How to Read a Restoration Estimate Line by Line

How an Estimate Is Organized

Most restoration and insurance estimates use the same layout. The job is broken into rooms, and each room lists tasks. Each task is one line with four parts.

• Description, such as remove wet drywall or apply antimicrobial.
• Quantity, such as 96.
• Unit, such as SF for square feet, LF for linear feet, EA for each, HR for hour or DA for day.
• Unit price, which multiplies with the quantity to give the line total.

Insurance estimates often add more columns. Tax on materials, RCV for replacement cost value, depreciation, and ACV for actual cash value after depreciation. Some depreciation is recoverable after you finish the repair. The summary page shows the totals, your deductible and what has been paid.

Many companies and insurers write estimates in the same standard line item format with regional price lists that update over time. That is helpful for you. It means your contractor’s estimate and the adjuster’s estimate can usually be compared line for line.

Each room usually starts with its measurements. Check those first. If your 12 by 14 foot bedroom is listed as 10 by 12, every line that depends on area will be short.

Emergency and Water Removal Lines

These are the first lines on most water losses. Here is what they mean and what to check.

Watch the water category. Clean water from a supply line allows more drying in place. Gray water from a washer or dishwasher, and black water from sewage or outside flooding, justify more removal and more cleaning. The category on the estimate should match the source.

Equipment Days, the Biggest Line on Many Jobs

Drying equipment is billed per unit per day. On a clean water job, equipment is often the largest part of the bill. The main pieces are these.

• Air movers, the low fans aimed along walls and floors. A common rule of thumb is roughly one for every 50 to 70 square feet of wet floor, plus more for wet walls and closets.
• Dehumidifiers, often low grain refrigerant or desiccant units, which pull moisture out of the air. They are priced higher per day than air movers.
• Air scrubbers or negative air machines with HEPA filters, used for mold, sewage, soot or dusty demolition.
• Specialty drying, such as wall cavity drying systems or floor drying mats for hardwood.

To check equipment lines, multiply the number of units by the number of days and compare it to the daily drying log. The log should show the date, readings for each monitored spot, and how many units were running. If the log shows the living room was dry on day three, air movers billed there for day five need an explanation.

Clean water drying often takes about three to five days when started fast. Longer can be reasonable for dense materials like hardwood, plaster or concrete, or for cold, humid weather. Ask your contractor to walk you through the readings if the days look long.

Mold and Contamination Lines

Mold, sewage and heavy soot jobs add lines for containment and protection. These are normal when the work calls for them.

• Containment, usually polyethylene sheeting walls billed per square foot, with a zipper door billed each. It keeps spores and dust out of clean rooms.
• Negative air, an air scrubber that exhausts filtered air so the work area pulls air in and not out. Billed per day.
• Personal protective equipment, such as respirators, suits and gloves, often billed per worker per day.
• HEPA vacuuming of surfaces, billed per square foot.
• Cleaning or sanding of framing, billed per square foot or linear foot.
• Antimicrobial or sealant applied after cleaning, billed per square foot.
• Clearance testing or a post-remediation check, sometimes by a separate firm.

Check that containment size matches the work area and that PPE counts match the crew and the days. For a small, clean water loss with no mold, heavy containment and full body suits may be more than the job needs. For sewage or visible mold, they are appropriate.

In New York, mold jobs over 10 square feet follow a written remediation plan from a licensed assessor. The remediator’s estimate should match that plan.

Contents Lines

Contents are your belongings, and they often have their own section or a separate estimate.

• Contents manipulation or move out, which means moving furniture out of the way and back. Usually billed per room or per hour.
• Pack out, where items are inventoried, boxed and taken off site for cleaning or storage. Billed by boxes, hours and trucks.
• Contents cleaning, billed by item or by box.
• Storage, billed per month per vault or per unit.
• Pack back, returning and unpacking items after repairs.

Ask for the contents inventory if a company packs out your belongings. It should list every box and item with photos. Check it against your own list. You want to know what was taken, what was cleaned, what was called unsalvageable and where it is stored.

Items marked non-salvageable should be photographed and listed so you can claim them on your insurance. Do not let them be thrown away before that list exists.

If only a few pieces of furniture need to be moved, a full pack-out may be more than you need. Ask whether moving items to a dry room is an option.

Rebuild, Overhead and Profit

The rebuild part puts the home back. Expect lines for new drywall, tape and finish, texture, primer and paint, baseboard, flooring, cabinets and any trim that came off. Check these points.

• Paint is usually priced for the whole wall or room so colors match, not just the patched part.
• Flooring should include removal, any underlayment or prep, and the new material of similar quality.
• Matching. If one room’s flooring runs continuously into another, ask how matching is handled. Your policy wording controls this.
• Permits and code upgrades may be separate lines or excluded, depending on your policy.

At the end you may see overhead and profit, often shown as 10% for overhead and 10% for profit on top of the subtotal. It is common when a general contractor coordinates several trades such as drywall, painting, flooring and plumbing. Whether it is owed on a given claim depends on your policy and the job’s complexity, so ask your adjuster how they decided.

Also check the tax line and the deductible, and whether any payments already made are credited.

Comparing Your Contractor’s Estimate With the Adjuster’s

When two estimates disagree, go room by room and line by line. Most differences fall into a few groups.

• Measurements. Different room sizes or wall heights.
• Scope. One estimate removes drywall to 4 feet and the other to 2 feet. One replaces carpet and the other only the pad.
• Missing items. Closets, toe kicks, baseboard, door casings, contents moving or final cleaning.
• Equipment days. One side bills five days and the other three.
• Price per unit. Usually smaller than the other gaps.

Write a short list of differences with a photo or reading that supports your side for each. Send it to the adjuster and ask for a written response. Often the gap closes when the adjuster sees the drying log or photos of wet framing.

Be fair both ways. If your contractor billed for a room that never got wet, raise it. An accurate estimate protects you, because padded bills can cause problems with your claim.

Step by Step

1. Get Every Page

   Ask for the complete estimate with room details, not just the summary. Ask for the drying log and any moisture map too.

2. Check the Room Sizes

   Measure each affected room and compare it to the dimensions on the estimate. Note any room that is too large or too small.

3. Match the Scope to Your Photos

   For each room, check that removed items match what you saw. Look at drywall cut height, carpet and pad, baseboard and cabinets.

4. Check Equipment Against the Log

   Count air movers, dehumidifiers and air scrubbers by day and compare them to the log. Circle any days after an area was recorded dry.

5. Hunt for Missing Items

   Look for closets, trim, paint, contents moving, final cleaning and debris removal. Missing items cost you as much as padded ones.

6. Review the Summary Page

   Check tax, overhead and profit, depreciation, deductible and prior payments. Make sure the math adds up.

7. Send Written Questions

   List each question with the line number and your evidence. Send it by email and keep a copy.

Mistakes That Make It Worse

• Reading only the total. The total hides both missing work and padding, which only show up line by line.
• Ignoring the drying log. Equipment days without readings to support them are the most common dispute.
• Assuming the adjuster’s estimate is final. It is a starting point, and supplements for hidden damage are normal.
• Signing a completion certificate before the work is done. That can release payment on work you have not checked.
• Arguing unit prices first. Measurements and missing scope usually matter far more.

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