No two mold jobs are alike. No two fire jobs are alike. No two water jobs are alike. No two forensic, biohazard, or hoarding cleanup jobs are alike.

Let me set the scene for you. The home in this case study is nestled atop 35 acres of gentle, rolling hills in mid-Missouri. It was built of native cut lumber, harvested from the property, which had not been sealed.

The United States gets more tornadoes than any other place on earth, by far. The National Centers for Environmental Information says the U.S. sees about 1,250 tornadoes per year; Canada is a close second with about 100 per year.

Flood houses offer a unique way for restoration companies to train employees on drying methods and equipment before sending them out to a real water loss.

Tens of thousands of documents. Months of work. Hundreds of workers displaced. Dozens of techs put to work. And working daily with local government.

Fire damage restoration seems pretty straight forward from the outside. Remove and clean the contents, clean and restore the home, remove odors, bring the contents back, and move on to the next job. Yes, that is a very high birds-eye view of the process, but covers the basic steps. 

On a warm, sunny day back in June, I had the opportunity to check out some job sites with SunGlo Services Operations Manager Bob Graham. SunGlo is a large restoration company based in the Metro Detroit area.

In May 2016, the massive Fort McMurray wildfire that forced more than 80,000 people from their homes was dubbed the costliest disaster for insurers in Canadian history.  With tens of thousands of personal, commercial and auto claims, the devastation took months to document and the re-build will be underway for some time to come.

This story starts back in September of 2015, with routine annual inspections by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development at the Eureka Gardens apartment complex in Jacksonville, Fla.

It was July of 2014 – a wildfire had erupted in Amador County, Calif. For days, the fire grew and spread with more than 2,000 firefighters working to get ahead of the flames and contain the blaze.