What’s The Difference Between Restoration Contractors and General Contractors?

Damage in your home can cause you a lot of stress. Whether it’s water damage, fire damage or any other unfortunate loss, it can be expensive and mind-boggling. It also needs to be fixed quickly if you still want to live in that home, as you can see here.

There are, of course, two types of contractors.

One is general contractors and one is restoration contractors. So, what is the difference? Could both of these professionals fix your home? Possibly, but it’s always good to know who to hire in which situation.

Here’s your guide.

Restoration Contractors

Restoration contractors typically work on restoring buildings and fixing any losses that you may have suffered.

Restoration projects are all about keeping a building functional and saving it. This can involve some sort of demolition work if a particular part of the house has been severely damaged. Of course, not all of it will need demolition, as many parts can be restored with professional equipment and supplies.

Restoration companies are also Inspection Institute of Cleaning and Restoration Certified (IICRC), which you can better understand by reading this.

IICRC is a program focused on education and teaching companies how to properly clean, remove and fix the damaged property. They teach them all of the techniques necessary to understand the damage and then make decisions based on that. As mentioned, some parts of a single damaged property cannot be restored and have to be demolished and then built up again in a similar fashion. Some parts can be simply fixed when the damage is removed and restored to their previous state.

Restoration companies and contractors are also the entity called when a property owner files for an insurance claim after their property has been damaged. For instance, if you have some sort of water damage, then the restoration contractor will remove the wet flooring and other wet materials while installing dry and functional materials after drying the area.

However, at the same time, a restoration contractor will likely not be specialized in returning everything into the previous state. They would just fix the damage.

They deal with insurance companies and they can help you get anything damaged by water, fire, wind, bad weather, etc. fixed. This is usually covered by insurance.

They do damage assessment, agree on the scope of work after they are done assessing, they estimate the price and negotiate with the insurance company before getting down to work. The only payment you have to worry about here is the deductible.

General Contractors

General contractors work on new constructions or remodeling. They can help you when you want to build a new property, remodel a room, add a new room or area to your home and so on. They should be licensed with the state you are in and they have sub-contractors that are more specialized for certain works. For example, a contractor would work with sub-contractors like plumbers, painters, carpenters, flooring experts, electricians and so on.

There is usually no insurance claim filed and you pay for it yourself. They can also do restoration, but you have to pay for this yourself as it’s not covered by your insurance. This is why they are usually called when you need cosmetic work done on your home. You can also choose whatever you want when it comes to materials and other elements.

The Difference

As you can see, there are some clear differences between restoration contractors like restoreunow.com and general contractors.

While both professionals can fix the damage in your home, only restoration contractors are educated about dealing with insurance companies and the work of the restoration contractors is covered by the insurance. They are specialized in fixing the damage and restoring it to the previous state with the same-value materials. So, you can expect to only pay deductions without actually spending a ton of money.

For any materials that are different than you had before, you would have to pay more money or hire a general contractor. However, a general contractor probably would be a slower option. If you need emergency work done, a restoration contractor is the best option.