Fort Worth

Fire Damage
Restoration in Fort Worth, TX

Request a Free Estimate

Elite Level Fire Damage Restoration in Fort Worth, TX

Fire damage to your home is one of the most traumatizing, frightening tragedies a person can experience. This is especially true in apartment buildings and multifamily homes, where dozens if not hundreds of families are affected by fire and smoke damage. When a fire rips through an apartment building, the property damage can be catastrophic. But the damage caused by fires doesn't end once the flames have been extinguished. Victims are left wondering what happens next now that their belongings are destroyed. When will they have a roof over their again?

In these circumstances, prompt, purpose-driven fire damage restoration is key to reducing victims' financial and emotional strain.

The National Fire Protection Association states that a structure fire is reported every 65 seconds. When the fire alarm sounds, emergency responders answer the call for help with decisive action. But once the smoke clears, Atlas National Renovations' team of fire restoration experts step in to give hope to property managers, apartment tenants, and commercial property owners.

With decades of combined experience in disaster recovery, ANR understands the complexities associated with commercial and apartment building fires. We have helped the top multifamily groups in Texas recover their tenants' homes and belongings with care and compassion. If you're a property manager and you're still reeling from a fire disaster, know that we're here to help you too.

At Atlas National Renovations, our expert project managers and technicians play key roles in complicated fire restoration projects. We specialize in restoring Class A, B, and C properties like apartment complexes, high-rise buildings, multifamily buildings, mixed-use developments, large commercial properties, and more.

Service Areas

If you're looking for a top-tier fire damage restoration company in Fort Worth, look no further than ANR. We're the top pick when it comes to large, detailed fire restoration projects because we:

  • Are a Trusted Partner in Restoration and Disaster Recovery
  • Adhere to OSHA Standards and State & Federal Regulations
  • Use the Latest Equipment & Remediation Techniques
  • Offer Innovative Solutions to Detailed Problems
  • Provide Seasoned Project Managers for Each Fire Restoration Project
  • Give Clients Clear and Consistent Communication
  • Work with Insurance Companies
  • Have a Knowledgeable & Courteous Leadership Team

Fire Damage Restoration for Apartment Buildings in Fort Worth, TX

Owners and managers of apartment complexes know that the safety of their tenants is a major responsibility. Unfortunately, nobody can completely control when apartment fires occur. Fires in apartments and multifamily buildings may start small, but they spread quickly, often destroying several living spaces. These frightening fires destroy prized heirlooms, important documents, and can even be fatal. However, the work is only beginning once the fire is put out and lives are saved.

In the aftermath of a disaster, figuring out the next steps is hard. During this difficult time, it's important to be prepared. As a property manager or owner, having a fire damage restoration company on your checklist of resources is crucial.

Unlike residential fires, apartment and multifamily building fires add several more layers of complexity and stress. In these situations, you deserve a restoration partner that you can trust without question, and that company is Atlas National Renovations.

Fire Damage Restoration Fort Worth, TX

With years of experience guiding our technicians and project managers, the ANS team responds quickly to your fire damage emergency. Using advanced protocols and state-of-the-art restoration equipment, we get to work quickly to repair and restore your commercial property to its pre-loss condition. While restoring your property, we always keep your tenant's care and comfort in mind.

Our fire restoration services in Fort Worth are comprehensive and include the following:

  • Rapid Mobilization and Response
  • Overall Catastrophe Management
  • Emergency Board-Up Services
  • Debris Removal and Disposal
  • Apartment Content Inventory and Cleaning
  • Soot and Smoke Removal Services
  • Water Extraction
  • Deodorization
  • HVAC Cleaning and Decontamination
  • Shoring Installment to Secure Buildings
  • Interior & Exterior Renovations

Our Fire Damage Restoration Process

It's imperative to have someone with knowledge and experience on your side during a fire crisis.

When you call ANS, our fire restoration experts can help walk you through the steps you need to take once a fire occurs. This allows us to quickly gain control of the restoration project on your behalf. Once we have inspected your property, we'll provide a detailed report and scope of work for your fire damage restoration project.

ANS repairs all property damage caused by soot, smoke, and fire. Our IICRC-certified fire restoration teams construct the best plan to quickly get your building back to its pre-loss condition.

 Disaster Recovery Fort Worth, TX

Because every property is different, each fire restoration project for apartment buildings is too. However, every fire disaster will have a similar process and will often include:

Contact ANS

Your fire restoration process begins when you call our headquarters. Our specialist will ask you a series of questions about the fire event that occurred. That way, we can arrive on-site with the proper resources and equipment.

