Don't Wait—Call Remediate.

When a McKinney house takes on hail, ice or water

A roof broken open by a spring hailstorm, a pipe that split in a hard freeze, a damp patch on a slab floor that keeps coming back. Call us, and a person answers at any hour of the day or night.

Call (281) 671-7777 Request a call back

Plainly

Reopening in North Texas, with no McKinney job to show yet

Remediate did a lot of work across Dallas–Fort Worth in earlier years, and we are opening up there again. Not one McKinney job appears in our current records, so you will find no McKinney photos or job stories here.

Instead, this page collects what a McKinney homeowner should know before a repair, read from the city's own pages, the Census Bureau, NOAA's storm records, the U.S. Geological Survey and FEMA. Every figure links to where it was published. The work we offer is the same everywhere: water mitigation, mold remediation, fire and smoke cleanup, air duct cleaning, the rebuild after the damage, and construction and remodeling, under one phone number.

Housing

Most McKinney homes went up after 2000

The Census Bureau puts the median McKinney home in 2007. Of 77,617 housing units, 56,492 were built in 2000 or later, and the single busiest decade was 2010 to 2019, with 26,956.

Those numbers are from the American Community Survey estimates for 2020–2024 (median year built, table B25035, margin of error one year; year built, table B25034). Only 6,092 homes, under 8 percent, were built before 1980. It is one of the newest housing stocks in the region, and it changes what a repair looks like.

A first big repair on a newer house

In a house from the 2000s or 2010s, there is usually less guesswork behind the drywall than in an older one. What is the same in any house: water runs along the slab under flooring and wicks up into the bottom of the walls, farther than the stain shows. We trace it room by room with moisture readings before anything comes out.

The older core near downtown

The survey still counts 1,128 homes built in 1939 or earlier. McKinney protects its oldest blocks: the City Council set up two historic districts by ordinance in the 1980s, and the city's Historic Preservation Office handles the Certificate of Appropriateness that applies there. In one of those districts, talk to that office before changing the outside of the house.

Owners, renters and big buildings

Of 74,072 occupied homes, 47,290 are lived in by their owners (tenure, table B25003). Most homes, 54,718, are detached houses, but 6,670 sit in buildings of 50 or more units (units in structure, table B25024). In a shared building, we read the units on both sides of the leak, not only the one that called.

City rules

The city's own line between a permit and none

McKinney publishes a plain list. Finish work, such as painting, tiling, flooring, cabinets and countertops, needs no permit. Roofing, a water heater, foundation repair, windows and doors, and stand-alone plumbing, electrical or mechanical work do.

That list is on the city's home repairs and permit page. It matters after water damage, because most of a rebuild is finish work, while the cause of the damage often is not.

Usually without a permit

New drywall paint, tile, flooring, cabinets and countertops once the house reads dry. Repairing a minor leak, as long as no piping is removed, replaced or relocated. Replacing a toilet, faucet or other fixture in the same place without altering the pipes.

With a permit

A new roof, a water heater, a foundation repair, new windows or doors, and plumbing, electrical or mechanical work on its own. Each has a named application in the city's Citizen Self-Service portal, and the city's Development Navigation Assistant walks through the steps.

On remodels we handle the permits and the plans, and design is included. On a damage repair, we tell you early which parts of the job fall on the permit side of that list.

Hail

The night softball-size hail fell near McKinney

On Sunday evening, March 24, 2019, a cold front set off storms across North Texas. NOAA's records say Collin County took the most damage from large hail, and one report placed hail 4.5 inches across near the city of McKinney.

That is from NOAA's Storm Events Database, which holds the National Weather Service's storm reports: the softball-size report near McKinney and a separate tennis-ball-size report in McKinney, both from that night. The same database is where you can look up the date of the storm that hit your own roof, which an insurer will ask for.

A broken roof lets the next rain in, so the first job is often a tarp. Then the roof itself, which in McKinney goes through the city's Residential Reroof application. Our roof, siding and gutter repairs after hail are documented for the claim the same way as the rest of our damage work; more on storm and hail damage repair.

Winter

How cold did Collin County get in February 2021?

Colder than most North Texas plumbing is built for. NOAA's county record says lows on February 15 and 16 ran between 5 and −5 °F, the high on the 15th stayed in the lower teens, and overnight lows were below 20 °F for most of that week.

