YOUR DISASTER PLAYBOOK
Repairing or rebuilding a home involves hundreds of decisions, unfamiliar professionals, complicated approvals, and significant financial commitments. You do not need to understand the entire construction process before taking the first step.
The next moves in our Disaster Playbook will help you build your team, develop a plan, compare proposals, and maintain a complete record as your home comes back together.
A BRIEF REBUILDING OUTLINE
Determine whether your home will be repaired or rebuilt and begin defining the expected scope of work. Review your insurance estimates, available coverage, local requirements, and the decisions that may affect your timeline and budget. Loti has written hundreds of RallyBack articles dedicated to construction, along with a construction pocket book available on Amazon to help guide you through the process.
Understand the role of the general contractor and how to find, evaluate, and hire one. Depending on your project, you may also need architects, engineers, designers, environmental professionals, arborists, consultants, and specialized trades.
Work through design, site services, planning, permitting, building requirements, and material selections. Decisions involving mechanical systems, exterior materials, windows, doors, fixtures, interior surfaces, yards, and pools can affect both the cost and schedule.
Look beyond the bottom line when evaluating contractor proposals. Compare scope, quantities, materials, allowances, exclusions, schedules, payment terms, and contract structure. Use our FREE Bid vs Bid Tool (coming soon) to organize competing proposals and see where important differences may be hiding.
Your carrier will send a dense Xactimate estimate filled with codes and line items it will not fully explain. Far worse, the total will be low, incomplete, and conveniently below your policy limits.
These estimates are commonly built by insurance adjusters who never visited your property, your community, or even your state. They do not reflect your complete scope, local labor and material costs, demand surge, or current building codes.
Your home deserves a real estimate.
To get started, we've gathered a few helpful AI enabled tools & articles, but feel free to reach out to us directly for immediate help.
Free AI Tools & Articles.
Free AI Tools & Articles.
Compare contractor bids side by side to understand scope, pricing, and tradeoffs. Our tool highlights key differences, surfaces pros and cons, and helps homeowners choose the right contractor for their rebuild.
Compare Contractor Bids.
Use this tool to turn repair photos into a clear, organized record of completed work. Our AI groups images by location, adds descriptions, and creates a structured report to support inspections and release funds from insurance carriers and mortgage holding banks.
Track Your Repair Progress.
General Contractor Roles
Architectural Plans
Inspections & Red Tags
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The Learning Hub is Loti’s free resource center and the largest recovery library of its kind. Originally created to help fellow survivors, it’s open to everyone and includes RallyBacks, glossaries, and downloadable tools with clear guidance for every type of incident.
Visit the Learning Hub to get advice and answers at every stage.
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