Fire Damage Assessment
and Inspection

Our fire damage restoration team will carefully inspect the entirety of your apartment complex, from building to building and room to room. We do so to determine the extent of your apartment's fire, smoke, and soot damage. This step is crucial to developing a comprehensive restoration plan.

Board-Up Services

First responders like firefighters must break windows and cut holes in roofs to slow fire growth and save lives. Once the fire is out, our team can get to work, boarding up holes and constructing temporary fencing around the property.

Water Removal

If there is water damage associated with your apartment fire, we'll remove most of the water immediately. From there, we use air movers and dehumidifiers to help complete the drying process.

Smoke and Soot Removal

Within minutes of a fire, walls, electronics, and other surfaces are covered in soot. Smoke and ash continue to cause damage to every inch of your apartment building. That's why ANS uses specialized equipment to remediate smoke damage and remove odors. This process is often labor-intensive and can take time, especially for large fire damage restoration needs.

Cleaning and Sanitizing

Using a variety of restoration and cleaning techniques, our team will help clean restorable items and sanitize units for safety.

Restoration

Getting your apartment buildings to their pre-fire conditions is our ultimate goal. Depending on the size and scope of the fire restoration job, minor repairs like painting, drywall replacement, and new carpet installation might be needed. You might also need major structural renovations like re-siding, re-roofing, new window installation, floor replacement, and more.

Tips for Preventing Apartment Fires

If you're a property manager or own multifamily residential buildings, the thought of an apartment fire is terrifying. What starts as a small fire can quickly turn into a catastrophic event, with your entire complex up in flames. However, one of the best ways of preventing these fires is to know more about them.

Share these tips with tenants to help prevent deadly apartment fires:

Turn Off Heat Sources

Turn Off Heat Sources

Data shows that a large number of apartment fires begin with cooking. Often, these fires are caused by the ignition of common items like rags, curtains, wallpapers, and bags. Encourage tenants to keep their kitchens and cooking areas clear of combustibles. Never leave a stove unattended for long, and don't leave burners on by themselves. Unintentional mishaps like leaving heat sources on are common causes of fires that can be prevented with a little forethought.

Electrical Safety

Electrical Safety

Like heat sources, electrical malfunctions are also common causes of fires in apartment complexes. It's hard to prevent all electrical malfunctions, but you can tell tenants to avoid bad habits. Tips include never using extension cords as permanent solutions and never using a cable if the third prong is missing.

Appliance Safety

Appliance Safety

Appliances are a part of everyone's lives. They're also standard equipment in most apartment units. But if tenants don't take proper precautions, these useful tools can spark deadly fires.

Tips for Preventing Apartment Fires

No matter how large or small, fires are nightmare scenarios for entrepreneurs with commercial properties. Fire damage can completely ruin storefronts and offices, leaving charred remains and burned-up files before firefighters arrive. To make matters worse, soot and smoke damage ruin your businesses' furniture, HVAC system, carpet, walls, and windows.

To eliminate health hazards and restore your business to its pre-fire condition, you need to bring in a team of professionals with years of experience in fire damage remediation. At ANR, we use commercial-grade equipment and cutting-edge tools to clean up the aftermath of your fire and rebuild your property. That way, you can get back to running your business and providing for your family.

 Renovations Fort Worth, TX

Share these tips with tenants to help prevent deadly apartment fires:

Remove Smoke and Fire Damage

 Apartment Renovations Fort Worth, TX

One of the most common causes of large commercial loss stems from smoke and fire damage. Of course, these disasters cause injuries and fatalities. But they also generate tremendous amounts of damage, rot, mold, and harm to structures. Not to mention the devastation that fire damage has to the appearance and livability of the facility. Fire damage restoration companies restore - and also prevent - the root cause of the fire. Electrical outlets, wires, and other fire-prone items will all be addressed to prevent a subsequent disaster.

Highly Skilled

 Home Renovations Fort Worth, TX

The best fire damage restoration professionals are highly-trained, exceptionally skilled, and properly equipped to deal with every aspect of a commercial fire. From handling major renovations to taking care of the lingering effects of smoke damage, pro fire restoration companies take care of it for you. Hiring ANR means you'll be working with technicians who have the knowledge, tools, and materials to get the job done right the first time.

