What Restoration Company Should You Hire?

The Difference a Good Company Makes When Fixing the Damage in Your Home

“Best Restoration Company in Idaho.” You’ve seen it. That phrase on every restoration website’s homepage claiming to be #1. Perhaps they just have it for marketing purposes because they know you were just about to search that exact phrase, or maybe they actually believe that they are the best. Either way, only one can actually be the best, right?

Of course all restoration companies want to say that they are the top restorers in the world, but most just claim to be the best near you. And sure, it would be nice to have the leading company in the industry to call on if you need their services, but most of us just want a reliable service that is easy to work with and doesn’t take forever to actually get to work.

Ultimately, it is for you to decide which company is the best for you, so we want to provide you with indicators for choosing the best one. There are so many restoration companies in Southeast Idaho, so how do you filter through all the self proclamations and sales gimmicks?

Well, you could just stop reading now and hire Flood and Fire Solutions, but our goal is actually to inform you of what to look out for in any restoration company you find. Here is advice from restoration industry professionals on what the red flags are and what makes a company a good one.

 

What a Bad Restoration Company Looks Like

You can picture it now.

Your home becomes a construction site, covered in building material, pop cans, cigarette butts, and tools. Men with food stains on their wrinkled t-shirts throw around your belongings and shout profanities.

Weeks turn into months and you receive a bill only to realize you haven’t seen or heard anything from the company since the first time they came. Your house still isn’t back to normal, despite the promise to return it to “pre-loss conditions,” and when you call, they tell you that there is nothing they can do about it.

This is the story no one wants to experience. Here are the signs to prevent hiring a company like this.

 

Characteristics of Bad Restoration Companies:

• Start work without a work authorization
• Are not insured
• Frequently use temporary workers as a substitute for trained technicians
• Cut corners to save costs
• Don’t handle belongings with the care they deserve
• Don’t have explanations for the cost of their service
• Fail to answer the phone or return calls promptly
• Don’t show up to appointments
• Are late to appointments and don’t inform you
• Don’t respond to emails
• Talk nonchalantly about significant demolition
• Enter and leave the jobsite without informing you
• Smoke in or near the buildings on your property
• Don’t track how much product or supplies they use
• Make false promises
• It’s difficult to find information about them
• Have only one method of contact
• Website is messy and difficult to navigate
• Don’t conduct drug tests and background checks on the people they send into your home
• Oversell and under deliver
• Speak negatively about you or your property
• Only do part of the work, but bill you for the completed work
• Are inefficient
• Don’t know how to answer your questions and then make no effort to answer them later
• Drink alcohol on the job or arrive inebriated
• Have a rating below 3.6 stars
• Don’t perform an inspection before giving an estimate
• Have unhappy employees
• Scare you

We find that many homeowners have reservations about hiring a restoration company. Unfortunately, society has had a negative image of hard labor workers and contractors. And even more unfortunate are the few cases where these stereotypes come to reality.

There are plenty of really great workers though. The great companies make the effort to hire those great workers. Reviews are an easy way to tell if customers were happy with the company and their employees.

What the Best Restoration Companies Look Like:

It has been our experience that whether a restoration company completely fails to have one of the following characteristics or is just mediocre at establishing a few of them, then they will not be able to adequately fulfill the needs of you or your property. That is what makes it so difficult to find the right restoration company and so easy to have a poor experience.

Now picture this.

You arrive home late at night to find your house is flooded from a burst pipe. You call the first restoration company you can find and they pick up despite the late hour. Their technicians arrive at your home in company-branded professional attire a short time later.

Following paperwork and authorization, they suit up into safety uniforms and conduct an inspection using several tools. They speak with you, letting you know exactly what is going on and what they need to do.

When they work, they are gentle with your belongings, respectful to you and your family, and maintain a clean workspace. The company works with your insurance to see that the work is paid for, and make sure you know what is happening every step of the way. Once the work is completed, you almost forget that anything bad happened because your home is safe, clean, and good as new.

This is the type of experience everyone should have with a restoration company. This is the service you have been searching for.

Characteristics of Best Restoration Companies:

• Send professionals and trained technicians to restore your home
• Require drug testing and background checks from all employees
• Carry all the certifications and licenses required to do the job
• Have all the right tools and equipment
• Offer emergency service 24/7
• Respond quickly and effectively
• Care about your home and belongings
• Wear proper safety during inspections and qualifying hazardous work
• Follow OSHA and EPA requirements
• Are knowledgeable about construction and restoration work
• Have good community connections and presence
• Pay their employees well and offer benefits to retain top talent
• Know how to handle insurance companies
• Are empathetic
• View demolition as a last resort and approach the idea carefully
• Follow industry standard pricing
• Have professional attire with their company name and logo on them
• Offer homeowners advice on the more complicated parts of the process
• Go above and beyond
• Are organized
• Update and add training for their employees
• Communicate well
• Website is professional, easy to navigate, and contains a significant amount of information
• Don’t make grandiose promises
• Offer payment options
• Guarantee their work
• Help you feel safe
• Make it look easy
• Offer more value than just a standard service
• Have a great company culture

Restoration is an incredibly labor intensive industry where customers need to be treated with better customer service than is deemed acceptable by other industries. The work requires extensive knowledge, training, and experience to do properly.

Often, how well the technicians work together, their appearance, and the work that is done is a reflection of company management and training techniques. Companies without good business processes and structure produce subpar results and cultivate poor employees.

Thankfully, there is a great restoration company in Southeast Idaho with an amazing company culture and all the characteristics of the best restoration company in the world. Don’t believe us? Check out our website, reviews, and social media.

Give us a call if you need any kind of restoration work.

Flood and Fire Solutions: (208) 521-9741