Answers After Major Damage to Your Home

Make sure everyone is safe and out of any damaged area. Report the loss to your insurer. Photograph the damage if it is safe to do so, keep receipts for emergency expenses, and call us to secure the home. Do not let anyone remove a tree from a structure without a plan for the load it is carrying.

A heavy impact or fire can damage framing, connections and foundations far from where the damage is visible. A licensed structural engineer traces the load path, states the cause and extent in a sealed report, and specifies a repair that meets code.

Concealed damage is damage behind finished surfaces: cracked rafters or studs, failed connections, displaced floor framing. The only way to document and repair it properly is to remove finishes selectively and have the engineer inspect before anything is closed up.

Sometimes. It depends on safe access, working utilities and whether the work areas can be contained. We tell you plainly after the engineering assessment.

We apply for the permit first, with sealed drawings where required. The county inspects in stages (foundation, framing, MEP, final), and our engineer inspects at defined hold points before work is covered.

It depends on the extent of the damage, permitting, inspections and material lead times. You receive a written schedule after the assessment, updated as concealed conditions are documented.

We provide the documentation, engineering and estimates your adjuster and insurer need, and we work alongside your adjuster or public adjuster, including joint inspections. We do not negotiate or settle claims on your behalf, and we do not guarantee claim outcomes.

A sealed engineering report, a room-by-room photo register, roof framing surveys where relevant, 3D damage models with version history, an Xactimate estimate whose line items tie back to the report, documented supplements and county inspection records.