Restoration and rebuilding for Plano's 1990s houses

Our record here

What our job log shows for Plano

Our job log has 1 logged job in Plano, from 2024. Before that log began, we worked across Dallas–Fort Worth, and we are now reopening in North Texas.

One job is not a portfolio, so this page does not pretend to be one. There are no Plano photos here yet and no story about that house: the owner's privacy comes first, and photos go up only after a job is cleared for publishing. Instead, the page sets out what we checked about Plano itself before writing it: the age of its houses, the storms and freezes the weather service recorded, and what the city's building and engineering offices ask of a repair. Every fact links to the office that published it.

What we do in Plano is what we do everywhere: water mitigation, mold remediation, fire and smoke cleanup, air duct cleaning, the rebuild after the damage, and construction and remodeling, all under one phone number.

The housing

A city built mostly between 1980 and 1999

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020–2024 puts the median Plano home in 1993, give or take two. Of 117,686 housing units, 33,707 were built in the 1990s and 25,450 in the 1980s.

Those counts come from the survey's tables on year structure built (B25034) and median year built (B25035). Only 21,662 Plano homes, under a fifth, were built before 1980, and 2,078 have gone up since 2020. So the typical Plano repair is not a very old house full of surprises. It is a house whose original water heater, supply lines, roof and drywall have all had a long working life.

City rules

What Plano's building inspectors want permitted

The City of Plano Building Inspections Department has a one-page handout called "When is a permit required?". Cosmetic projects such as painting, wallpapering, carpeting, cabinets and trim work do not need one. Building, remodeling or enlarging a house does.

That handout, with the re-roof and foundation repair handouts quoted further down, is on the city's residential additions and alterations page. A few lines on its list surprise people after water damage:

The same handout reminds owners that contractors must be registered with the city before doing any work, and warns against a contractor who asks the owner to pull the permit in their own name. On our remodels we handle the permits and the plans, and design is included.

Hail

Hail over Collin County, and the 25 percent roof line

On April 11, 2016, a supercell crossed North Texas and, as the National Weather Service puts it, reached its maximum intensity as it moved into Collin County. It left a 5.25-inch hailstone, a record for the Fort Worth office's area.

The weather service's summary of that storm names neighboring Wylie as the hardest-hit city, with most of its homes affected. Plano sits in the same county, under the same spring storms. After hail, the city's re-roof handout matters: re-roof work up to 25 percent of the roof needs no permit, and anything beyond it does.

The handout also asks for rotten decking or rafters to be replaced, bans unpackaged seconds, and sets a final inspection that goes into the attic to check the vent piping through the roof, the rafters, and the water heater and furnace exhaust vents. A roof job that disturbs those vents is not finished until they are put back. Our roof, siding and gutter repairs after storms and hail are documented for the claim; see storm damage repair.

Freezes

February 2021 brought two long freezes, back to back

Weather service records for DFW Airport show 93 hours at or below freezing from February 9 to 13, 2021, a brief afternoon at 33 °F, then another 139 hours that ran to February 19. On February 15 the high was colder than the record low for that date.

That is from the National Weather Service Fort Worth office's page on the February 2021 winter event. A pipe in an exterior wall or an attic can freeze in the first spell and only start leaking when the thaw comes, which is why burst-pipe calls keep arriving days after the cold.

1. Before it freezes

   The city's winter preparedness page says to drip faucets slowly, cover outdoor faucets, wrap exposed pipes, turn off the sprinkler and drain the hose.

2. During the freeze

   Leave indoor faucets dripping and the sink cabinets open, as the same page advises, and find your main shut-off before you need it; the city links a guide to shutting off water to your home.

3. When it splits

   Shut the water off and call. A licensed plumber repairs the pipe. We take out the water, open only what is wet, dry to the readings and rebuild; see water damage mitigation.

Under the house

Slab movement, and why Plano wants an engineer's seal

Foundation repair is on Plano's permit list, and the city's foundation repair handout is strict about it: the drawings must be dated, designed, sealed and signed by a State of Texas registered engineer, with the piers or footings located and detailed and an engineer's letter attached.

North Texas clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries, and a slab sitting on it can move. You can look up the soil mapped under your own lot, and its shrink-swell rating, in the USDA's free Web Soil Survey. When a slab moves, plumbing cast into it can crack, and a slab leak shows up as a warm spot, a damp edge of carpet or a rising water bill. We find the wet area with meters and dry it, and foundation repair for clay-soil movement is part of our work, permitted the way the city's handout asks.

Floodplain

Plano's flood rule is 50 percent of market value

If restoring a flooded Plano house would cost 50 percent or more of its market value before the damage, the city counts it as substantially damaged. The repair must then meet new-building requirements, above the base flood elevation, under a building permit.

That is how the city's Engineering Department explains substantial improvement and damage under the National Flood Insurance Program, and it applies whatever caused the damage. The city's flood hazard page adds that not every flood-prone spot, poorly drained lot or street that floods has been mapped, and that about 30 percent of flood claims come from outside the high-risk zone.

Its flood insurance page is plain: a standard homeowner policy does not cover flood, and a new flood policy normally has a 30-day waiting period. Check your address in FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, or ask the city's Engineering Department for your flood zone. Our estimate itemizes every line of the repair, which helps when that 50 percent question comes up.

Mold

If a Plano leak leads to mold

Texas keeps testing and removal apart. When we remediate mold on a Texas project, the assessment is done by an independent licensed mold assessor, never by us.

The rule is in Texas Occupations Code 1958.155: one company does not both assess and remediate the same project. Once the mold is out, every material it touched is replaced with new, not cleaned and put back. The full process is on our mold remediation page.

Insurance

Who pays for a covered repair

On a covered repair your share is the deductible. Your insurer pays us the rest directly, and any upgrade you choose is priced on its own.

We are your repair contractor, not your adjuster. We photograph the damage, take moisture readings and measurements, send the adjuster our itemized estimate and answer questions about our scope; the claim stays between you and your insurance company. See working with insurance. Remodels and repairs start with a free consultation and quote, carry a written warranty with terms in the contract, and can be financed through our lending partner.

Plano questions

Plano permit and flood questions, answered