Flood Rebuild Guide
Rebuilding After a Flood in the Houston Area
Floodwater reaches homes in this metro four different ways, and the way it arrived decides how much of the house comes out. We rebuild drywall, flooring, tile, trim and paint once the cavities are dry and the mold trade has signed off.
- Full wall planes, never patches
- Slab metered before any flooring
- Paperless board below your line
Direct Answer
The Short Version
After a Houston flood, board wet past about 48 hours comes out to a seam above the highest moisture reading, and rebuilding starts once the cavity meters dry.
What Comes Out
What Comes Out, and How High
Water does not stop at the line you can see on the wall. Gypsum wicks it up the core, the paper face delaminates, and insulation behind it holds moisture against the bottom plate long after the room feels dry.
- Drywall: board that stayed wet past roughly 48 hours comes out to the framing. We cut to a seam above the highest moisture reading, usually two or four feet up, so the new plane finishes with a clean joint.
- Insulation: wet insulation comes out with the board, because it keeps the cavity damp.
- Flooring: laminate and engineered wood delaminate after inundation, and creek water entering at the slab line lets go of flooring adhesive.
- Trim and cabinets: MDF baseboard and cabinet boxes swell once they take on water, so they are replaced with the wall plane behind them.
Why Houston Is Different
How the Water Arrives Decides the Scope
Each part of the metro floods by its own mechanism, and that sets how long walls stay wet.
| Area | How the water arrives | What it does to the house |
|---|---|---|
| Katy | Addicks and Barker store floodwater during events, with roughly 14,000 homes inside the two pools | Water spreads wide and stands for days, so bottom plates, subfloor and drywall stay saturated |
| Cypress | Shallow sheet flow from the upper Cypress Creek watershed across flat ground | Homes with no creek frontage still take water, and it stands rather than drains |
| Spring | Cypress Creek and Spring Creek overbank flooding | Water enters at the slab line, wicks up drywall and bottom plates and loosens flooring adhesive |
| Kingwood and Humble | A Lake Conroe release sends a flood wave down the San Jacinto overnight | Water comes through windows, doors and walls in the dark, saturating wall cavities and ruining cabinetry |
| Conroe | The West Fork San Jacinto along the western edge, with parts of the city in the floodplain | Floodplain homes take river water; elsewhere water perches on plinthite and runs against foundations |
| Richmond, Sugar Land and Missouri City | The Brazos crests from rain that fell upstream days earlier; levee districts close outfalls and pump | Deep standing water for days to weeks drives gut-and-rebuild; levee-protected homes flood from trapped rain |
| League City | Clear Creek rises while rain on the clay cannot soak in, plus real storm-surge exposure near the bay | Repeat inundation wicks up drywall and seeds mold inside wall cavities |
Before We Rebuild
Drying, Readings and Who Goes First
Moisture and mold remediation are separate trades, and we do not perform them. Our crew starts once their clearance is in hand.
Before anything is hung, framing and bottom plates are read with a meter, and drying time is written into the schedule. Before any flooring goes down, the slab itself is moisture tested, because a slab that reads dry at the center can still be wet at the perimeter.
Damaged outlets, wiring, plumbing fixtures and HVAC belong to those trades. Inside a larger rebuild we subcontract plumbing and electrical; a job that is only plumbing or only electrical is not one we take.
Process
The Order a Rebuild Runs In
- Remediation clearance. The moisture or mold trade finishes and signs off.
- Meter readings. Framing, bottom plates and slab are read and the numbers recorded.
- Drywall. Wall and ceiling planes are hung, taped and finished to Level 3, 4 or 5, with texture matched to the rooms around them.
- Tile and flooring. Laid once the slab passes its moisture test.
- Trim. Baseboard and casing go back on over the finished floor.
- Paint. Primer and two finish coats close out the room.
Materials
Rebuilding So the Next Flood Costs Less
Nothing installed in a wall stops floodwater. Material choices change how much has to come out next time and how fast the house recovers.
- Below the flood line: fiberglass-faced gypsum such as Georgia-Pacific DensArmor Plus instead of paper-faced board, which feeds mold once it stays damp.
- Hung horizontally: the lower course runs sideways, so a future flood cut lands on a seam.
- Held off the slab: board stops half an inch above the floor, with setting-type compound at the base, so wicking has nowhere to start.
- Flooring: glue-down LVP or porcelain tile below the flood line, rather than laminate or engineered wood.
Pricing
What a Flood Rebuild Costs in Houston
A rebuild is priced trade by trade from the metro ranges below. Inner Loop zips run about 20% higher. Projects start at a $500 project minimum for multi-item work.
| Trade | Houston installed range |
|---|---|
| Drywall | $2-$6 per sq ft hung, taped and finished; texture $0.80-$2.00 and skim coat $1.00-$1.30 per sq ft |
| Flooring | LVP $4-$8 per sq ft; hardwood $5-$12 per sq ft |
| Tile | Floor tile $7-$15 per sq ft; porcelain and shower work $12-$22 per sq ft |
| Baseboard | $3.50-$9 per linear ft (national figure; no Texas source found) |
| Interior painting | $3-$7 per sq ft of paintable wall area |
Every trade range sits on the Houston pricing hub.
Common Questions
Flood Rebuild Questions
How high does drywall come out after a flood?
Board that stayed wet past about 48 hours comes out to a seam above the highest moisture reading, usually two or four feet, so the new plane finishes with a clean joint.
Can new drywall go up before mold clearance?
No. Mold remediation is a separate trade we do not perform. We hang board only into a cavity that has dried, been metered and been signed off.
Will you patch just the bottom of the wall?
No. We replace the affected wall plane rather than patching, because a filled patch over a wicked core fails again on the same line.
What flooring holds up best below a flood line?
Glue-down LVP or porcelain tile. Laminate and engineered wood delaminate after inundation, and every floor waits for the slab to pass a moisture test.
Do I need a Houston permit to rebuild after a flood?
Houston permits run on triggers rather than dollar amounts. Finish work such as tile, flooring, paint, trim and non-fire-rated gypsum is exempt; replacing plumbing or electrical fixtures is not.
Get the Rebuild Order in Writing
Call 512-290-5153 once the cavities are dry, and we will meter the walls, mark the cut line and write down the rebuild order. We cover all fourteen Houston-area cities, from the Kingwood villages to the Brazos side of Richmond.
Call 512-290-5153