For Spencer Gould and his family, Hurricane Harvey was a devastating storm that inundated their home with 6 to 8 inches of floodwater and displaced them for nearly three months. With the help of Houston painting contractor Pro Painters, the Goulds were able to move back into their home in time to celebrate the holidays.
Late on August 25th, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas as a Category 4 storm. By the afternoon of August 26th, Houston had received nearly 16 inches of rain, filling local bayous and rivers to the top of their banks. Unfortunately, the deluge didn’t stop—more heavy rain fell that night, dumping nearly 30 inches of water across the city.
Soon, the Gould family found themselves under a mandatory evacuation order because of their home’s proximity to one of the nearby levees.
In the Path of the Storm
“What we did was, we tried to get all our low-lying things up on top of the furniture, everything that we could off of the ground,” Gould said. “We couldn’t get it all. We stuffed tiles and things like that in the doorjambs thinking that might help us a little bit. We basically packed as much as we could in the three hours’ notice we had.”
In the few years they had lived in their home, Mr. and Mrs. Gould never thought something like this could happen to them.
“My wife and I were both kind of in shock. Deep down we really didn’t think we were going to flood because we had the levee behind our house, so we felt like we would be safe. We weren’t expecting the river to really be a problem for us. We didn’t realize that the actual flooding would be from the creek water that feeds into our neighborhood. We were shocked. We found out three to four days later that the neighborhood had flooded.”
Gould turned off the main power before evacuating, so he wasn’t able to check live security camera feeds. Soon after, he received photos taken by a neighbor floating through the neighborhood in a canoe. Among the images was a heart-wrenching photo of their flooded hallway.
The Aftermath
“When they cleared us to go back home, we got wading boots and started wading through our neighborhood streets to get back to our home,” Gould said. “The rest of it was a pretty big blur of people coming over to our house and helping us tear down drywall and pull a lot of damaged stuff out so we could try to salvage what we could.”
The Goulds were able to save a few pieces of furniture, but they lost nearly everything else on the lower floor. Fortunately, Mr. Gould was able to back up family photos and place hard drives safely out of the water’s reach.
Time to Rebuild
As part of the disaster recovery and rebuilding process, the Goulds hired Pro Painters to repaint the interior of their home. They communicated primarily with project manager Elias.
“Pro Painters did a really good job of painting the rooms,” Mr. Gould said. “It really made the girls’ day to come home to a house that looked different but was a little more fun.”
Mr. and Mrs. Gould let their two daughters, ages 4 and 7, pick out some of the new paint colors for their bedrooms. The girls initially picked a silvery-purple shade for the room they share. However, after the first coat was applied, the color appeared much more purple than anticipated. Since other rooms in the house had already been painted in purple tones, the older daughter felt a bit outnumbered.
“I had to go back and ask Elias to see if they wouldn’t mind repainting it a different color. He was really kind about letting me change it,” Mr. Gould said. “They’d only put on one coat, so they changed it to a nice soft blue color without any hassle.”
Home for the Holidays
The Goulds were deeply thankful for the hard work and empathy shown by the Pro Painters team throughout their hurricane recovery efforts. From working late hours to stay out of the way of other restoration contractors, to remaining flexible with start dates, the team made every effort to accommodate the family’s situation.
“We were really impressed with their crew,” Mr. Gould said. “We thought they were really nice and worked exceptionally hard. Elias was great about contacting me and getting back to me whenever I left him a message. They were truly one of the bright spots in our rebuild.”
The Gould family was thrilled to move back into their home in early December—just in time for the holiday season.
“We’ll be unpacking for most of it, but it’ll be so nice to finally be home,” Mr. Gould said.
If you experience water damage or need post-storm restoration in your home, let Pro Painters guide you through the recovery process. Beyond high-quality Houston interior painting, we offer a comprehensive range of restoration services—including flood cleanup, carpet removal, damaged drywall removal, moisture testing, drywall installation, and texturing. Contact us today for a free estimate!
