Rest Assured

Assurance Restoration & Remodeling Puts Homeowners First

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing
Photographer / Amy Payne

Last spring Kristy Dunn, her husband and their three boys were beyond excited to move into their very first home. Tragedy struck, however, when their house caught fire on the day the family was set to take possession. Heartbroken but eager to get their dream back on track, Dunn contacted Brandon Adams, owner of Assurance Restoration & Remodeling, who came out that same night and got to work on smoke removal. Throughout the entire restoration process, Dunn has been pleased with Adams’ work ethic, knowledge and kindness.

“Brandon and his crew have been very helpful and have done a wonderful job of making me aware of everything that’s going on,” Dunn says. “They’re a great company to work with.”

Not everyone understands what a restoration company is all about. Following a fire or a flood, Assurance Restoration & Remodeling, which handles both water and fire restoration, comes in to secure the house. They start by boarding it up, then immediately cleaning as well as removing items that may be saved. Adams’ primary objective, however, is ensuring that the homeowners are OK. He recognizes that their lives have just been turned upside down by a fire or flood, and they are often emotionally spent. 

“They don’t want to stay away from their home for long,” Adams says. “They want to get back to normal so we move as quickly as possible to help that process along.” 

Teaming up with the Hendricks County Firefighters Local 4406, Adams distributes vouchers from local hotels to assist in getting families somewhere to stay. Families are also supplied with gift cards so they can get back on track until they can make contact with their insurance company. Adams and his team can typically get the homeowner back into their home within four months, depending on the size and scope of loss.

Adams has estimators on staff who are retired insurance adjusters. That alone helps eliminate a lot of lag time, given that adjusters are often overworked and understaffed. 

“I’m using the same estimating software as all major carriers, and then my estimator writes it up in their language,” Adams says. “We’re able to move on projects so much faster than our competition because we work with the insurance company, not against it.” 

Assurance Restoration & Remodeling, a service-connected, disabled-veteran-owned company, is a full-service business with Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification credentials. This means Adams and his staff have completed specific training to learn each standard, and the science that defines each standard. Companies that hold these certifications are expected to uphold a high standard of efficiency and excellence during the restoration process. These standards include, but are not limited to, fire cleaning and restoration, structural drying, water damage, sewage cleanup and mold remediation. 

Adams stresses that the business is a restoration company, not a construction company. This means their job is to save and restore things. Just because carpet and/or drywall gets wet doesn’t mean it always has to be torn out. In fact, contrary to popularly belief, once wet drywall is thoroughly and properly dried, it’s actually stronger than in its original phase because the gypsum inside the drywall compacts. As for carpet, while the pad will have to go, carpet can be salvageable if treated quickly. The major factor in a flood is response time. 

“It’s kind of like a sponge in that the longer you wait, the more those building materials absorb that water and the longer it takes to dry,” says Adams, who helps teach water restoration at the Restoration Academy in Noblesville with Owner Bryan Brainerd. In the class he demonstrates how today’s two-by-four isn’t the same as the two-by-four of yesteryear, by placing an old and a new two-by-four in water. By the end of the day, the brand-new one will wick up to 5” of water like a straw because building materials used today will absorb and hold water. Adams, however, has specialized equipment to inject heat and use thermal energy, to get water molecules to release and get everything dry.

“Many people think that they can throw up a box fan and be fine,” Adams says. “That’s a big mistake because while things may dry on the surface, it’s what’s wet underneath that causes problems.”

Problems can arise in what you don’t see – the wet subfloor, the wet seal plates, the wet drywall. The insides of those wall cavities gets wet, and if they aren’t properly and thoroughly dried in a timely manner, that’s where you can get mold and microbial growth. This is why, as soon as Adams receives a call from a homeowner, he arrives at their house within one hour to start extracting water, even if it’s the middle of the night. They start by pinpointing the source of the water. Is it from a crawlspace? Sewage? Contaminants and pathogens in water can cause sickness.

“A lot of the chemicals we use to treat mold is not the stuff you pick up at Lowe’s, nor does grandma’s theory of bleach water work,” Adams says. “It’ll take the surface of it off, but unfortunately the roots are already in there and will come back.”

Adams, a member of the Indiana Roofing Contractors Association, is also contacted following severe storms, particularly those that produce damaging hail. Assurance Restoration & Remodeling is one of the very few certified roofing contractors in central Indiana certified to install Malarkey shingles. 

“I wanted something that really set my roofing division apart from my competitors, and exclusively installing Malarkey shingles has done just that,” Adams says. “These shingles are the real deal, and I mean that.” 

Unlike standard shingles that can become brittle and crack relatively quickly, Malarkey shingles are made of rubberized asphalt, upcycled rubber and plastics, and smog-reducing granules. One average-sized Malarkey roof takes approximately five used tires or 3,200 plastic bags from our landfills. Besides the sustainability aspect, the quality and durability of these shingles are second to none. Adams recently filmed a video of his team shooting these shingles from close range with full soda cans, out of an AR-15 canister, to simulate intense hail. The shingles sustained no damage. 

Locals might recall the size of the hail that hit New Palestine and areas on the north side a couple years ago. The year prior, Adams installed a dozen roofs in one neighborhood that took a direct hit. Although siding was severely damaged, cars sustained dents and windows were busted, Adams’ roofs fared just fine.

Many insurance companies give significant discounts for using these shingles because they don’t have to worry about high winds and hail.

Visit Assurance Restoration & Remodeling online at assurancerestore.com, or call them at 317-440-6915 for more information.