We go to the property, document the damage ourselves, and hand back a finished Xactimate estimate. 2% of the estimate, $250 minimum, and nothing added later.
Most estimates get written from someone else’s photos. If the moisture readings weren’t taken, the ceiling height wasn’t noted, or nobody photographed behind the vanity, the estimate has a hole in it — and you find out after the job is already underway.
When we inspect it ourselves, the person taking the measurements is the person writing the line items. A hidden layer, an unclear water line, a flooring transition — it gets resolved standing in the room instead of guessed at three days later. Your crew stays on production, and the file comes back complete the first time.
We’re your estimator on that property. We document the full extent of the damage, write the scope the way it should be written, and deliver it to you. Anything the property owner needs to hear comes from your team, not from us.
Drive, inspection, documentation, measurements, and the written estimate. Set the slider to your project and see the whole bill.
2% of $24,000 is $480 — that’s the whole invoice.
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| On-site inspection + written Xactimate estimate | $480.00 |
| Drive time and travel inside the region | $0.00 |
| The on-site inspection | $0.00 |
| Scheduling and access coordination | $0.00 |
| Photo documentation, labeled and organized | $0.00 |
| Measurements | $0.00 |
| Moisture readings and category determination | $0.00 |
| Written estimate — ESX and PDF | $0.00 |
| Internal review before delivery | $0.00 |
| Total due | $480.00 |
These are the areas we cover on the ground. Outside them, we still write your estimate remotely — and for a large enough project, we’ll quote the travel.
Wind and hail on the benches, freeze and burst-pipe damage through the winter, and the interior water damage that follows. Dense project volume and short drives between properties.
Wind-driven rain, monsoon-season roof and water damage, and heavy tile and stucco exposure. A market where a lot of files get written from photos because nobody local is available.
Ice dam and freeze damage, lake-effect snow load, and the slow interior water damage that shows up months after the leak started. Older housing stock with layered materials that photos rarely explain.
Hurricane and wind-driven rain, roof and envelope damage, and humidity-driven secondary damage. Condo and multi-unit work where documentation makes or breaks the scope.
Property more than 100 miles from one of these? Send it over anyway — a flat $150 trip fee applies and we’ll confirm before anything is scheduled.
Large commercial and multi-building projects are quoted per project rather than straight percentage. We’ll confirm the number in writing before scheduling.
Request an inspectionEnough to write the estimate right the first time. Everything comes back to you along with the file.
Room-by-room dimensions, ceiling heights, openings, and elevations — captured on site, not guessed from photos.
Wide shots and damage detail on every affected area, plus overview shots of the whole property. Labeled and organized, delivered with the estimate.
Readings, affected materials, and the water category and class established on site — the piece most often missing from a mitigation scope.
Flooring type and transitions, cabinet grade, trim profile, texture, and anything custom that changes the line item from a default to the real thing.
Layers, pitch, accessories, flashing, and damage location verified from the roof rather than inferred from an aerial report.
The finished Xactimate file — ESX and PDF — scoped, priced, and reviewed before it reaches you. This is the deliverable; the inspection is how we get there.
We coordinate access with whoever lets us in, and that’s the extent of it. We don’t discuss scope, pricing, or strategy with the homeowner or any other third party. The estimate comes to you and you handle the customer relationship. If you’d rather we route scheduling through your project manager instead of the homeowner, say so and we will.
The $250 minimum applies. On a small job, 2% won’t cover the drive and the site visit, so that’s the floor. If you know going in that it’s a minor job, tell us and we’ll be straight with you about whether an on-site visit is worth it — sometimes a desk estimate from your photos is the better call, and we’ll say so.
Usually within 48 hours of the inspection. Large or multi-building projects take longer, and we’ll tell you the timeline when we schedule rather than after.
Yes. If your team runs Matterport, CompanyCam, or a specific photo-labeling convention, we’ll capture into it so the file lands in your system the way your other jobs do. Tell us the workflow when you book.
For a large enough project, yes — send us the address and we’ll quote the travel. For everything else, we write estimates remotely nationwide from your photos, measurements, and documentation. The on-site service is where we can physically get to.
Tell us where the property is and what happened. We’ll confirm whether it’s in range, what it’ll cost, and when we can be there — before anything gets scheduled.
Request an inspectionAddress and damage type is enough. We’ll come back with the fee and a scheduling window — or, if it’s a small one, we’ll tell you straight that a desk estimate from your photos is the better call.
Need it scheduled fast? Email info@directestimating.net and put the property address in the subject line.