Insurance Claims

 Home Restorations Fort Worth, TX

When you start the claim process with your businesses' insurance company, they'll ask whether you've hired a fire damage restoration company. That's because companies like Atlas prevent further damage from occurring and calculate an estimate of your total loss. You can submit this estimate to your insurance company, which may then provide you with resources to complete your company's disaster recovery mt-md-1

Discover the
Atlas Difference

Fire damage restoration is a crucial, complex process that professionals must perform. With decades of expertise, unmatched restoration quality, and the scalability for any job, Atlas National Renovations is well-equipped to be your single source for commercial fire damage restoration in Fort Worth, TX. We are specially equipped to make difficult restoration projects easy for owners.

When a fire disaster strikes, you need a timely response from a trustworthy team of experts. Don't settle for a mediocre fire restoration partner. Choose ANR to get the job done right the first time. Contact our office today to learn more about our fire restoration services in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Homes-for-Sale-phone-number214-814-4300

Free Consultation

Latest News in Fort Worth, TX

Tinies chef, DeChambeau team for new Fort Worth golf-restaurant to challenge Topgolf

Accomplished Fort Worth chef Christian Lehrmann will branch out to add a restaurant in a new golf entertainment venue opening in 2024, a partnership with Westworth Village at the city-owned Hawks Creek Golf Club.Lehrmann, chef at Tinies restaurant in South Main Village, will join Dallas pro ...

Accomplished Fort Worth chef Christian Lehrmann will branch out to add a restaurant in a new golf entertainment venue opening in 2024, a partnership with Westworth Village at the city-owned Hawks Creek Golf Club.

Lehrmann, chef at Tinies restaurant in South Main Village, will join Dallas pro Bryson DeChambeau, the champion of Saudi-based LIV Golf, and partners to open UnderPar Life, a new golf-party-food-and-bar startup company.

The center, adjacent to the current clubhouse at 6520 White Settlement Road, will pair a 100-seat upstairs restaurant and bar with a sprawling burger grill and outdoor patio, plus 42 hitting bays and a practice area, according to the proposal approved by council members.

In 2021, the company presented the deal to Westworth Village leaders claiming it would be comparable to Dallas-based Topgolf.

“I’m doing this number one, because I’m an avid golfer, and number two, because the idea is to make this a neighborhood destination,” Lehrmann said last week.

The UnderPar Life restaurant tentatively will be named Bombers.

That’s a nod to the days of intercontinental bombing missions from what is now a U.S. Navy joint reserve air base nearby.

The restaurant will overlook a Trinity River tributary named Farmers Branch, 1 mile west of the Airfield Falls public park and waterfall.

“We’re breaking the mold and starting something new here,” Lehrmann said..

Besides Tinie’s, Lehrmann also oversees the limited bar menu at Sidesaddle Saloon in the Stockyards’ Mule Alley.

He also opened and was the chef at Courtside Kitchen, a restaurant, sports bar and-pickleball center on Rogers Road off South University Drive near Interstate 30.

The UnderPar Life restaurant will be more extensive than Courtside Kitchen’s, Lehrmann said.

His primary restaurant remains Tinies, 113 S. Main St., which opened March 10, 2020, a week before COVID pandemic shutdowns began.

The restaurant is a partnership with Taco Heads founder Sarah Castillo, a fellow golfer.

The new fall menu at Tinies includes crispy octopus with chimichurri; a pork chop with green mole sauce; a lamb shank with mole sauce and Oaxacan polenta; and a “chicken-stuffed chicken” with poblano chicken sausage, hominy and green chiles.

Tinies is open for dinner Mondays through Saturdays and brunch weekends; 682-255-5425, tiniesfw.com.

This story was originally published October 30, 2023, 5:30 AM.

Watch KISS Perform In Fort Worth During Final Leg Of 'End Of The Road' Tour

October 28, 2023The Tom Bachonski YouTube channel has uploaded video of KISS's October 27 concert at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Check out the clips below.KISS's final runs of shows will wrap up in early December with a massive concert in the city where it all began for the legendary rock act. New York City has been a part of the band's ethos and storyline for more than four decades, so they felt it fitting ...

October 28, 2023

The Tom Bachonski YouTube channel has uploaded video of KISS's October 27 concert at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Check out the clips below.

