Licensed & InsuredMassachusetts, full rebuild scope
Xactimate FluentScoped in your carrier’s own platform
Direct Insurance BillingAll carriers, no upfront cost
BBB A+ CertifiedOwner-led, Boston based
Why Does Disaster Reconstruction in Boston Stall? The Second Contractor Gap
Disaster reconstruction, often searched as fire and water damage reconstruction services, is the rebuild phase of a property loss: repairing and replacing everything the water, fire, or storm destroyed and the mitigation crew removed, from framing and drywall to flooring, cabinets, roofing, and siding, all scoped against the insurance claim. It is the phase where most Boston claims go sideways, because most restoration companies do not actually do it.
Here is the pattern we get called in to fix. A mitigation-only outfit extracts the water, runs dehumidifiers for four days, tears out the wet drywall and flooring, and leaves. The house is dry, stripped to the studs in places, and the homeowner is now shopping for a general contractor with a partially paid claim and an estimate written in a format no retail GC uses. Weeks pass. The GCs who return calls quote retail prices the carrier will not match, supplements for hidden damage never get filed, and the approved scope no longer matches what the rebuild actually needs.
Studio 24 Restoration Group closes that gap by design. The same company that handles your water damage restoration or fire damage cleanup carries the job through reconstruction under the same roof and the same claim. Nothing is rediscovered, because the crew that opened the walls documented what it found, and the rebuild scope grows out of the mitigation scope in the same Xactimate file. Consequently, the job that stalls for months with two contractors moves in weeks with one.
The stakes are not small. According to the Insurance Information Institute, about one in 20 insured homes files a claim in a given year, and the rebuild portion is routinely the largest share of the payout. A restoration general contractor who can defend every line item is the difference between a whole claim and a partial one.
Mitigation done and your contractor disappeared? We take over rebuilds other companies started. Bring us the dry-out paperwork and the adjuster’s estimate, and we reconcile the scope before a single trade is scheduled. Call (781) 390-9855.
- One claim file, mitigation through rebuild
- Supplements filed as damage is uncovered
- Owner meets the adjuster on site
- Roofing, siding, and windows included
- No upfront cost on covered work
Repair or Replace? How a Boston Restoration Contractor Makes the Call
Every rebuild starts with a material-by-material decision, and honesty here is what separates a restoration contractor from a salesman. Repairing what can be saved keeps the claim lean and the schedule short. Replacing what cannot be saved prevents the callback in eight months. Below is the actual decision guidance we use on Boston and South Shore losses, with the criteria stated plainly.
| Material | We repair when | We replace when |
|---|---|---|
| Water-wicked drywall | Wicking stopped below roughly 24 inches, the core meters dry, and the paper face shows no delamination or microbial staining | The core stays saturated, the face paper bubbles or separates, or Category 2 or 3 water touched it, which the IICRC S500 treats as a removal condition |
| Cupped hardwood | Cupping is mild, boards metered dry with cavity drying, and the floor can be sanded flat after it fully acclimates, often 4 to 6 weeks later | Boards crowned or buckled off the subfloor, finish failed across the room, or the subfloor itself stayed wet and telegraphs movement |
| Architectural shingles (storm) | Damage is isolated to a slope or a course, matching shingles are still manufactured, and the deck below is sound | Wind lifted mats across multiple slopes, granule loss exposes bitumen broadly, or the product line is discontinued so repairs cannot match |
| Vinyl siding sections | Impact damage is limited to a few courses and the profile and color are still available or salvageable from less visible walls | Cracking spans elevations, the profile is discontinued and mismatch would be obvious, or the sheathing behind it took water |
| Horsehair plaster | Keys to the lath are intact, damage is a stain or a contained blister, and the wall meters dry, so a skim and repaint restores it | Keys have sheared and the wall moves under hand pressure, saturation ran floor to ceiling, or lath behind it rotted |
Two of these categories are so common in this housing stock that they carry their own crews. Our water damaged drywall and plaster repair team handles everything from patch-and-skim to full-room replacement, and our flood damaged floor replacement team covers hardwood, tile, and subfloor rebuilds. Either way, the repair-or-replace call is documented with photos and meter readings, so the carrier sees the reasoning, not just the price.
