO. This team of experts gets the job done right, limiting the extent of the damages “Like it never even happened.” They arrived quickly, knew what to do, and decreased our stress load as a result of it. If a … Continue reading Water Damage Restoration
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END – Fortunately, so do house renovation projects. Just over a year ago this blog was initiated as a means to document our house elevation for flood mitigation project. It was also designed to assist anyone with similar flooding woes with some options and an accurate portrayal of all that is involved in an undertaking of this magnitude. “Whatever … Continue reading House Elevation Project Completed
JULY 2012 Flood insurance is a hot topic at the moment, the product is in flux. When the Biggert-Waters Act was signed into law in 2012, it was met with criticism and concern. This law set to remedy the long standing subsidized flood insurance rates that had subsequently bankrupted FEMA to the tune of 20 BILLION dollars. However, home owners cried foul and pleaded for … Continue reading Brief History of Private Flood Insurance
Our house elevation project is almost complete. The next step is the exterior painting aspect. What do you need to know? Top 5 Tips for Exterior House Painting 1. TEMPERATURE Ideally, exterior painting will take place when the temperatures are going to remain above 50 degrees, even at night. Otherwise you are likely to get peeling. Once the temperatures warm up, you can tackle that … Continue reading Top 5 Tips for Exterior House Painting
TIMELINE OF INSURANCE RATE ADJUSTMENT June 2013 We officially started the construction phase of our house project. The planning phase began months earlier in July 2012. The planning phase entailed key details of the project such as how many feet we needed to lift our house, architectual drawings, acquiring necessary permits, etc. December 2013 We moved back into our house with the majority of our … Continue reading Flood Insurance Rates Drop Dramatically, But Not Without a Fight
I’ll admit it’s a stretch to correlate the beautiful orchid flower to the muddle of a house elevation project. While one is majestic, capable of inspiring awe, the other is a nonstop exercise in frustration. But we’re in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for FEMA to weigh in on our house elevation to determine our new (discounted) flood insurance premiums and it’s still … Continue reading Orchids: The Power of a Flower
FINAL STEPS TO COMPLETION The house project finally completed, the only thing left to do is fill in the landscape. As the former landscape was completely destroyed during the process, we were starting with a clean slate. Prior to the lift, we moved all of the foundation landscaping to our backyard in order to protect it. Most of it survived and will be replanted, providing one … Continue reading New Landscape for an Elevated House
The best way to prepare for a home renovation project/ house elevation: assume the project will be messy. Plan accordingly or at least try to learn from our mistakes. We’ve been living in our flood mitigated/ house elevated home for almost three months. The remnants of construction dust continue. How can that be? Haven’t you been cleaning like mad? An emphatic “yes” to that question as … Continue reading Top 5 Tips to Prep for Home Renovation / House Elevation Project
OUR HOUSE IS “SPECIAL”: We live in a flood zone that has been deemed “special” by FEMA, and not in a good way. It’s rated in the highest category of flood insurance, beat out only by those who have ocean front views. The guilty party in our instance is not the Atlantic Ocean, but a gentle brook whose size is disarmingly small. Yet, it provides, … Continue reading Insurance Costs Remain High post House Elevation
FLOOD SAVVY: Fight Flooding - Tips & Inspiration 