KISS's final runs of shows will wrap up in early December with a massive concert in the city where it all began for the legendary rock act. New York City has been a part of the band's ethos and storyline for more than four decades, so they felt it fitting to culminate an iconic Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-worthy career on stage at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

Last month, KISS frontman Paul Stanley told Australia's "The Project" about "End Of The Road": "Well, it's interesting because we can see the end now. When we started to plan this, it was probably about five years ago and the pandemic came into play and we lost a few years. We've done 250 shows on this 'End Of The Road' tour, because it's a long road, and they kept paving more road. But this is it for us. And intellectually, yeah, we go, we can't continue doing this. We're in our 70s; hard to believe. But for us, it's just reached a point where we realize we can't do this indefinitely. We're really at the top of our game still. And now's the time to do a victory lap and go out there with our heads held high and say thank you to everybody and do a show that really encapsulates and really pays tribute not only to us but to the fans."

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley (guitar, vocals) and Gene Simmons (bass, vocals),alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In a separate interview with Gulf News, Stanley addressed the fact that he and his bandmates have never allowed their concert theatrics to overshadow the music.

"I always say this: a crappy band with a big show is a crappy band," he explained. "We didn't start as a band with everything. We started as a band making music we listened to. When I was young, I saw LED ZEPPELIN, I saw Jimi Hendrix twice and I saw all the greats. They inspired me. And it was never about being a part of a band with make-up and [fireworks] … Our music doesn't need intellectualizing or philosophizing."

Stanley added: "I know there are entertainers right now who can draw bigger crowds, but I don't know if they are going to in the next 50 years. We have done that. Our devoted fan base is almost like a tribe … We don't make art that is intellectual; we make art that's emotional … That's why people remember their first KISS concert, their first KISS song, and they remember when KISS first came on the radio. It's a powerful connection."

Two years ago, Stanley told Classic Rock magazine that "one of the best things about early KISS songs is that they really were uninhibited and very much from the gut: we had nothing to live up to, except doing what turned us on."

"Over time you can learn too much: you might become a better songwriter, but sometimes it's the freedom of naivety that makes for the best result," he concluded.

Prev More News Next

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).

Rolling deadline: Fort Worth ISD delays opening for new Benbrook elementary school

Fort Worth ISD pushed back the opening date for a new elementary school in Benbrook — again.Water supply issues keep postponing the opening of Rolling Hills Elementary, trustee Michael Ryan, who represents Benbrook on the school board, told the Fort Worth Report. The district is now looking at opening the school after Thanksgiving.This marks the second time the district has delayed Rolling Hills’ first day of classes. The school was slated to be ready at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, then the opening was d...

Fort Worth ISD pushed back the opening date for a new elementary school in Benbrook — again.

Water supply issues keep postponing the opening of Rolling Hills Elementary, trustee Michael Ryan, who represents Benbrook on the school board, told the Fort Worth Report. The district is now looking at opening the school after Thanksgiving.

This marks the second time the district has delayed Rolling Hills’ first day of classes. The school was slated to be ready at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, then the opening was delayed to October.

Construction for the school, located at the corner of Jerry Dunn Parkway and Green Links Drive, is “99% complete,” as workers are touching up paint, installing baseboards and placing furniture, Ryan said.

Rolling Hills Elementary is the first project in Fort Worth ISD’s $1.2 billion bond from 2021.

Building the school on a tight deadline was the main reason why administrators declined to seek more applicants to manage the bond. Procedeo, a Fort-Worth based construction management company, was the sole bidder.

Once complete, the two-story, 120,000-square-foot Rolling Hills Elementary will be Fort Worth ISD’s biggest elementary school, according to an open record obtained by the Report. The campus can accommodate 1,000 students, although the school will open with about 400, the district previously told the Report.

The school is waiting for all the equipment needed to build pressure for the water system, Ryan said. Rolling Hills Elementary has enough water for construction but not enough for daily operations.

Once the water system is installed, the city of Fort Worth will have up to 90 days for inspection. Ryan said he has received assurances from the offices of Mayor Mattie Parker, Councilman Michael Crain and City Hall that Rolling Hills is a top priority.

What are the biggest elementary schools in Fort Worth ISD?

Rolling Hills Elementary School, once completed, is the biggest elementary school in Fort Worth at 119,843 square feet, according to the district.

Location

Square Feet

Rolling Hills

119,843

Overton Park

91,867

E. M. Daggett

88,367

Lowery Road

85,447

Morningside

84,470

South Hills

84,091

Daggett Montessori (K-8)

83,729

Sagamore Hill

82,020

Westpark ES

80,281

W.M. Green

79,807

/ 9

Source: Fort Worth ISD • (Dang Le | Fort Worth Report)

A Flourish table

Students at Rolling Hills Elementary currently attend either Westpark Elementary — which is 1.1 miles away — or Benbrook Elementary — which is 3.6 miles away.

