Margaret Jones built this two-story structure after Hurricane Rita destroyed her ground-level home in Cameron Parish in September 2005.

Sheri Fair of the LSU AgCenter explains features of Margaret Jones' new house during a Cameron Parish Tour of Homes held Sept. 23. The tour featured three hurricane-resistant homes that have been built in Cameron Parish since Hurricane Rita devastated the parish in September 2005.

After Hurricane Rita devastated Southwest Louisiana, taking away her house, Margaret Jones decided she would build a new house that could stand up to a hurricane.

Her previous house was a ground-level structure she inherited after her parents died. When Hurricane Rita ravaged the Southwest Louisiana coast in September 2005, more than 8 feet of water ran through her house, the windows blew out, and the walls caved in.

“I came back to nothing,” Jones said. “Some people thought I should move away, build somewhere else. But I’ve lived here all of my life. There was never any doubt I would rebuild.”

Features of Jones’s house include:

• Elevated 2-story structure.
  
  
• Piling foundation includes 36 10-by-10 wooden pilings. The 20-foot pilings are driven 10 feet into the ground and are surrounded by a collar of concrete 18 inches in diameter to a depth of 5 feet. The pilings are connected to the concrete collar and slab with steel rebar.
  
  
• The slab perimeter is 51 feet wide by 55 feet long, with a floor plan of 50 feet by 54 feet.
  
  
• The framing system consists of 2-by-6 pressure-treated lumber, spaced 16 inches on center.
  
  
• Fiber cement siding:
  
  
• Doesn’t rot, split, crack or peel.
  
  
• Has a 25-year “no paint” rating.
  
  
• Flood-resistant, non-combustible, termite-resistant.
  
  
• Installed to resist high wind forces.
• Impact-resistant window units.
  
  
• Energy-efficient features include:
  
  
• Insulated windows and doors.
  
  
• Insulation between 2-by-6 studs.
  
  
• Spray foam insulation on the underside of the roof deck in unvented attic —so ductwork is in conditioned space (prevents energy losses); no attic/soffit vents prevent wind driven water entry, which insulates the attic and adds thermal protection for ductwork.
  
  
• A/C unit operates in zones, controlling the upstairs and downstairs rooms separately.
  
  
• Two natural gas water heaters operate in zones; shorter piping.

Jones is proud of her new house. She said it is more suited to her needs.

“This gave me the opportunity to build a house the way I wanted,” she said. “The first house was my parents’ house. It was a reflection of them. This is my house, and it is built like I want it.”