When the unexpected strikes your home, here’s what you can expect from a trusted residential restoration company.
Severe winter weather causes damage to your roof. A fire breaks out in your kitchen. Your basement or crawl space floods from heavy rain. A frozen pipe bursts and causes water damage to your ceiling. No one wants to think about these things, but they do happen. If they happen to you, the fastest way back to normalcy and peace of mind is knowing what you should do and what will happen throughout the restoration process. When storm, fire or water damage happens in your home, the first thing you need to do is contact a trusted residential restoration company near you.
Once you’ve chosen a quality residential restoration company, here’s how the 
estimation and restoration process works.
- Estimator appointment. A customer service representative will set an appointment for an estimator to come and assess the damage. If you leave a message, you should expect a return call the same day.
*Note: If the damage has made your home unlivable or unsafe for your family (for example, a tree has fallen and caused a hole in your roof,) your residential restoration company may be able to provide a temporary fix, such as putting plastic over your roof or providing emergency board-up service, until your restoration project has been approved by your insurer.
- Estimator visit. An estimator will come to your home at the appointed time. He or she will assess and document the damage to both the structure and contents of your home, taking photos and notes, and creating sketches of areas and/or rooms affected.
- Written estimate. Your estimator will write an estimate for your restoration project, detailing the scope of work involved, and submit it to your insurance company. This should happen within a week or less from the date of your appointment.
- Insurance approval. Your insurance adjuster will review the written estimate and either approve it or request additional information. They should reply within 24-72 hours. Until they approve the estimate, no work can begin. Your estimator will follow up with the insurance company, but you can also contact your insurance agent if your adjuster does not respond promptly.
- Repair authorization. Once your estimate has been approved by your insurance company, your estimator will send you a repair authorization form (also known as a structural repair agreement). As soon as you sign this form, your restoration work can be scheduled.
- Dedicated project manager. You will be assigned a dedicated project manager who will become your primary point of contact and guide your restoration project through to completion. You should receive a call from him or her 24-48 hours after you’ve signed your repair authorization form to set up a pre-construction meeting.
- Pre-construction meeting. Your project manager will come to your home and review the estimate and scope of work with you.
*Note: At this time, if there is work you would like to have done that’s outside of the scope of the insurance repair, you can ask your project manager to provide you with a quote for that work as well. This work will be billed to you separately, outside of your insurance claim.
- Project timeline. Your project manager will now create a timeline for your restoration work, schedule the various members of the restoration team and give you an estimated start and completion date.
- Restoration work begins. Your restoration company’s team of licensed, bonded and fully insured restoration specialists will begin the process of getting your home back to normal. Throughout the process, your project manager will be in communication with you to let you know what’s happening next and answer any questions you might have.
- Final walk-through. Once the restoration work is completed, your project manager will conduct a final walk-through with you. If any issues arise, the project manager will create a punch list and schedule the finishing touches to be completed.
- Authorization of completion. Once your home is restored to its original (or better!) condition, you will sign an authorization of completion that the restoration work has been completed to your satisfaction. Now, it’s time to put all the stress of this unexpected event behind you!
Getting you back to normal, ASAP.
Hopefully, you’ll never need restoration service in your home. But if you do, look for an experienced residential restoration company that understands how distressing and disruptive unexpected damage to your home can be. Their singular focus should be getting things back to normal for you as quickly as possible with efficient and top-quality restoration service.
For more than 35 years, Hays + Sons has been the property restoration company that families, businesses and schools trust. We’re committed to helping you be prepared when the unexpected strikes, and whether you need help with water damage restoration, mold remediation, fire damage restoration, storm damage restoration, contents restoration or emergency board-up service, Hays + Sons has the capacity and expertise to get you back to normal ASAP.
The compassionate, experienced and trusted restoration experts at Hays + Sons are just a phone call away, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. With offices throughout the Midwest in Fort Wayne, Crown Point, Indianapolis, Columbus, Muncie and Lafayette as well as Cincinnati, Ohio, there’s a Hays + Sons near you.
