Storm and hurricane damage repair on the North Carolina coast
We plan and build the permanent repair after a storm, across Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties. The emergency work comes first, and other crews handle it: the tarp, the boards, the drying out. Then we step in. In a flood zone, heavy damage can change what the repair must be, so we check that first.
What you get when we plan the repair.
The flood rule comes first.
In a mapped flood zone, damage near half the building's value can mean raising the house. We check that before we price the repair.
Built back to today's code.
You work out the claim with your insurer. We plan the repair and build it to today's code. Each part we repair meets the rules for a new house.
You decide how far it goes.
Put the house back the way it was, built to today's code. Or improve it while the walls are open. In a flood zone, upgrades count toward the flood rule too, so we plan it all as one job.
Heavy storm damage can change what the repair must be.
In a mapped flood zone, the town weighs the cost of restoring the house against its value before the storm. Wind damage counts the same as water. Past the town's line, the house has to meet the flood height a new house would.
- The test
- The cost of restoring the house, set against its market value before the damage
- Southport
- 50 percent, damage of any origin, over any one-year period
- Carolina Beach
- 49 percent, over any one-year period
- New Hanover County, outside its towns
- 50 percent, over any five-year period
- Pender County
- 50 percent, with repeat flood losses considered
- Two floods in ten years
- In Southport and Pender County, repairs that average 25 percent or more of market value also count
- Market value
- The building alone, land left out, set by appraisal, depreciated replacement cost or adjusted tax value
- Past the line
- The house meets the flood protection elevation a new house needs, whatever repair was planned
The test is called substantial damage. The town adds up what it would cost to put the house back in its condition before the storm. Then it sets that cost against the market value of the building, taken before the damage. Damage from any cause counts: wind, water or a fallen tree.
Send the address. We'll tell you whether the flood rule could change what your repair has to be.
Past the line
Once the damage reaches the line, the flood rule treats the house as substantially improved, whatever repair you had in mind. It then has to meet the flood protection elevation a new house needs, which for a low house means raising it. That height is the base flood elevation plus the town's freeboard, extra height it adds on top. On a low cottage, the choice can become raising the house or replacing it. We price the restoration and set it against your town's line before the scope is fixed.
Two smaller floods can add up
A house can reach the line without one big storm. In Southport and Pender County, flood damage on two occasions within ten years also counts. It counts when the repairs average 25 percent or more of the building's market value. Kure Beach counts repeat floods the same way.
How the value is set
Market value here means the building alone, with the land left out. The town may set it by an independent appraisal, by replacement cost less depreciation, or by adjusted tax value. Topsail Beach allows the same three methods. Which figure is used can move a house across the line. The local floodplain administrator makes the call for each house.
Where your town draws the line
The percentage and the time window vary by town. Carolina Beach draws its line at 49 percent. New Hanover County counts damage over any five years on its unincorporated land, which includes Porters Neck. Southport counts over one year. The town-by-town table on our renovation page lists each rule.
Outside a flood zone
Outside a mapped flood zone, the building code governs the repair on its own. The parts we repair meet the rules for a new house, and the rest can stay as built. The repair must also keep the house from becoming unsafe, and keep it performing as well as before. Section R102.7.1 of the state residential code sets both rules.
Price the repair against the line before the scope is set.
The parts we repair meet today's code.
North Carolina's residential code holds a repair to the rules for a new house, while the rest of the house can stay as built. Here is what that asks of a roof and a wall after a storm.
Section R102.7.1 of the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code sets the rule. Additions, alterations and repairs meet the requirements for a new structure. The existing house can stay as it was built, unless the code says otherwise.
Sound parts in the way
A repair often has to take apart something the storm left alone. Say the sheathing behind good siding is soaked. The siding comes off to reach it. The code's energy chapter counts that work on undamaged parts as part of the repair (Section N1110), held to its rules for alterations.
An opened wall
When the repair opens an outside wall, the cavity gets insulated to the energy code before it closes, unless it already holds insulation. New wall sheathing does structural work too. It braces the walls against wind pushing sideways, so replaced sheathing follows the code's bracing rules (Section R602.10).
