March 3, 2020 will be a tragic day that lives on for years to come for many in Nashville. It started off as a normal day for most, including Nancy and Bob who were enjoying a vacation in Austin, Texas at the time. Bob received a call the next morning from a worried friend asking if he and Nancy were okay. A tornado had just ripped through each of their neighborhoods unbeknownst to them. They caught the first flight back to Nashville and rushed home to find complete devastation. Many of Nancy’s neighbors were now without a home and Nancy was without most of her roof and windows. Bob had significant damage to his house as well. Nancy remembers walking into her home and looking up to find the sky where her light fixtures used to hang, gaps where her windows used to be, and chaos where her perfectly ordered possessions used to be. In her once beautiful yard were giant holes where her favorite trees used to stand. In all the 33 years Nancy lived in this house, she had never seen a storm like this. In a matter of minutes, her house went from being her home to an unlivable structure.
While surveying the damage to Bob’s house, they met a man and his son who were helping a neighbor tarp their home. Bob called out to him and asked if he would be willing to tarp his and Nancy’s homes. Little did Nancy and Bob know that they had just met Larry DeRossett and his son Jax, home improvement specialists at DeRo Renovations. Larry promptly came over the very next morning to tarp Nancy’s house, however, there was so much damage to her roof that he had to first build temporary rafters just to have a place to attach the tarps. Larry quickly went to work covering as much of the house as possible to save as many of Nancy’s precious heirlooms as he could. “It was horrible. There was a lot of work to be done but Larry just buckled down” said Nancy. Larry even took extra precautions to save the hardwood flooring in her living room. Nancy’s brother had laid the floors for her years earlier. That flooring would become even more precious to her after her brother passed away just two months later.
A few days after the storm, it finally hit Nancy that she might lose the place she had called home since 1987 and it broke her. Larry put his arm around her and said “We are gonna make it all right” and that is exactly what he did. He went to battle with the appraisers when they told Nancy her house was going to have to be leveled. He went under the house himself to check on the foundation and requested a second opinion that ended up agreeing with his assessment. The house needed quite a bit of work but it could be fixed! Nancy was thrilled and Dero Renovations got straight to work. They coordinated all the best subcontractors and made sure each did quality work. So much so, that if it wasn’t up to par, Larry made them start over. “He was meticulous and stayed on top of his contractors” she said. Nancy always felt confident and knew she didn’t have to worry because Larry would get things done and get them done right.
From start to finish, it took 8 months to repair the tornado damage and make a few additional renovations to give the 1968 build a bit of a facelift. Nancy is thrilled with the finished product! You would never know that less than a year ago her house was set to be demolished along with 22 other houses in her neighborhood. It is beautiful and it is all because of Dero Reno. “Thinking back we probably couldn’t have gotten through this. He was our rock. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Larry and DeRo Renovations. He goes above and beyond. He doesn’t take shortcuts and has a great work ethic. He was more than just a contractor, he was a friend. I am so grateful!” Nancy stated. What started as an unimaginable situation, ended in a freshly restored home and a new lifelong friendship.