Restoration Services in Clarkston, Dekalb County
Estate Solutions serves Clarkston with restoration and remodeling - licensed GA GC #RBQA006428, IICRC certified. Call (404) 913-3030.
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Our pricing guarantee: If we accept your project, we never charge more than insurance agrees to pay. Your policy deductible still applies.
Clarkston apartments and homes: a one-square-mile repair guide
Clarkston is small: about 1.1 square miles, laid out when the General Assembly incorporated the Town of Clarkston in 1882 with limits reaching a half mile in every direction from the Georgia Railroad depot. A post office has operated under the name since 1876, and the town was named for W. W. Clark, a railroad official. It sits on the Eastern Continental Divide. The population roughly doubled between 2010 and 2020, from 7,554 to 14,756, and refugee resettlement since the 1990s has earned it the nickname "the most diverse square mile in America." For anyone repairing damage here, the defining fact is that most people live in small apartment buildings, and the city's permit table is unusually specific about which repairs need a permit.
Clarkston: start on the right page
Inside the unit
- Water damage restoration — Leaks from the unit above, a failed water heater or a burst supply line.
- Fire damage restoration — Smoke and fire repair, including lightning fires.
- Water damage near Decatur — The nearby city water page in DeKalb.
Outside the building
- Storm damage repair — Trees on roofs, blown-off siding, broken windows.
- DeKalb County storm restoration — Our DeKalb storm page.
- Insurance claims — Landlord, tenant and association policies.
Nearby DeKalb hubs
- Tucker — A larger DeKalb city hub.
- Decatur — DeKalb's county seat.
- Avondale Estates — Another small DeKalb city.
- DeKalb County areas — Every DeKalb page.
Clarkston tenant, landlord or owner with a damaged unit? Call (404) 913-3030 and we will tell you which page fits.
Clarkston's permit table, applied to storm and water repairs
Drywall and framing need a permit; paint and carpet do not
The City of Clarkston's building permit page lists, item by item, what needs a permit. Interior drywall and framing, structural or not, require one. Painting, tiling, carpeting and trim work do not. A water heater replacement requires a permit, and so do new siding, brick, fiber-cement or stucco, replacement HVAC systems and new or replacement ductwork. Duct cleaning, driveway repairs and a garage door replacement do not.
Roof coverings, windows and trees
The same table marks roof covering repair or replacement as not needing a permit, while new roof decking or covering on commercial buildings does. Doors and windows need a permit only when the opening is structurally altered. On residential lots, removing fewer than five non-specimen trees or non-specimen hazardous trees in a year does not need a permit; specimen trees or more than five trees do, and the city publishes a Tree Removal Permit Application.
Who reviews the plans
Plans are reviewed and retained by the city's contracted building inspector, the DeKalb County Fire Marshal's Department, DeKalb County Watershed for water and sewer, DeKalb County GIS and the city's inspections staff. The page states that inspection requests received before 3 PM Monday through Thursday are scheduled for the following business day, and those received after 3 PM on Friday for the following Tuesday. City Hall is at 736 Park North Boulevard, Suite 120, (404) 296-6489.
Getting gas or power turned back on
Clarkston notes that, depending on the provider, an electric safety inspection or a gas line pressure test may be required before service is re-established at an address, and when the provider requires one the owner needs a city building permit. After a fire or a gas leak, expect that step before the utility reconnects.
Water and sewer come from DeKalb County
DeKalb County's Department of Watershed Management, which has served the county since 1942, supplies water and sewer service to more than 775,000 residents through about 5,200 miles of pipe. A break on the county side of the meter or a backed-up public sewer is the county's to fix.
Who runs the county water system
DeKalb Watershed Management lists its operations contact as (770) 270-6243 and dekalbwaterops@dekalbcountyga.gov. The department says it can produce up to 150 million gallons of finished water a day, maintains meters for more than 200,000 customer accounts, and runs the Scott Candler Water Filter Plant, two advanced wastewater treatment plants and 67 lift stations.
Clarkston's housing in the census survey
Small apartment buildings dominate
The 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts about 4,890 housing units in Clarkston. Only about 18% are detached houses; roughly 62% are in buildings of 3 to 19 units. About 82% of occupied homes are rented, and the median unit has 4.4 rooms.
Built mostly in the 1970s and 1980s
The median year built is 1979: about 31% of units date from the 1970s and 21% from the 1980s. Electricity heats about 54% of homes and utility gas about 44%.
What the 2020 Census found
The 2020 Census counted 5,398 housing units in Clarkston, 8.8% of them vacant, with a homeowner vacancy rate of 1.1% and a rental vacancy rate of 6.9%. There were 4,923 households, 44.9% of them with children under 18, and the median age was 28.6.
Storm and lightning reports from Clarkston
July 1999: two apartment fires in one storm
Lightning started fires at the Highland Villa apartments on Brockett Way and at the Park on Candler apartments, and two firefighters were hurt when a building collapsed at the Candler Road fire.
August 2005: a downburst and a long night without power
Thunderstorm winds, possibly a microburst, blew down several dozen large trees across the Decatur, Scottdale, Clarkston and Tucker areas, and downed lines left up to 25,000 residents without power for most of the night.
Hail and trees since
Quarter to half-dollar hail fell in Clarkston in May 2003. In March 2017 the county emergency manager reported trees down from North Druid Hills to Clarkston, including one on a home on Coralwood Drive, and in July 2022 multiple trees came down around the Clarkston area and toward Stone Mountain. Earlier, in June 1997, wind damaged the Foxtrail apartments on North Indian Creek Road.
Penny hail in 2008
The federal storm record lists three-quarter-inch hail in Clarkston in February 1998. In September 2006 the public reported penny-size hail in the city, and local law enforcement officers saw penny-size hail near Clarkston in June 2008.
Sources for the local facts on this page
- Wikipedia: Clarkston, Georgia (1882 incorporation, W. W. Clark, area, Eastern Continental Divide, 2010 and 2020 Census)
- City of Clarkston: Building Permits (permit table, plan reviewers, inspection scheduling, utility connections)
- DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management (water and sewer service, system size)
- Census Reporter: Clarkston, GA housing units, tenure and year built, ACS 2024 5-year
- Census Reporter: Clarkston units in structure (B25024), ACS 2024 5-year
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5708222: July 6, 1999 lightning apartment fires
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5475263: Aug. 4, 2005 downburst, Decatur to Tucker
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5363267: May 2, 2003 hail in Clarkston
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 690119: Mar. 21, 2017 trees down, North Druid Hills to Clarkston
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 1051250: July 8, 2022 trees down around Clarkston
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 1051252: July 8, 2022 trees down toward Stone Mountain
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5604884: June 17, 1997 wind damage, Foxtrail apartments
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5627356: Feb. 17, 1998 hail in Clarkston
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 5533394: Sept. 28, 2006 penny hail in Clarkston
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events, event 118575: June 27, 2008 penny hail near Clarkston
Restoration Services in Clarkston, Dekalb County
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Clarkston repair FAQs
Do I need a permit to replace wet drywall in Clarkston?
Yes. Clarkston's permit table lists interior drywall and framing work as requiring a building permit. Painting, carpeting, tiling and trim work are listed as not requiring one.
Does a roof repair need a permit in Clarkston?
The city's table marks roof covering repair or replacement as not requiring a permit, while new roof decking or covering on commercial buildings does. Structural repairs need a permit.
Who supplies water and sewer in Clarkston?
DeKalb County's Department of Watershed Management. It serves more than 775,000 residents and maintains about 5,200 miles of water and sewer pipe.