The Collin County entry for the freeze notes an extreme amount of damage to pipes, infrastructure and power. Snow fell twice, about 3 to 5 inches first and then 1 to 3 more. A frozen pipe often gives no sign until it thaws; then the water runs inside a wall or ceiling. If it happens, this is the order:

Water off
Close the main shut-off so the split pipe stops feeding water into the house.
Pipe repaired
A licensed plumber repairs the pipe itself.
Water out, house dried
We take out the standing water, open what has to come out and dry to the readings.
Rebuild
Drywall, flooring and finishes go back, under one company. See rebuild after damage.

Creeks

Wilson Creek and the flood maps that keep changing

McKinney's Engineering Department keeps the city's floodplain records. As land along creeks is developed, builders must work out how high the water would rise in a storm with a 1-percent-annual-chance of happening in any year, and that land is mapped as floodplain.

The city's floodplain management page names Wilson Creek, Franklin Branch, Stover Creek and Honey Creek in its own floodplain study, and says FEMA's maps are often revised to reflect new data and new building. Until an updated FEMA map is reissued, the city holds the newer local floodplain information.

Two places to check: FEMA's Flood Map Service Center for the map that applies to your address today, and the U.S. Geological Survey's stream gauge on Wilson Creek in McKinney, which posts the creek's water level. When creek or storm water does get into a house, we remove it, take out what it soaked and dry the rest. See water damage mitigation.

Under the floor

Clay soil, slab leaks and the foundation repair permit

Much of North Texas is built on clay that swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. When the ground under a slab moves, the pipes cast into that slab move with it.

You can look up the soil mapped under your own lot, and its shrink-swell rating, in the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's free Web Soil Survey. A slab leak shows up as a warm or damp spot in the floor, a water bill that jumps, or flooring that lifts. We find the wet area with meters, open only what has to come out and dry it.

Foundation repair for clay-soil movement is part of what we do. McKinney lists foundation repair among the repairs that need a city permit, so when the slab itself has to be fixed, that permit is part of the plan before the finishes go back.

Mold

If the water leaves mold behind

Texas keeps testing and removal apart. On a project we remediate, an independent licensed mold assessor does the assessment, and we never assess and remediate the same Texas project.

That split comes from Texas Occupations Code 1958.155. Once the mold is removed, everything it touched is replaced with new material, never cleaned and reused. The full steps are on mold remediation.

Paying for it

Your deductible, your adjuster, our estimate

When the repair is covered, you pay only your deductible, and the insurer pays us the rest directly. Upgrades you choose are priced on their own.

We are the repair contractor and never the adjuster. We document the loss for the claim with photos, moisture readings and a line-item estimate in the industry's standard estimating format, send it to your adjuster and answer questions about our scope; the claim stays between you and your insurer (how we work with insurance). The first consultation and quote are free, our work carries a written warranty with its terms in your contract, and financing is available through our lending partner.

McKinney questions

Answers for McKinney homeowners, from the city's own pages

Can a plumber fix a leak in my McKinney house without a city permit?

Often, yes. The city's home repair page lists repairing minor leaks as work without a permit, as long as no piping has to be removed, replaced or relocated. Swapping a toilet or faucet in the same spot is also exempt. Once pipe is cut out and replaced, it becomes a stand-alone plumbing permit.

Does foundation repair on a McKinney house need its own permit?

Yes. The City of McKinney lists foundation repair among the home repairs that require a permit, applied for in its Citizen Self-Service portal under Residential Foundation Repair. If a slab leak or soil movement is behind the damage, we plan that permit into the rebuild.

Where can I see how high Wilson Creek is running in McKinney?

The U.S. Geological Survey runs a stream gauge on Wilson Creek in McKinney and posts its water level online, so you can watch the creek during a heavy rain. It shows the creek, not your lot: for that, check the FEMA flood map for your address.

Why might the FEMA flood map for my McKinney street be out of date?

FEMA revises its maps as new data and new development come in. Until an updated map is reissued, the city's Engineering Department keeps the newer local floodplain information, and FEMA's Flood Map Changes Viewer shows changes in progress. Ask the city before a large repair near a creek.