Fire & Smoke

Fire and Smoke Damage Xactimate Estimates for Contractors

Redefined Restoration LLC writes remote fire and smoke damage Xactimate estimates for restoration contractors across the US, covering soot removal, odor control, cleaning, sealing, contents and rebuild. The fee is $150 or 1% of the approved estimate, whichever is higher, billed on the 14th and 28th of each month.

Fire jobs are some of the most detail-heavy estimates in restoration. Every room, every surface and every content item can carry its own cleaning, sealing or replacement decision. We write the whole thing so you don't have to spend nights itemizing it. Co-owner Michael White holds the IICRC Fire and Smoke Restoration Technician (FSRT) certification.

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What does a fire and smoke estimate include?

Short answer: Every cleaning, deodorization, sealing, removal and replacement task the loss requires, room by room.

Typical scope areas include:

Emergency services: board up and tarping
Soot and smoke residue cleaning of walls, ceilings, fixtures and structure
Odor control and deodorization
Sealing and priming of affected surfaces before paint
Removal and disposal of non-salvageable materials
Contents packout, cleaning, storage and pack back
Water mitigation from firefighting, if applicable
Full reconstruction back to pre-loss condition

What you receive

A complete, line-by-line fire and smoke Xactimate estimate
Room-by-room cleaning versus replacement scope based on your documentation
Contents and rebuild scope, if you need them on the same file
The ESX file and the completed PDF estimate report, ready to submit under your company's name

What documentation do you need for a fire loss?

Short answer: Wide and close-up photos of every affected room, a sketch or measurements, and notes on residue type and severity.

Helpful items:

Photos of each room, ceilings included, and of the areas furthest from the fire
Notes on the type of residue you're seeing and where
Odor observations
A list or photos of affected contents
Any water damage from suppression, with moisture readings
Notes on what's salvageable and what isn't

Why are fire estimates so often incomplete?

Short answer: Because the scope is large and repetitive, and small tasks repeated across many rooms are easy to miss.

Cleaning every surface, sealing before paint, detaching and resetting fixtures, protecting what stays, and handling contents all add up. A methodical room-by-room estimate keeps them from falling off. If you've already written one, send it for a supplement.

How much does a fire damage estimate cost?

Short answer: $150 or 1% of the approved estimate, whichever is higher.

Example (illustrative): a $48,000 approved fire estimate costs $480. If you remove $3,000 of items before approving, the fee is 1% of $45,000, or $450.

See pricing

Why outsource fire and smoke estimates?

Short answer: Because a single fire job can take longer to estimate than several water jobs.

Room-by-room cleaning decisions, contents, emergency services and rebuild can turn one loss into hundreds of line items. Sending it to us keeps your project managers on the job site instead of behind a laptop, and gets you a consistent, methodical estimate every time.

Related guides

FAQs

Can you write the contents and the structure on the same job?

Yes. We write contents packout, storage and pack back as well as the structure and rebuild.

Do you include the water damage from firefighting?

Yes, if you document it. See water mitigation estimating.

Do you inspect fire jobs in person?

No. We work remotely from your documentation, which is why detailed photos matter.

Can you help after the estimate is submitted?

Yes. Claim support is 3.5% of the final amount paid, only after you're paid.

Send us your next fire job.