Fort Worth homes: water out, then the rebuild done right

Our record

Reopening in Dallas–Fort Worth, with nothing borrowed

Our crews did a lot of work across Dallas–Fort Worth in earlier years, and we are reopening in the region now. No Fort Worth job is logged in our current records yet, so you will find no Fort Worth photos or job stories here, and we will not make any up.

Instead, this page collects what a Fort Worth homeowner should know before a repair starts, read from the city's own pages, the Census Bureau, the National Weather Service and the USDA. Each source is linked where we use it. Our services are the same as everywhere we work: water mitigation, mold remediation, fire and smoke cleanup, air duct cleaning, reconstruction, and construction and remodeling.

Housing

A young city on paper, with an old core inside it

Half of Fort Worth's homes were built in 1994 or later, the Census Bureau estimates. Yet 125,896 of its 373,948 housing units, about one in three, were built before 1980, and 20,898 date from 1939 or earlier.

Those counts come from the American Community Survey 2020–2024 (median year built, table B25035, margin of error two years; year built, table B25034). Built 2000 or later: 162,260 units, more than four in ten. So a Fort Worth repair can mean original plaster, old supply lines and a framed floor in one house, and a slab, drywall and plastic plumbing a few miles away.

• Mostly detached houses. 242,351 units, about two in three, are single detached homes (units in structure, table B25024). A leak there usually stays inside one home, and the drying plan follows that one house room by room.
• Owners in the majority. 195,072 of 342,126 occupied homes are lived in by their owners; 147,054 are rented (tenure, table B25003). If you rent, tell your landlord first; the building and its claim are theirs.
• Older materials, slower decisions. In a house built before 1980 we open walls with care and look before we price, because what is behind them varies from room to room.

Flooding

Most repeat flood losses here are off the FEMA map

Almost 75 percent of the repeat flood loss claims in Fort Worth came from properties outside FEMA's Special Flood Hazard Area. Flash flooding is the city's most common kind, usually from heavy spring and fall storms.

Both facts are from the city's flood awareness newsletter (Stormwater Management, revised October 2026). It names the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River, Marine Creek, Village Creek and Sycamore Creek among the main sources, and says hazardous flooding away from creeks is also frequent as runoff drains toward larger channels.

Historic districts

In a historic district, the city's approval comes before the permit

Fort Worth requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before a building permit for exterior alterations, new construction or demolition on a historic property. Roofing, windows, siding and foundation work are among the city's examples.

That is from the city's Historic Preservation page (Development Services), which names districts such as Fairmount, Morningside, Mistletoe Heights and the Stockyards. Most certificates are approved by staff; the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission hears new construction, demolition, waivers of the design guidelines and appeals.

What it means after hail or a burst pipe: inside work, drying and demolition of wet material can go ahead, but the exterior repair waits for that approval. Matching the old siding profile, window style and roof material is part of our rebuild plan from the first visit, and on remodels we handle the permits and the plans. See rebuild after damage.

Permits

Where Fort Worth draws the permit line on a repair

The city requires a permit for work that changes, moves or repairs walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, wiring, mechanical systems or plumbing. Cosmetic work does not need one.

Its residential permitting page covers one- and two-family detached homes, and says applicants must be a registered building contractor or qualify for a homestead permit. The lines that matter most after damage:

1. Drywall

   Replacing 16 square feet or more in any wall or ceiling needs a building permit. A wet room usually crosses that line.

2. Roof and siding

   Shingle work alone needs no permit, though layers are limited. New decking, sheathing or rafters, or replacing missing or decayed siding, needs one.

3. Plumbing and air

   Water heaters and shower pans need a plumbing permit; ductwork, exhaust fans and central heating and air need a mechanical permit.

4. No permit

   Floor and wall coverings, cabinets, countertops, shelving and plumbing fixture replacement are cosmetic.

Hail

The Mayfest storm and what hail does to a Fort Worth roof

On May 5, 1995, a storm dropped hail up to the size of softballs on Fort Worth, including the bank of the Trinity River where the Mayfest festival was under way, and flash flooding followed.

The National Weather Service Fort Worth office keeps an account of the Mayfest storm, which counts over 400 people injured. Most hail is smaller, but the damage pattern is the same: bruised or split shingles, dented gutters and cracked siding that let the next rain in. For the date of a storm on your street, Tarrant County hail and wind reports are in NOAA's Storm Events Database.

We repair roofs, siding and gutters after storms and hail, and we document the damage for the claim like the rest of our damage work. The steps are on storm damage repair.

Freezes

February 2021: two hard freezes in one week

At DFW Airport the temperature stayed at or below freezing for 93 hours from February 9 to 13, 2021, rose above freezing for only a few hours, then stayed down again until February 19. The weather office itself read 0 °F on the morning of February 16.

That is from the Weather Service's February 2021 winter storm summary. A pipe split in the first freeze can stay frozen through the second and only leak when it thaws, often in an attic or an outside wall where nobody sees it.

Fort Worth's own freeze tips (January 2026) ask you to find your private shut-off valve now and make sure it works, and to insulate pipes in crawl spaces, attics and under cabinets. The pipe itself is repaired by a licensed plumber; we remove the water, dry the house to the readings and put it back together.

Soil

Clay that cracks open in a dry summer

The USDA's record for the Sanger soil series, a clay found mainly in north-central Texas, notes high shrink-swell potential and cracks 1 to 3 inches wide when it dries. Water enters quickly when it is cracked and very slowly when it is moist.

That is the official series description from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It does not say which Fort Worth lots sit on Sanger clay; the free Web Soil Survey shows the mapped soil under your own address.

Why we care: ground that swells and shrinks moves the slab, and a slab that moves can crack the pipes inside it. A slab leak shows up as a warm or damp spot, a stain at the base of a wall or a water bill that climbs. We find the wet area with meters and open only what has to come out. Foundation repair for clay-soil movement is part of what we do.

Mold

Mold work in Texas: who tests, who removes

Texas law keeps the mold assessment and the mold removal on one project in separate hands. On every project we remediate, an independent licensed mold assessor does the assessment, and we do not assess our own jobs.

The rule is Texas Occupations Code 1958.155. Once the mold is removed, everything it touched is replaced with new material, never cleaned and reused. The full process is on mold remediation.

Paying for it

What you pay when insurance covers the repair

For a covered repair you pay only your deductible; your insurer pays us the rest directly. Upgrades you choose are priced separately.

We are the repair contractor, not the adjuster. We document the loss with photos, moisture readings and line-item estimates in the industry's standard estimating format, send our estimate to your adjuster and answer questions about our scope; the claim stays between you and your insurer. Details on insurance restoration. The first consultation and quote are free, our work has a written warranty with its terms in your contract, and financing is available through our lending partner.

Fort Worth questions

What Fort Worth owners ask before a repair