Our Reconstruction Process: Scope Alignment to Final Punch List
Rebuild after water damage or a fire runs on sequence. Trades stacked in the wrong order create rework, and rework on an insurance job creates uncovered cost. Therefore every Studio 24 reconstruction follows the same phase discipline, and the first phase happens before a single board is ordered.
Scope alignment matters most. We reconcile the adjuster’s estimate against the as-opened condition of the house, then file supplements for what the estimate missed while the evidence is still exposed. Our insurance claims team handles that paperwork as part of the job, not as a favor. After that comes the permit reality of building here. Massachusetts work runs under the state building code, 780 CMR, administered by Boston Inspectional Services in the city and by each town’s building department across the South Shore. Additionally, some Boston neighborhoods sit inside local historic districts, where exterior changes like roofing, siding, and window replacement need commission review before the permit issues. We state that up front and build it into the schedule, because ignoring it is how rebuilds lose a month.
From there the phases run in order: structure, mechanicals, surfaces, finish. Each one closes with an inspection or a documented checkpoint, so the file your carrier holds matches the house you get back.
- Phase 1: Scope and supplement alignmentAdjuster estimate reconciled line by line against actual conditions, supplements filed with photo evidence, budget locked before ordering.
- Phase 2: Permits and reviews780 CMR building permits pulled, historic district review handled where a neighborhood requires it, inspections scheduled ahead.
- Phase 3: Structural repairsFraming, sheathing, sills, and roof deck repaired or sistered to code, engineering brought in where spans or bearing changed.
- Phase 4: Mechanicals rough-inLicensed plumbing and electrical rough-ins, insulation restored to current code values, rough inspections signed off.
- Phase 5: SurfacesDrywall or plaster, tile, flooring, cabinets, and countertops installed in sequence, exterior roofing and siding closed in weathertight.
- Phase 6: Finish and punch listTrim, paint, hardware, and fixtures completed, then a walkthrough with you and a written punch list closed item by item.
New drywall and skim coat matched to the home's original plaster.
The “Any GC Can Do the Rebuild” Myth
Plenty of good general contractors work in Boston, and for a remodel you are paying for yourself, most serve you well. An insurance rebuild is a different job with different math, and this myth costs homeowners more than any other after a loss.
The Myth
“The insurance company already approved a number. Any general contractor can take that money and do the rebuild.”
What Actually Happens
Insurance rebuilds run on Xactimate line items with regional unit pricing, not retail bids. A GC quoting retail either asks you to cover the difference out of pocket or quietly cuts scope to fit the number. A restoration general contractor prices inside the platform, defends each line, and files supplements when opened walls reveal more damage, so the carrier funds the actual rebuild.
There is a second half to the myth. Retail GCs rarely file supplements, because supplements are an insurance mechanism, not a construction one. Yet on older Boston housing, the supplement is where the claim gets made whole: the rotted sill behind the siding, the knob-and-tube circuit exposed inside a wet wall, the sheathing under a storm-stripped roof. In our experience, the difference between a rebuild scoped by a restoration contractor and one scoped from a retail bid is rarely the workmanship. It is whether the homeowner or the carrier pays for the surprises.
One Roof, One Claim, Every Trade
Reconstruction Services We Handle Across Boston & the South Shore
Drywall & Plaster Repair
Flood cuts closed, ceilings rehung, and historic plaster skimmed or replaced to match the room around it.
Flooring Replacement
Hardwood, tile, and laminate replaced from the subfloor up after floods, with species and stain matched to what survived.
Kitchen & Bathroom Rebuilds
The two most damage-prone rooms in the house, rebuilt cabinet to fixture on the insurance scope.
Roofing Replacement
Full tear-off and replacement with architectural shingle systems when storm or fire damage passes the repair threshold.
Siding & Window Replacement
Wind-stripped siding and compromised windows replaced, matched, and flashed correctly on insurance restoration work.
Full Home Restoration
Whole-structure rebuilds after major fires and floods, managed as one project with one point of contact.
Each service carries its own page with its own process detail. Start with kitchen and bathroom rebuilds if the loss hit the wet rooms, or window replacement in Boston where storm pressure or fire heat compromised the glazing and frames.
