Wildfire/Water Damage rebuild estimates for homes in Northern California.
An Accurate Rebuild Estimate from a Licensed Builder that your Insurance Company Can’t Refuse.
If your home has been damaged or lost, due to a wildfire, flood, natural disaster, fire, or by any other means, and your insurance company’s estimate for how much the repair and rebuild will cost has you frustrated, we can help with an accurate rebuild estimate that your insurance company can’t refuse.
Find out more about our building and estimating process here.
BW Builder is a licensed builder based in Sonoma County but licensed to build throughout the state of California. As experts in creating estimates to rebuild homes damaged by wildfires, we know how to get from A to Z with your insurance claim. Whether you are in Sonoma County, Northern California or anywhere in our great state, you can depend on BW Builder’s expertise to provide you with the estimate you will need to complete your claim.
The estimate provided by your insurance company is called a “Scope of Loss” report. Usually, they give this to you in a format that is confusing and difficult to read. Nearly universally, insurance companies use a software called Xactimate®, and almost as universally, that estimate shows you an estimated repair cost that has no relation to the costs you’re being quoted from local builders.
That’s because the company’s adjuster has never built a home and is really only repurposing old estimates already in their system. Even though they know it is a highly inaccurate estimate of rebuilding costs, your builder is going to have a very hard time creating an estimate with so much detail. So, because they know this, they will insist your builder give them an estimate in a similar format or accept yours. Not really a ‘good neighbor’ kind of behavior, but that’s insurance companies these days.
When you ask your builder if he or she can perform an estimate in this manner, the contractor will look at you as if you are insane. They build with hammers and nails and have no desire or knowledge of how to use a software as overly complicated and detailed as Xactimate®.
BW Builder can help. Our detailed and accurate scope of loss reports are produced in either Xactimate® or our own proprietary estimating software. Whichever format you choose, you will have a document that will allow you to negotiate a rebuild price (including Code Upgrades) that is more realistic than their original estimate.
Our estimate is uniquely suited to help you arrive at an estimated cost for your rebuild. Compared to an insurance adjuster who has never built a home, a scope of loss report performed by a licensed CA builder must always be deemed the more accurate estimate. Wait until your adjuster sees our report! HA! It feels really good to beat them at their own game.
The BW Builder scope of loss report will also include further documentation to support your losses. Items such as media reports concerning price increases, documents pertaining to code upgrades in California, white papers, and more describing the building environment of your local area.
Initially, we worked with United Policyholders to design a report that could be affordable and effective. Today, we continue to support their efforts. We have donated over $15,000 to their mission to educate people after disasters. Sales from the proceeds of our books also benefit their great organization.
We use up-to-date, local material, and labor costs for your specific area. It is normal that after a disaster, like a wildfire, strong inflationary pressures force prices up on materials and labor. There are only so many builders in any given area and after a disaster, their services become impacted.
For example, in Santa Rosa, between January and May of 2018, material costs rose over 20% due to supply and demand caused by the October 2017 North Bay fires. From October 2020 through April 2021, lumber pricing doubled. For some reason, the software providers don’t seem to keep up with pricing increases. You can rest assured that our estimates do!
We often see insurance company estimates that do not account for demand surge pricing or code upgrade expenses. Our scope of loss report will accurately reflect current, on-the-ground costs.
A more accurate report from a local builder allows you the leverage to have your adjuster stop playing games. This helps speed up your claims process and helps gets your money released faster, without the frustrations, delays, and agonizing back and forth for what can sometimes be many years.
The cost of our report will vary depending on the project. Prices begin at $1,500 and can be as much as $14,000 for larger, more complex builds or properties with multiple buildings. Most of the time, they are between $3,000 and $6,000.
Factors such as size, the complexity of the home, and the type of data and specifications available for the home all go into the cost of your estimate. We can provide “Code Upgrade” only reports, partial reconstruction reports, and full loss reports. We will give you a price quote before signing any contracts. We begin work upon receipt of the signed contract and deposit and we can usually have the estimate completed within 4 weeks.
If your insurance company isn’t being helpful on your claim, we can help. If you want to have a better idea of the actual rebuild cost so you can feel more confident about signing a contract to build, we can help. If you want to have the data to help you better negotiate your claim, there is no better scope of loss report than the one BW Builder can custom create for you!