From the first call to the crew in the driveway

A referral has three parts and only the first one happens here. A dispatcher takes the address and the situation, a contractor who works that county calls back, and the two of you agree on the work. This page describes each part honestly, including the point at which this line drops out of the picture entirely.

Part one: the dispatch call

The address comes first because coverage is bought county by county and type by type. Craighead County is fire, Crittenden County is both, and Baxter, Crawford and Franklin are water. Until the county and the type are known, nothing else on the call matters. After that a dispatcher takes what happened, when it started, whether utilities are shut off and whether anyone is still in the building, then passes it on.

No pricing is discussed on that call. A dispatcher does not know what your floor is made of, how far the water traveled, or how much of a ceiling came down, and quoting a number without that would be a guess dressed up as an estimate.

1. You callOne number per county. The dispatcher takes the address, the ZIP and a short description of what happened.
2. A local crew calls backAn independent restoration contractor already working that county rings you directly and sets a time.
3. They look, then scope itNothing is priced from a phone call. The crew walks the building, takes readings, and writes a scope you can hand to your adjuster.

Part two: the callback

An independent restoration contractor covering that region returns the call directly. They will ask their own questions, and some of them will repeat what the dispatcher already asked, because they are the ones who have to load a truck based on the answers. A crawl space in Baxter County karst, a slab on Sharkey clay in Marion, and a plaster wall in the Van Buren historic district need different equipment on the trailer.

How long the callback takes depends on the hour, the weather and how many other people are calling about the same event. After the December 14, 1987 tornado in West Memphis, 235 homes were destroyed, 153 apartments were lost and 1,500 people were left without housing in one night. Nothing about a night like that runs on a normal schedule, and stating a number of minutes here would be dishonest.

Part three: the work, which is not ours

Everything after the callback is between you and the contractor: the walkthrough, the moisture readings or the soot survey, the scope, the price, the schedule, the drying log, the invoice and anything filed with your insurer. Read what you sign, including any authorization that lets them bill the insurance company directly. Ask what the drying plan is and how they will know when it is finished.

This line has no contract with you and no role in the outcome. If the work goes badly, the conversation belongs with the contractor first and with your insurer second. It is worth saying plainly rather than leaving vague.

What a good contractor will tell you

A contractor who cannot answer the last one is worth a second thought. Drying is a measured process with a defined end, not a matter of leaving equipment running until somebody feels done.

• That some of what looks ruined is drying, not replacement, and where the line falls.
• That the real cause was a gutter, a grade, or a flashing detail, when that is what the readings show.
• That a small clean water spill on a hard floor caught within hours is often a job for a fan and a mop rather than an invoice.
• That whether the building is safe to occupy is for the local building official, and anything about health is for a doctor.
• How the drying will be measured, and what the readings look like when the job is over.

Common questions

Photograph what you can, move what is loose, and call the county number.