Behind the siding, a water-resistive barrier runs to the top of the wall. The code asks an outside wall for that barrier and a way to drain water that gets past the siding (Section R703.1.1). The high-performance page on moisture explains why a coastal wall needs both. Planning for moisture before it appears goes further.
The roof
Two parts of the roof need close attention in a repair. The underlayment is the layer under the shingles or metal. It is the backup layer that helps keep rain out when wind lifts or tears the covering.
The code sets how underlayment goes on by the design wind speed. In Brunswick and New Hanover Counties, and in Pender's Topsail Township, that speed is 140 or 150 mph. At those speeds, the code calls for heavier underlayment and wider laps under most roof coverings. The rest of Pender County is 130 mph.
The second part is the connection between the roof and the wall. Wind pulls up on a roof, and the connection at each rafter or truss holds it down to the wall. The code sizes that hold for the wind speed. A cracked rafter or truss is structural repair, done to the plan or an engineer's detail. A truss repair needs a design professional's approval (Section R802.10.4).
Windows and doors on the islands
East of the Intracoastal Waterway, the code draws a windborne debris region, which on this coast means the barrier islands. There, a window or glass door replaced after a storm meets the debris rule, the same as one replaced by choice. The glass is protected by impact-rated glazing or by approved protection over the opening. Impact windows and doors covers that rule in full.
Permits for storm repair
North Carolina law lists repair among the work that needs a building permit. The same law exempts some work of $40,000 or less, done to code. Replacing windows, doors or siding can fall inside that exemption. Repair of a load-bearing part, such as a rafter or a bearing wall, needs a permit at any cost.
Historic districts
Southport asks for a certificate of appropriateness before exterior work in its local historic district. The certificate covers repair, and a building permit issued without one is invalid. Wilmington sends exterior work in its local historic districts to the Historic Preservation Commission before the permit.
We come in after the tarp.
Tarping, board-up and drying out come first, and other crews handle them. That work holds the weather off for now. We plan the permanent repair and build it, with permits where the law asks for them.
We look at the house
We write down the storm damage and the house as it stands, from the frame to the systems.
We check the flood rule
We look up the flood zone, your town's damage rule and the permit path for the address.
We draw and price the repair
The repair is drawn and priced against your town's line before the scope is fixed.
We permit and build it
Permits come first where the law asks for them. Then we build the repair to today's code.
Your claim and our repair
You work out the claim with your insurer. We plan the repair and build it to today's code. Our work is the house itself: the damage, the flood rule, the code and the build.
Flood insurance and raising a house
If a flood damages the house past the town's line, the flood rule can require raising it. The National Flood Insurance Program offers coverage for that cost, called Increased Cost of Compliance. FEMA says policyholders in high-risk flood areas may receive up to $30,000 toward meeting local flood rules. Raising the house is one of its uses. Ask your flood insurer whether your policy and your damage qualify.
Living at home during the repair
Where you can stay in the house, the work is staged so the rooms you rely on stay usable. The kitchen, a bath and the heating and cooling are planned around first. Living through a renovation covers how we stage the work.
You decide how far the repair goes.
You might want the house back the way it was. You might want more while it is open. Either way, the plan starts from the house as it stands.
The assessment comes first
Before design, we write down the storm damage and the house as it stands: the frame, the roof and walls, and the systems. The record also notes the flood zone, your town's rule and the permit path. Design is its own step, and it works from that record. How we assess a house explains more.
Back as it was, or better
The simplest path puts the house back the way it was, built to today's code. You can also go further while the walls and roof are open. A torn wall can come back as one built to drain, with new siding over a drainage gap. Broken openings can come back as impact-rated windows and doors.
One scope under the flood rule
In a flood zone, upgrades count toward the flood rule along with the repair. Southport adds up any mix of repairs, rebuilding and improvements made within one year. New Hanover County adds them up over five years. So we plan the repair and the upgrades as one scope, priced against your town's line.
