We hired a resto company to assist with our bar b Que'd house and I have a ? for anyone who has done the same...hopefully you've never been thru it, but if you have, care to attach your name to this thread so I can pick your brain on something?
Anyone ever suffered a major loss and dealt with a restoration company?
- Thread starter litespeedhuskerfan
- Start date
We had a massive fire that took down lots of homes. Lots of contractors from all over the country came in to help. Our house didn’t burn down, but we had smoke damage.
Our home insurance company brought in ServPro, and we eventually told them to F off. The real problem is that ServPro considered State Farm to be their employer and not us. They wouldn’t talk to us directly about anything. We said well then you’re not going to make a penny from this house then, hired our own people that would talk to us, and billed State Farm.
Our home insurance company brought in ServPro, and we eventually told them to F off. The real problem is that ServPro considered State Farm to be their employer and not us. They wouldn’t talk to us directly about anything. We said well then you’re not going to make a penny from this house then, hired our own people that would talk to us, and billed State Farm.
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State Farm is the worst...no idea what area you live in, but each Serv Pro is a franchise, and like most franchises, there are good and bad.
Half our block had their basements back up with sewage from an improper sewer line install, by whoever lays sewer lines, Serv Pro handled every home that was affected, and every home owner was mostly happy.
...i can tell you they were at my home before the fire was even extinguished with a contract in hand...as well as one other company. We did not use either of them, thought that was really shitty
i looked up google reviews for them while he was standing in front of me and i asked him how i was supposed to reconcile the first 6 reviews on google that gave them 1/5 stars. my wife almost died...she no likey confrontation.
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I was in the restoration business for a number of years. In my experience State farm and Allstate we're to be avoided. In the restoration business hierarchy Serv pro was a joke. Paul Davis is like most , some are good . I 'm no expert as I've been out of the game for a decade but I've been in some form of construction for most of my days.
thank you for chiming in...
...how did you handle allowances? For example, if the ins company allowed for $1000 worth of flooring in a room, any room, did you extend that entire allowance to the client who owns the home? Take something off the top? How is that normally handled?
That issue is where Serv pro shines, a water loss. That's where they cut their teeth, I wouldn't use them in a fire loss.
There is a program called Xactimate that is the main software estimating program used by contractors and ins companies. You input the sq ft and existing materials used . That gives you on a mutual point to debate the allowance. Of course in the end it's all about profit to stay in business ,so it's a game to find a contractor that will install the flooring at the lowest price. Some insurance companies just paid off your estimate ,if you had built a relationship with them. Some = State farm , we're unreasonable . I will put it to you this way. I was told to make the estimate as high as possible because we didn't want to work with them but if we did, we were getting paid .
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I Understand Xacrimate...when i'm asking is, say you got SF to agree the home had $1K in damages to a floor in a certain room...did you extend tbat amount to client? I am wantin a point of view from the resto company to theclient
..not from a contractor to client. I want ro know if it is normal for say Paul Davis to collect that 1K from ins comoant...theen only extend say $750 to the client. Make aense?
My understanding is if there's 1000 dollars damage you're gonna get 1000 dollars worth of repairs which includes material and labor. Insurance company only on the hook for the 1000 dollars. They could care less about anything else.....just like every other insurance company really.
Having said that, if there's a discrepancy and company under estimated that is different unless your policy has limits. Then the policy limits rule.
If your insurance estimate is 1000 and actual bill for said floor turned out to be 1400, that shouldn't be an issue
Yeah it's normal to offer the lower number because your profit margin. In the end you can add 10 + 10 for profit and overhead on a estimate to make it work but you need more than that . We looked as a estimate as a whole. We we're going to make money in some areas and break even in others.
Not what i'm asking. Maybe i'm doing a bad job.
State Farm says you have 1K worth of carpet damage. Restoration company agrees....everyone agrees on the price. Does the resto company extend that entire amount to home owner to go shopping for carpet?