Benbrook resident Susan Wade’s grandson is attending Westpark Elementary while waiting for Rolling Hills Elementary to open. The delayed opening doesn’t concern the family much because Rolling Hills still has school pride days, and they live closer to Westpark.

The family also expected the delay from the beginning, Wade said.

“They shouldn’t have promised anything. That’s the only thing,” she said.

Principals at Westpark Elementary and Rolling Hills Elementary have worked together to prepare the move-over process for teachers, which Ryan expected to take place over one weekend.

“It's a top quality project that I think everybody in the area will be proud of when we get it open and get it going,” he said.

Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Famous small-town Texas steakhouse/cafe north of Fort Worth shuts down. It’s for sale

Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse, a 75-year Denton County landmark and one of America’s most famous small-town cafes, is for sale and closed for now, owner Dave Ross said.Ross, 71, is retiring and will sell Ranchman’s due to poor health and the labor shortage, he said. Business has been strong for the rustic little back-road steakhouse that inspired...

Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse, a 75-year Denton County landmark and one of America’s most famous small-town cafes, is for sale and closed for now, owner Dave Ross said.

Ross, 71, is retiring and will sell Ranchman’s due to poor health and the labor shortage, he said. Business has been strong for the rustic little back-road steakhouse that inspired late author Larry McMurtry and hosted celebrities from sports, TV and movies, including Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway

The restaurant has been open only for lunch. Ross has been unable to hire cooks and servers to serve dinner, he said.

“It’s for sale if someone wants to buy it,” said Ross, Ranchman’s owner for 31 years and an operator off and on since 1986.

In an emailed announcement, he cited the economy, “recent health issues” and the lack of staff.

“We made a gallant effort for the last 7 months to survive,” he wrote: “It is no longer possible.”

Ross was fresh out of hip surgery a few weeks ago, he said, but still taped an episode of “The Texas Bucket List” show about Ranchman’s legendary chicken-fried steaks.

The restaurant also has been featured on the Food Network national TV shows such as “FoodNation with Bobby Flay.”

Ranchman’s, 110 W. Bailey St. in Ponder, was remodeled and updated during the COVID pandemic.

It added a new kitchen and restrooms but kept the same wood-paneled front dining room — a throwback to 1951 — and the same menu, cobblers and pies.

Ross was the steakhouse’s second long-term owner. It was founded by Grace “Pete” Jackson and her husband, R.L., in the late 1940s and became a gathering place for the county and a stopover for motorists taking a shortcut to Ponder, then a dwindling Denton County farm town 30 miles north of Fort Worth.

Ranchman’s was originally known for T-bones and rib-eyes cut in-house, including a hefty 32-ounce T-Bone.

But ever since the Food Network came to town, Ranchman’s has been better known for chicken-fried steaks and burgers. The pies and cobblers were still made from 30-year cook Evelyn “Granny” Stack’s recipes.

Ranchman’s was never more small-town than on one busy Friday night in the 1970s, when an overwhelmed Stack strode into the middle of the dining room and waved her spatula until she commanded attention.

“Y’all!” she shouted. “Can’t y’all see I’m gonna have to have some help?”

Customers started pouring tea, clearing tables or baking rolls.

McMurtry, the quintessential Texas novelist, said that Ranchman’s was his favorite restaurant and that he would often make the 100-mile drive from his home in Archer City near Wichita Falls.

McMurtry told how he had just left the cafe in the early 1980s when he saw an old church bus marked “Lonesome Dove Baptist Church.”

“If ever I had an epiphany it was at that moment: I had, at last, found a title for the trail driving book” he was writing.

“Lonesome Dove” went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and was made into a TV classic.

Volume 90%

That was 20 years after Beatty, Dunaway and other actors visited during the Denton-area filming of the movie “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Their photos still hang on the dining room wall, along with those of sports stars, racing drivers and other celebrities who found their way to Ponder.

Until the 1980s, Ranchman’s didn’t even have indoor restrooms — only an outhouse. But “what’s important about this place is the unique sense of community it brings,” Ross said.

“People at different tables talk to each other. People from across the country come here and say, ‘This feels like home.’ “

This story was originally published October 30, 2023, 4:42 PM.

‘It changed my life.’ City program to repair homes gets major funding boost

About 10 years ago, a rotted branch fell onto Andrew Berry’s east Fort Worth home. The branch poked holes in his roof and made his kitchen unusable. Disabled and on a fixed income, he couldn’t get the damage repaired. Then, a neighbor referred Berry to Fort Worth’s priority repair program.The city spent about $22,700 on Berry’s home and left him with a repaired roof, a working kitchen and a new HVAC system, water heater and shower. Now, he’s started the process of repairing his water-damaged floors on his...