Oceanfront lots after a storm
On the oceanfront, the state measures its building setback from the first line of stable natural vegetation. Where the state has set a line after storm damage or a large beach fill project, the setback can be measured from that line. The rule reaches oceanfront lots in towns such as Surf City. On an oceanfront lot, we check that line early.
Historic houses
In a flood zone, historic status can help. Southport, Burgaw and Wrightsville Beach allow a variance for qualifying historic buildings. Older houses on our renovation page covers the historic districts in more detail.
Questions about storm damage repair
- Will my insurance company make me raise my house?
- The town decides, under its flood rule, and only for a house in a mapped flood zone. The test weighs the cost of restoring the house against the building's value. Past the town's line, the house has to meet the flood height a new house would. Most towns set that line at 50 percent, and Carolina Beach sets it at 49. If a flood caused the damage, ask your flood insurer about Increased Cost of Compliance coverage.
- How do I know if my house is substantially damaged?
- Your local floodplain administrator decides. The test sets the cost of restoring the house against its market value before the storm, counting the building alone. That value can come from an appraisal, depreciated replacement cost or adjusted tax value, and the method can decide the answer. We price the restoration early, so you know where the house lands against the line.
- Will you deal with my insurance adjuster?
- You work out the claim with your insurer. We plan the repair and build it to today's code. Our work starts with the house: what the storm damaged, what your town's flood rule allows, and what the code asks of the repair. From there we draw it, price it, permit it and build it.
- Do you do emergency tarping or board-up?
- We start once the emergency work is done. Tarping, board-up and drying out hold the house for now, and other crews handle them. Then we plan the permanent repair and build it to today's code. When the house is secured, send us the address, and we'll check your town's flood rule first.
- Can I patch the roof, or does it have to be redone to code?
- The part we repair meets today's code, and the rest of the roof can stay as built. A full re-cover follows the code's underlayment rule for your design wind speed. In Brunswick and New Hanover Counties, that speed is 140 or 150 mph, which calls for heavier underlayment and wider laps under most roof coverings. A cracked rafter or truss is structural repair and needs a permit.
- Do storm repairs need a permit in North Carolina?
- State law lists repair among the work that needs a building permit. It exempts some work of $40,000 or less, done to code, which can include replacing windows, doors or siding. Repair of a load-bearing part, like a rafter, needs a permit at any cost. In Southport's historic district, a certificate of appropriateness comes before the permit.
- Does wind damage count toward the 50 percent rule?
- Yes, in a mapped flood zone. The rule counts damage of any origin, so wind, water and fallen trees all add to the cost of restoring the house. Carolina Beach sets its line at 49 percent. Southport and Carolina Beach count damage over one year, and New Hanover County counts it over five years on its unincorporated land.
- Can I upgrade the house while it is being repaired?
- Yes. In a flood zone, upgrades count toward the flood rule along with the repair, inside the town's time window. So we plan the repair and the upgrades as one scope and price the whole job against the line. Outside a flood zone, the upgrades meet today's code the same way the repair does.
- What is Increased Cost of Compliance coverage?
- It is coverage the National Flood Insurance Program offers for the cost of meeting local flood rules after a flood. FEMA says policyholders in high-risk flood areas may receive up to $30,000. A claim follows a declaration from your floodplain administrator that a flood substantially or repeatedly damaged the house. It can go toward raising, moving or tearing down the house.
Regulatory figures on this page summarize the town and county codes each linked city page cites, and the public sources below. Ordinances change; the parcel and the current adopted code decide, and the site analysis confirms both for your lot.
- 2018 North Carolina Residential Code: Sections R102.7.1, R301.2.1.2, R602.10, R703.1.1, R802.10.4, R802.11, R905.1.1 and N1110 (ICC Digital Codes)
- N.C. General Statutes § 160D-1110, building permits
- FEMA: Increased Cost of Compliance coverage
- City of Southport Unified Development Ordinance, Article 5: Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance (Municode)
Let's plan the lasting repair.
Tell us where the house is and what the storm damaged. We'll check your town's flood rule for that address before anything else.
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