For Tampa Bay Homeowners
Guides & Resources
The pages on our site we point homeowners to most — plain-English guides on storm recovery, planning a project, and the places we build.
We field the same questions over and over — what the FEMA 50% rule really means, whether Elevate Florida will pay to raise a house, how to phase a whole-home renovation without losing your mind. So we wrote them down. This is a living index of our most useful guides, grouped by what you're trying to figure out. It'll grow as we add more.
Storm & Flood — Timely
Recovering from Helene and Milton.
If your home took on water in 2024, these are the four guides worth reading before you commit to a single repair. The order you do things in matters — and so does what's legal.
Home Elevation & Elevate Florida
Why a flood-damaged home often has to be raised, and how the state's Elevate Florida program and NFIP coverage can fund the lift.
Explore →Substantial Damage Reconstruction
What a substantial-damage letter means, the FEMA 50% rule that triggers it, and your options when a like-for-like repair is no longer legal.
Explore →Water Damage Restoration
The first 48 hours after flooding or a leak, what dry-out actually involves, and where restoration ends and reconstruction begins.
Explore →Mold Remediation
How mold takes hold after a Florida storm, the difference between cleanup and remediation, and what proper containment looks like.
Explore →Planning a Project
Before you break ground.
Whether you're building from scratch or reworking the home you have, these guides cover how the work actually flows — and where the real decisions live.
Our Process
How a Carapezza project moves from first conversation to move-in — the phases, the decisions you'll make, and where your money goes.
Explore →Whole-Home Renovation
When a gut renovation beats moving, how to phase a large project, and what to expect from living through (or around) the work.
Explore →Home Additions
Adding square footage the right way — matching the original architecture, navigating setbacks and permits, and tying old to new.
Explore →Custom Homes
Our design-build approach to building from the ground up across Greater Tampa Bay, from site and architecture through finishing.
Explore →Where We Build
Our Greater Tampa Bay service areas.
We build and restore homes across the Tampa Bay region. Each area page covers the neighborhoods we serve, the local building and flood considerations that come with them, and how to reach us.
Tampa Bay (Regional)
Our regional overview — the full Tampa Bay footprint we serve, at a glance.
Explore →Tampa
Custom homes, remodels, and storm restoration for Tampa homeowners.
Explore →St. Petersburg
Custom homes, remodels, and storm restoration for St. Petersburg homeowners.
Explore →Plant City
Custom homes, remodels, and storm restoration for Plant City homeowners.
Explore →Lakeland
Custom homes, remodels, and storm restoration for Lakeland homeowners.
Explore →Clearwater
Custom homes, remodels, and storm restoration for Clearwater homeowners.
Explore →Start Here
Our Disciplines
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Carapezza Custom Homes
Have a question we haven't covered?
If your situation isn't in here yet, just ask. We'd rather give you a straight answer than send you down a rabbit hole.