Watch Kessie & Terry's Story, Extensive Home Fire Damage Tuesday, July 24, 2018

A home fire can be one of the most devastating disasters that can happen to a family. Unfortunately, being in a tropical climate here in the Lakeland/Plant City area, house fires are more common than in other states due to the high heat and wildfires we encounter. When you experience a fire in your home, turn to True Builders, just like Kessie and Terry Burchett of Lakeland, FL did.

Cleaning up and assessing the extent of the fire damage in Kessie and Terry's home.

As with any fire in the home, the first things that need to happen is a cleanup and assessment of the damages. In this project, the fire started in the garage and quickly spread to other parts of the home before the fire department could extinguish it. Parts of the home, such as the garage, were a complete loss and everything needed to be rebuilt, including the block walls. Other parts of the home, such as most of the living space, had severe smoke damage but wasn't a complete loss.

After hauling away the debris, we determined that some exterior structural elements needed to be rebuilt and the interior needed to be taken down to the studs to replace all of the smoke-damaged walls, ceilings, and floors.

Rebuilding the Garage and Roof

Being that the fire started in the garage and burned for some time, the garage and roof were a complete loss. Every part of the garage had to be rebuilt, except for the concrete slab. We created an entirely new garage, constructed the roof, applied stucco/paint, and rebuilt the interior.

Opening up the Kitchen and Doing a Complete Remodel

Being near the source of the fire, the kitchen suffered from some fire damage and major smoke damage. Because of this, the kitchen required a complete remodel, including new walls, cabinets, countertops, and flooring. While we were remodeling the kitchen, we took advantage of the opportunity and opened up the kitchen to the living space as Terry had always wanted. We also installed beautiful 2-inch earth-toned granite countertops upon natural wood cabinets with a hint of cherry, replacing the dated white cabinets that were there before. To finish the kitchen, we laid new tile flooring and added additional lighting fixtures.

Remodeling the Master Bathroom

Another major part of the home impacted by the fire was the master bathroom that Kessie and Terry had. We did a full remodel, which included a new walk-in shower, corner garden tub, and a dual vanity with granite countertops. We also installed new lighting fixtures, tile flooring, backsplashes, and new paint.

Restoring the Rest of the Fire-damaged Home

As mentioned earlier, most of the home was stripped down to the studs due to the excess fire and smoke damage. Throughout the rest of the home, you'll see from the photos that we've installed new tile flooring, new paint, replaced doors, and added new lighting fixtures.

On the exterior, we repainted the entire home to ensure everything matched up seamlessly with our structural exterior repairs.

Have you recently experienced a home fire?

If you've recently experienced a home fire, whether a small kitchen fire or complete loss, call True Builders' expert fire restoration team in the Lakeland/Plant City area at (863) 647-1800. If you have questions about this project, please don't hesitate to reach out or comment!