How to read a restoration bid (and the lines that hide the real cost)
Insurance estimates rarely cover what it actually takes to rebuild. Here's what to look for on a restoration bid before you sign.
If a restoration bid has no allowance for code upgrades, demolition disposal, or mitigation overlap, you're not looking at the real number.
Code-upgrade language matters. A house built in the 70s that takes a fire usually has to come back to current code on egress windows, smoke alarms, GFCI/AFCI, and sometimes structural fastening. Insurance ordinance-or-law coverage may pay for it, but only if your contractor itemizes the upgrade scope.
Mitigation overlap is the other trap. The mitigation crew (drying, demolition, debris removal) and the rebuild crew need to overlap by a few days or the schedule stretches a week. A good restoration bid spells out who is on site during the handoff.
We share our bid breakdown line-by-line with the carrier and the homeowner. If a line moves, both parties see why before it moves.