Exactly . In my experience all I had to do is go back to the ins co has prove I couldn't do it for that price .....with the better companies.
Who's doing the labor? You will get 1k from state farm. How you spend is up to you but you're going to get 1000 dollars to put towards carpet
That is called a line item. In a short answer, yes.
In the end I was working for the home owner . It was a give and take in some areas of the house on some restorations.
Just a heads up , we had a customer selection sheet for everything the homeowner was going back with. Paint, carpet, cabinets, etc. I had date, time, and initials. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to go back to this to close the job. Customer's get overwhelmed , confused , and forget. Document everything. Don't be afraid to push back. The squeaky wheel got the grease. I had adjusters just tell me to make the client happy so they would stop calling.
Yes and no. Not fire damage. Tornado and water damage. Complete nightmare. Honestly you want your house destroyed then there's no argument
Not sure if this is what you were looking for but an ex sloot I used to bang got her tits restored, they were great...sadly it did nothing for her ****ing annoying bitchy personality.
If you need more info, let me know.
If you need more info, let me know.
Yeah fire restoration is for Big Boy contracting. It was a stressful job because the amount of work building back someone's HOME with everything involved.
Overall it has been as pleasant of an experience as something like this can be. Resto company has been good to work with. Ins co has paid off like a lottery ticket. We cannot complain...and we have met some really great people who have extended a lot of help and empathy, its been a very positive experience overall. We're coming to the end and just have a few minor issues to work thru, but we'll get thru em.
...I think what yer saying is home owners need to look at the overall picture. Dont get to hung up on every detail.
I could never do it. I can only imagine the headaches if you get the wrong home owner(s)
I believe it. If a room slightly damaged you've realistically gotta remodel the whole room. You can't patch carpet. If all walls the same color originally, they'll never match. Same with woodwork. Only other option is to go ta accent imo
Paints and stains fade over time
I have never actually seen a pair of fake boobies. Hahaha. They've been all natural to date.
except most people haven't looked at their homeowners ins in forever and don't realize they don't have enough coverage in that situation. Broomfield Colorado bout 2...3?? years ago, fire destroyed hundreds of homes, some as little as 1 to 12mos old....Almost every single one cost more to repair it than they had dwelling coverage for. So out comes a second mortgage, or you rebuilt without a finished basement where you had one before, Formica countertp where you used to have granite, etc, etc.
Now a days constructions costs are so high, most dwelling coverage is not adequate.
Well...like I always say...if you can touch them...they ain't fake.
...said everyone's agent when they tried to sell that to every home owner and said homeowner declined 75% of the time thinking..."those things happen to other people, not me"
Trust me I hear you. Cheaper to build new than to repair some situations.
You make a great point that people forget about. You've gotta review your policy. If not every year, you're gonna want to do it every other or every 3 years. People ASSUME what they shouldn't. Your policy stays the same unless you make the necessary changes.
What's SUPPOSED to happen in this situation is that if said Restoration Company does the job for less than $1,000 (let's say they did it for $900) then they bill the insurance company the $900 and the insurance company pays out the $900 even though the insurance company agreed to do it for $1,000.
Now, I'm assuming most Restoration Companies don't bill for what was agreed upon when the agreed upon is more (even if they could do it for less) and they keep that additional $100 (from the above scenario).
If they choose to do more work with that extra $100 or give you a cut of the $100 (possibly illegal though, at least it is for roofers) then that's between you two, but not how its supposed to work.
Been thru this twice, with two different resto companies. Get the estimate from Insurance, then negotiate it, get your own contractor quotes. I only used the Resto Company for tear out, but not for new replacement. Way better deal that way for us. Use a flooring company, use a drywaller, etc... you get more bang for your buck.
Good points. Against my advice of not assuming things, I guess I assumed lightspeed chose the restoration company. Never let insurance company tell you who you have to use.
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