About 10 years ago, a rotted branch fell onto Andrew Berry’s east Fort Worth home. The branch poked holes in his roof and made his kitchen unusable. Disabled and on a fixed income, he couldn’t get the damage repaired. Then, a neighbor referred Berry to Fort Worth’s priority repair program.

The city spent about $22,700 on Berry’s home and left him with a repaired roof, a working kitchen and a new HVAC system, water heater and shower. Now, he’s started the process of repairing his water-damaged floors on his own, purchasing new flooring bit by bit.

“I’m real proud and happy with what they [did],” Berry said. “They still check on me, and I still got my paperwork and all that in case. If anything goes wrong, they told me to just give them a call.”

The city started the priority repair program in 2009, using federal funding through community development block grants. Since then, the program has been able to spend only about $5,000 per home.

“The funding available for applicants had not really kept up with the pace of the average repairs that this program would normally cover,” District 5 council member Gyna Bivens, who represents east Fort Worth, said. “I lobbied for years to try to get it raised from $5,000 to anything more than five.”

Now, with an additional $2 million in local money to match $2 million in federal grant dollars, the priority repair program’s budget has doubled. The budget for repairs to each home is five times higher, at $25,000. John Cain, who leads the priority repair program, said contractors can now typically complete at least one or two major projects per home.

The program aims to keep residents in their homes by completing major repairs and preserve the number of single-family homes in the city. Holes in roofs, broken heating systems and water and gas line leaks are the most common repairs. Other eligible repairs include broken water heaters, unstable flooring, foundation issues and faulty electricity.

Cain keeps a collage of photos in his office of residents in the Ash Crescent neighborhood who benefited from the priority repair program. He has seen recipients experience the relief of having a cool, dry home for the first time.

“Some of those families still call me to see how I’m doing,” Cain said. “You meet a lot of good people, and your heart goes out to them. … Of course they’re grateful for what you can do for them.”

To be eligible for the program, the household’s annual income has to be at or below 60% of the area median, or $45,960 for two people. The house itself cannot be worth more than 80% of the area median home price. Applications for the program are open year-round through the city’s neighborhood services department. Often, demand for repairs outstrips the city’s ability to supply contractors.

“I can’t make the waiting lists go away,” Bivens said “But at least we know that there’s funding there. I think people are willing to wait, knowing that the wait is worth the effort, as opposed to waiting for five grand that really pretty much doesn’t address anything.”

• Own and live in a single-family house• Located within the boundaries of the city of Fort Worth• At or below 60% of area median income as established annually by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This year, a single-person household cannot be earning more than $40,200 or $45,960 for two people.• Home value cannot be more than 80% of the area median home price for the city of Fort Worth, $334,450 according to the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors• U.S. citizens or legal residency with picture ID• Provide proof of household income for all adults 18 or older• Current on their property taxes or on a payment/deferral plan authorized by the Tarrant Appraisal District

Residents hoping to apply for the program can find more information here.

The program, which employs six full-time city employees and four contractors, provides two services: paying for repairs residents may not be able to otherwise afford and providing reliable contractors guaranteed to finish the job. Setting aside cash to address a repair is challenging for residents who are on a fixed income or focused on other bills, Cain said.

“Even if all you did was go buy parts, it was still, you know, it’s not gonna be cheap, as a lot of these people just don’t have the money. They’re barely making the bills,” Cain said.

Residents from every council district utilized the program in 2023. The neighborhood services department completed 306 projects last year. The majority of the program’s clients are extremely low income and elderly, according to a report presented to council members.

“You might live in a neighborhood where the average income is more than six figures. But there may be somebody right there, a widow, who’s 80 years old, and but for this program, she may have to leave her house,” Bivens said.

The program not only improves the life of individuals but also restores community pride and keeps the city’s older neighborhoods from deteriorating, Bivens said.

For Berry, the program was a way to begin repairing decades of damage to his home.

“I can wash dishes and cook. I couldn’t do that at first,” Berry said. “It changed my life a lot.”

Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Like

Noncommercial entities may republish our articles for free by following our guidelines. For commercial licensing, please email hello@fortworthreport.org.

Disclaimer:

This website publishes news articles that contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The non-commercial use of these news articles for the purposes of local news reporting constitutes "Fair Use" of the copyrighted materials as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law.