The First 48 Hours
My friend Jason, who works construction, showed up before the water had even fully drained. He took one look at the waterline on the walls and said we needed to start cutting immediately. I thought maybe we could let things dry out. He laughed. Not in Houston, he said. Not in August.
He was right. We started cutting drywall that afternoon, pulling off baseboards and using a utility knife to score a line about two feet above where the water had reached. The standard rule is one foot above the waterline, but Jason insisted on two feet for Houston. Too many jobs where he'd seen mold creep higher than expected.
What We Found Behind the Walls
The drywall came off easy since it was already waterlogged and falling apart in chunks. Behind it, the old plaster was actually in decent shape in most places, just wet. The pier and beam foundation meant air could circulate underneath, which probably helped. But the insulation was a total loss. Waterlogged fiberglass that smelled like a swamp.
We set up fans and a dehumidifier, but the real drying took about two weeks. Jason had me wait before putting new drywall up. Too many guys rush it, he said, and then wonder why they've got mold six months later.
The Repair Process
Once everything was dry, I had to decide whether to DIY or hire it out. The drywall replacement itself wasn't complicated, but we're talking about 400 square feet of wall surface across eight rooms. I ended up hiring a two-man crew that Jason recommended, a father and son team from Pasadena.
They charged $12 per square foot installed, taped, and textured. That included hauling away the debris we'd piled in the front yard. All in, the drywall portion came to about $4,800. The insulation, baseboards, and painting added another $3,400. So roughly $8,200 total, not counting the flooring I had to replace separately.
The Texture Matching Problem
My house had this orange peel texture that's common in Houston homes from the 1980s renovation era. The crew did their best to match it, but you can still see a faint line where the new drywall meets the old if the light hits it right. It bothered me for about a month. Now I don't even notice it.
Lessons Learned
A few things I'd do differently if it happened again. First, I'd cut the drywall even higher, maybe three feet. The extra cost is minimal and you eliminate any risk of hidden moisture. Second, I'd document everything with photos before starting demo, not just after. Insurance adjusters want before and after, and I only had after.
Third, and this is Houston-specific, I'd invest in flood vents for the foundation. My neighbor down the street had them installed after the flood, and when we got high water again in 2019, his house drained instead of holding water. Cost him about $2,000 but probably saved ten times that in damage.
Would I Do It Again in The Heights?
People ask if I regret buying in a flood-prone area. No. The Heights is a great neighborhood, and flooding risk is just part of Houston life. You can't avoid it unless you move to higher ground in places like Tanglewood or Memorial, and then you're paying three times as much for a house.
What I did do is raise my furniture on risers, keep important documents upstairs, and have a flood plan ready. And I know a lot more about drywall than I did before 2017.