For losses that touched most of the structure, our full home rebuild team runs the entire project under one superintendent. On top of that, owners of two- and three-family properties should see our triple-decker restoration page, because balloon-framed multi-family rebuilds carry structural and claims complications that single-family playbooks miss.
Craft That Matches the Housing Stock
The Trades Behind a Boston Home Restoration Company
Rebuilding a 1910 Dorchester Victorian is not the same trade as rebuilding a 2005 colonial, and repair services that ignore the difference leave scars a homeowner sees every day. These are the old-house disciplines our reconstruction crews bring to Boston and South Shore rebuilds. Note that on pre-1978 homes, which is most of this market, all of it runs under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule for lead-safe work practices.
Plaster Profile Matching
Hundred-year-old walls carry crown, cove, and run moldings cast in place. We take profiles from surviving sections and run replacements to match, rather than flattening a period room into drywall.
Period Trim Sourcing
Casings, baseboards, and stair parts in pre-war Boston homes come in profiles the box stores stopped stocking decades ago. We source from regional millwork suppliers or have knives ground to reproduce them.
Architectural Shingle Systems
Roof replacements install as full systems: underlayment, starter courses, ridge venting, and manufacturer-matched components, which is what keeps the wind warranty valid on a coastal roof.
Ice & Water Shield at the Eaves
Massachusetts code requires an ice barrier membrane running from the eave edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line in ice dam territory, which is all of it here. Every roof we rebuild gets it.
Siding Profile Continuity
Discontinued vinyl and clapboard profiles get matched by salvaging courses from hidden elevations or sourcing compatible profiles, so a repaired wall does not read as a patch from the street.
Window Openings Done Right
Replacement windows in old framing are flashed, shimmed square in out-of-square openings, and air sealed, because a window that leaks at the sill restarts the water damage story we just ended.
Storm Rebuild Work in Dorchester: Roofing and Siding on Real Streets
Our portfolio of completed exterior rebuilds runs through Dorchester, where our crews have replaced storm-damaged roofs and siding on the neighborhood’s mixed stock of Victorians and multi-families. The work follows the same pattern each time. Wind peels back shingle courses or strips siding from an exposure, water follows in the next rain, and the claim covers the envelope and the interior damage only if the scope is written to include both. That clause is the job.
On these Dorchester projects, the exterior rebuild started with documentation of the wind damage while it was fresh, continued through carrier approval on an Xactimate scope, and finished with full roof replacement and siding replacement completed by our own crews. Homeowners dealt with one company and paid their deductible, and the carrier funded the rest because the scope was defended line by line.
Storm losses also arrive attached to emergencies, and we handle that end too. When a nor’easter opens a roof at midnight, the sequence is tarp and board-up first, mitigation second, rebuild third, and our storm damage restoration team runs all three phases so the file never changes hands. That continuity is why the rebuild starts days after approval instead of months after the mitigation crew leaves.
Rebuild After Fire or Water Damage on the Claim You Already Filed
Reconstruction is where a claim either pays for the whole loss or quietly stops short, and the difference is documentation plus advocacy. Studio 24 was founded by Ansy Chevalier, an IICRC certified restorer, cert #70268689, who scopes rebuilds in Xactimate and meets your adjuster at the property personally. As Ansy puts it, “The claim does not end when the house is dry. It ends when the last piece of trim goes back on and nothing got left on the table.”
Code upgrades deserve an honest word, because they surprise homeowners on almost every older-home rebuild. When we open a wall, current Massachusetts building code governs what goes back, and that can mean upgraded insulation values, hardwired detection, or electrical brought to current requirements. Standard policies pay to replace what you had. The upgrade delta is covered only through ordinance or law coverage, which many Massachusetts policies include as a percentage of the dwelling limit and some do not. We read your policy language before demolition finishes, tell you plainly what the carrier owes and what it does not, and scope the difference so there are no surprises at the framing inspection.
Every rebuild also carries the same financial commitments as our mitigation work: free inspection and estimate, direct billing to every carrier, and no upfront cost on covered work. On most covered rebuilds, your deductible is the only check you write.
What a supplement actually is: a documented request to add newly discovered damage to an approved claim. Opened walls reveal rot, hidden charring, or failed framing on most older-home rebuilds. Filed with photos and code citations, supplements are routine. Never filed, they become your bill.
