If you're a contractor trying to break into insurance work or an estimator who got handed this role without much training — this book was written for you.
Most people in restoration estimating learned by piecing it together on their own. Watching someone else work. Making mistakes nobody warned them about. Missing line items, sending poorly packaged estimates, getting blindsided by payment conversations that should have happened on day one.
This book is what the training should have looked like.
Foundations of Restoration Estimating is a 127 page PDF that covers all three layers of becoming a competent estimator — the software, the craft, and the business side that most resources never touch.
Part 1 walks you through how the insurance process actually works, who the players are, and the mentality that separates estimators who struggle from ones who get paid consistently.
Part 2 covers everything that needs to happen before you open Xactimate — what information you need, how to scope a job correctly across both mitigation and repairs, and how to set up your file so every number in it is accurate from the start.
Part 3 gets into the software — sketching, line items, reading descriptions, building macros, F9 notes, photos, and reports. The technical execution that turns a scoped job into a professional document an adjuster can approve.
Part 4 is the business side. Sending estimates, handling pushback, supplements, change orders, and the payment process from agreed scope to final check — including the conversations most estimators aren't having with their customers but should be.
The appendix includes a sketch checklist, an estimate pre-submission checklist, and a full glossary of industry terms you can reference in the field.
Write estimates that hold up under adjuster scrutiny. Scope jobs accurately across mitigation and repairs. Communicate professionally with adjusters and customers. Understand how insurance money actually moves from approval to your account. Build the systems that make you faster, more consistent, and harder to lowball.
This isn't a certification manual or a policy document. Every chapter is grounded in real scenarios from thousands of claims across mitigation and repairs work — the mistakes, the wins, the adjuster conversations that went wrong and the ones that didn't.
If you apply what's here consistently you'll be ahead of most estimators working today.
$27 — Instant PDF Download
If you're a contractor trying to break into insurance work or an estimator who got handed this role without much training — this book was written for you.
Most people in restoration estimating learned by piecing it together on their own. Watching someone else work. Making mistakes nobody warned them about. Missing line items, sending poorly packaged estimates, getting blindsided by payment conversations that should have happened on day one.
This book is what the training should have looked like.
Foundations of Restoration Estimating is a 127 page PDF that covers all three layers of becoming a competent estimator — the software, the craft, and the business side that most resources never touch.
Part 1 walks you through how the insurance process actually works, who the players are, and the mentality that separates estimators who struggle from ones who get paid consistently.
Part 2 covers everything that needs to happen before you open Xactimate — what information you need, how to scope a job correctly across both mitigation and repairs, and how to set up your file so every number in it is accurate from the start.
Part 3 gets into the software — sketching, line items, reading descriptions, building macros, F9 notes, photos, and reports. The technical execution that turns a scoped job into a professional document an adjuster can approve.
Part 4 is the business side. Sending estimates, handling pushback, supplements, change orders, and the payment process from agreed scope to final check — including the conversations most estimators aren't having with their customers but should be.
The appendix includes a sketch checklist, an estimate pre-submission checklist, and a full glossary of industry terms you can reference in the field.
Write estimates that hold up under adjuster scrutiny. Scope jobs accurately across mitigation and repairs. Communicate professionally with adjusters and customers. Understand how insurance money actually moves from approval to your account. Build the systems that make you faster, more consistent, and harder to lowball.
This isn't a certification manual or a policy document. Every chapter is grounded in real scenarios from thousands of claims across mitigation and repairs work — the mistakes, the wins, the adjuster conversations that went wrong and the ones that didn't.
If you apply what's here consistently you'll be ahead of most estimators working today.
$27 — Instant PDF Download
