wrecked your home? >> no, it was the surge of water that came into this area. >> reporter: sandy in fact damaged or destroyed more than 650,000 homes. with most of the destruction coming from storm surge. exactly what inspired jon from the stephen's institute of technology to create the sure house. the sure house is designed with every type of building technology to withstand water damage from the storm like sandy? >> that's right. we spent two years to research every possible solution to building what we feel first sandy post resilient home. >> reporter: inside a tidal surge of six feet and outside. exterior sheeting is water resistance.