- Xactimate scope, defended line by line
- Supplements filed while walls are open
- Ordinance and law coverage reviewed
- Deductible-only cost on covered rebuilds
Homeowners on Rebuilding With Studio 24
★★★★★
“I’m a single mom and was stressed about my leaking roof. These guys treated me like family. No pressure, just help. I got the new roof paid by insurance, and they even cleaned up after perfectly.”
Vanessa B., Roslindale MA
★★★★★
“They didn’t just replace our windows, they helped us get the entire job covered by insurance. You don’t meet many contractors this helpful and responsive anymore. Total peace of mind.”
Ron D., Roxbury MA
★★★★★
“I can’t believe how fast they moved. Within days of the inspection, we had insurance approval and new siding going up. No games, just honest work and communication. Highly recommend Studio 24.”
Tanya R., Hyde Park MA
Reconstruction Contractors Nearby: Where Our Rebuild Crews Work
Rebuild crews run daily routes through Stoughton and the Route 128 corridor as well as the coastal towns.
Our reconstruction crews cover the same territory as our emergency teams: Boston’s neighborhoods and the full South Shore. The housing stock changes by town, and so does the rebuild. Dorchester and Roxbury jobs lean toward plaster, period trim, and multi-family logistics, while Braintree, Weymouth, and Marshfield rebuilds run toward modern drywall, coastal roofing systems, and wind-rated siding. Last updated August 2026.
Rebuild Questions, Answered Before You Sign Anything
Disaster Reconstruction Questions Boston Homeowners Ask
Another company dried out my house. Can you do just the rebuild?
Yes, and it is one of the most common ways homeowners find us. We take over after any mitigation company, review their dry-out documentation, reconcile the adjuster’s estimate against the actual opened condition of the house, and run the reconstruction on your existing claim. Before scheduling trades, we file supplements for anything the original scope missed, which is usually where the handed-off rebuild was about to lose money.
Do I need to hire my own general contractor for an insurance rebuild?
No. Studio 24 acts as the restoration general contractor for the entire rebuild: scoping, permits, trades, inspections, and the final punch list under one contract. Since we price in Xactimate, the same platform your carrier uses, our numbers reconcile with the claim instead of fighting it. Hiring a separate retail GC typically means retail pricing the carrier will not match and supplements that never get filed.
How long does disaster reconstruction take?
A contained rebuild, such as one room of drywall, flooring, and paint, typically runs one to three weeks once materials arrive. A kitchen or bathroom rebuild commonly runs four to eight weeks, and a whole-home reconstruction after a major fire can run several months. Scope approval and permitting drive the calendar as much as construction does, which is exactly why we file supplements early and pull permits before demolition finishes.
Do you handle building permits in Boston and on the South Shore?
Yes, we pull and manage every permit the rebuild needs, under the Massachusetts state building code, 780 CMR. In Boston that runs through Inspectional Services, and each South Shore town has its own building department with its own timelines. Where a property sits in a local historic district, we prepare the exterior review submission as well and build that approval time into the schedule honestly.
Will insurance pay for code upgrades during the rebuild?
Only if your policy includes ordinance or law coverage, which pays the difference between replacing what you had and rebuilding to current code. Many Massachusetts policies include it as a percentage of your dwelling limit, but some carry little or none. We read your policy before demolition ends, tell you exactly what is covered, and scope required upgrades like insulation values and hardwired detection so nothing lands on you as a surprise.
Can you match the original plaster, trim, and siding on an older home?
Usually, yes. We take profiles from surviving plaster and millwork and reproduce them, source period trim through regional suppliers, and match siding by salvaging courses from hidden elevations when a profile is discontinued. When a true match is impossible, we say so before the work starts and show you the closest options, not at the end.
1Team from mitigation through rebuild
$0Upfront on covered rebuild work
A+BBB rating, licensed & insured in MA
24/7Emergency board-up and dispatch
The Dry-Out Ends. The Rebuild Is Where You Get Your Home Back.
Free inspection, one claim, one team from demolition to the last coat of paint, and no upfront cost on covered work.
Plaster, trim, and flooring restored to match the original home.