After being displaced by severe flooding in Hudson, Florida, Bobby Laramore and his wife spent nearly a year living in a trailer, waiting for the day they could return home.
That day finally came this summer, when their house — now sitting more than 12 feet higher than before — was ready. The couple made the decision to elevate their home after Hurricane Helene in 2024.
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“It’s like a totally new house just moving back in it,” Laramore shared with Tampa Bay 28. “The peace of mind that my wife and I have now from where we were. There’s not a price tag on that.” (1)
Raising a house and its critical utilities above the Base Flood Elevation is a very effective strategy to protect a home from frequent flooding. In fact, the Laramores are far from the only Floridian couple to protect their homes from the increasingly destructive storms in the Sunshine State.
Their contractor, Joseph Fairley of Unified Foundations, said demand for home elevations has surged across Florida as more residents seek long-term protection from flooding. His company alone has about 20 active projects, and double that in the permitting stage.
While elevating a home is an effective strategy against flooding, it typically costs anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000, though complex projects can reach $150,000 or more. It all depends on the size of the house, the type of property and how high the home needs to be elevated. (2)
Accessibility is another variable: elevating a home often means adding stairs, and homeowners with disabilities will likely pay extra for ramps or lifts — potentially adding thousands to the total cost.
The investment can be steep, but so can the potential losses: flooding costs the U.S. between $179.8 billion and $496 billion in damages each year, and those costs are increasing with stronger storms and rising sea levels. (3)
When it comes to flooding, homeowners in high-risk areas may find it’s a matter of pay now or pay later. For example, the average cost to repair water damage in California was between $1,200 and $5,000 in 2024. (4)
For those in high-risk areas that are prone to flooding, this cost could become an annual expense.
