Restoration & Reconstruction FAQ

Questions about the rebuild phase, answered plainly. Call (208) 254-2053 or email claims@acorrestoration.com.

What is the difference between mitigation and reconstruction?

Mitigation is the emergency phase, stopping the damage from spreading. Extraction, drying, board-up, removing material that cannot be saved. It is fast and it is about limiting the loss.

Reconstruction is putting the building back. Framing, drywall, insulation, flooring, paint, trim, cabinetry, fixtures. It is slower, it is permitted work, and it is scoped in detail rather than handled on an emergency basis.

They are commonly treated as two phases of one claim, sometimes with separate scopes and sometimes separate approvals from your carrier.

Can one company do both the drying and the rebuild?

Yes, and there is a practical argument for it. When the mitigation contractor and the rebuild contractor are different companies, the seam between them is where things get lost, what was removed, why, what condition the structure was in when the second contractor arrived, and who is accountable for a moisture reading nobody wrote down.

ACOR handles both, so the drying data and the rebuild scope come from the same record. You are also not managing two sets of schedules and two points of contact.

How does the rebuild scope get decided?

We inspect, document what is damaged, and prepare a scope describing the materials and work we believe are necessary to return the property to its pre-loss condition, consistent with applicable building codes and manufacturer requirements. That is a contractor’s professional assessment. It is what we think the job requires.

Your carrier reviews it and makes its own determination about what your policy covers. Those two things are not the same, and we will not tell you they are. We do not negotiate the outcome, interpret your policy, or guarantee what gets paid.

What if something gets missed in the scope?

It happens, particularly with damage that is not visible until demolition opens up an assembly. Wet insulation behind drywall, subfloor damage under finish flooring, framing that is worse than it looked.

When we find it, we document it, photos, measurements, notes on the condition, and submit that supporting information to your carrier as the contractor performing the work. Whether it is covered is the carrier’s determination. Our job is to make sure the information reaching them is accurate and complete, not to argue the claim.

Will the new materials match what was there before?

Sometimes exactly, often closely, occasionally not. Discontinued flooring, tile, siding, and cabinetry are common problems, and a fifteen-year-old finish may simply not be available. Materials also weather, so even an identical product can read differently next to the original.

Where an exact match is not available we will show you the closest realistic options and explain the tradeoffs. How your policy treats matching and undamaged adjacent materials is a coverage question for your carrier.

Who pulls the permits?

It varies by job. Sometimes we pull them, sometimes the property owner does, depending on the jurisdiction and the scope of work, requirements differ across Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Kootenai County, and the Washington jurisdictions, and they change.

We will tell you which applies to your project rather than give you a general answer that turns out to be wrong for your address, and we coordinate the permitting and inspection sequence either way. Building officials, not contractors and not carriers, decide what a given scope requires.

How long does reconstruction take?

It depends on the size of the scope, material availability, permitting and inspection timelines, whether the claim has been approved so the work can proceed, and how much of the structure is involved. A single bathroom is weeks. A substantially rebuilt home is considerably longer.

We will give you a schedule for your actual project once the scope is settled, and tell you when something changes. We do not quote a generic turnaround, because a generic turnaround is just a guess with confidence attached.

Are you public adjusters?

No. ACOR Restoration Services LLC is a licensed contractor. We have licensed independent adjusters on staff to support documentation and coordination with your carrier’s staff adjuster. We do not negotiate coverage or settlements, and we are not public adjusters.

Related: Water Damage FAQ and Smoke & Fire Damage FAQ for the mitigation phase that comes first.