This company is fighting the sea to protect North Carolina coastal homes

With almost 10 homes collapsing into the ocean in the past week along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, those who live there know the problem of coastal erosion is only worsening. 

Barry Crum owns Crum Works, Inc., a company that specializes in retrofitting and moving homes threatened by coastal erosion.

However, even for someone experienced with this coastal threat, Crum said the homes lost more recently came as a shock.

“It’s been pretty heartbreaking because I’ve lived here all my life,” Crum said. “I’ve watched a lot of storm damage happen, but I’ve never seen anything like this. The erosion that is attacking this particular spot at this time is just, I think it’s unprecedented, at least in our area. Another thing that’s hard is when these houses are going in, the ocean is so rough at that time that we really can’t do anything but just sit back and watch.”

King Tides and big waves are again threatening the villages along Cape Hatteras National Seashore, such as Buxton and Rodanthe, where more than 20 homes have collapsed since 2020. Last week, eight homes in Buxton and one in Rodanthe were brought down as the sand slipped away with the waves caused by conditions from hurricanes Imelda and Humberto passing hundreds of miles offshore.  

Conditions should peak Tuesday with the full Moon.

Crum explained that most homeowners have two options to try and protect their homes. The first is retrofitting to buy more time from coastal erosion. The second option is moving the entire home to another location. 

PHOTOS: MASSIVE DEBRIS PILES ALONG OUTER BANKS AFTER 9 HOMES CRUMBLE FROM ROUGH SURF

Currently, Crum Works, Inc. is working with homeowners who are several houses back from the ocean.

“We’re looking at preemptive measures,” Crum said. “We’re also doing sandbags to try to protect what’s there. We’re going to be putting in pilings, like sister pilings and putting them down really deep so that when the sand scours out, the homes are able to stay and withstand the tide.”

Currently, one of the homes they’ve added pilings too is surrounded by water under the current high tide and flooding conditions. 

“There’s a big blue house that’s out there, and it’s out in the ocean, but it’s still level, and it’s safe,” Crum said.

Debris from homes washed away by rough surf in Buxton, North Carolina after Hurricane Imelda passed off shore in October 2025. 

(Instagram/@b_the_photos / FOX Weather)

He said many of the homes falling now were built when building codes were different. 

“Everything here is sand. There’s no silt or clay. So the pilings are actually jetted in, and then they’re impacted after they’re jetted. And the problem that we’re having is these homes that are falling were built in the seventies and eighties in the codes back then were different than they are now,” Crum said. “So the codes now seem to be pretty close to sufficient to keep these homes safe, but the older homes, not so much. So they have to be retrofitted.”

If you’ve ever watched a wave take out a sand castle, using sand as a base might not sound like a solid plan, but Crum said it works better than other ground materials. 

“It’s actually a very stable ground to work as opposed to clay. Where some of the soils that you guys have up north, you guys have to drive the piling so deep because it’s just mud,” Crum said.

The problem is that coastal erosion is washing away that stable ground.

“The sand is stable until it all gets washed away,” Crum said. 

This image from FOX Weather Meteorologist Robert Ray shows the aftermath after at least nine homes collapsed into the Atlantic in Buxton, North Carolina.

(Robert Ray / FOX Weather)

Some homes can be moved back by about 100 to 150 feet onto their existing lots. That buys some more time, but moving a home is very costly and isn’t a long-term solution for those lots. It can cost $50,000-$60,000 to move a home, and then add the cost of new septic, driveway, stairs and a new base. The move can end up costing $300,000 in some cases. 

Crum said he is an advocate of long-term solutions, including building a jetty and more beach replenishment. 

“I feel like the jetty is a long-term solution. It’ll really help stabilize and build the beach on the north side where we’re having these issues,” he said.

Even as a business owner who makes a profit from this climate problem, Crum said he loses sleep knowing that not every home can be saved.

“I think a lot of people are kind of in shock,” he said. “This is hard. Even though most of these homes aren’t local people, we’re still all pretty devastated over it.”